At a Glance
- Biotech firms face credibility gap in AI valuations while pharma ties technology to performance
- AI accelerates drug development timelines and regulatory submissions in biopharma operations
- Finance departments report 77% talent shortage as 53% actively implement AI solutions
The first half of 2026 has brought artificial intelligence (AI) from experimental curiosity to an operational imperative across finance and accounting. Yet, as organizations race to adopt these tools, leaders are confronting a complex landscape defined by shifting valuation expectations, investor skepticism, pressing talent shortages, and the foundational challenge of data governance. Here’s a look at what AI topics mattered most to industry professionals in the first half of 2026.
The investor paradox: AI valuation and belief in biotech
According to a report by Fishbone Advisors, “Hallucinating Value: Healthcare’s AI Narrative,” the biotech and healthcare investment landscape faces a distinct catch-22: management struggles to prove concrete ROI, yet, failing to invest means falling behind. Geoff Serednesky, founder of Fishbone Advisors, noted that while AI has long been a conversation piece, “AI and healthcare has been a conversation piece for so long, but there’s a catch-22: management struggles to show ROI on AI investments, yet not investing means falling behind.”
Furthermore, Seredneskyhighlighteda major credibility gap in biotech valuations, noting that “there is a very big gap in the biotech industry, in particular, when it comes to the believability of the AI story, and what the investor believes that the AI story is going to contribute.” Unlike pharma—which earns high AI valuation marks when tying the technology directly to financial performance or specific commercial franchises—smaller biotech companies are advised to focus on niche expertise. Serednesky suggested they “highlight your subject matter expert domain expertise that will attract the larger fish and then eventually get [you] gobbled up to integrate that technology into broader commercialization.”
Moving past the hype: Strategic deployment and ROI in pharma
Speaking at theLife Sciences Accounting & Reporting Congress, Biogen CFO Robin Kramer noted thatAIhas moved well past simple buzz. “I would say it’s not hyped. If you are strategic in how you’re thinking about how to deploy it in the organization, from a finance perspective, my preference is to find whoever has the best technology platform for what I’m looking to solve.”
Echoing this, Salvatore Giovine, CFO of Johnson & Johnson’s Innovative Medicine North America business, shared, “I don’t think it’s a hype. I think it’s real. From a commercial perspective, for example, we’re starting to integrate it into things like demand planning and demand forecasting.”
However, Giovine cautioned that AI projects must be subjected to standard financial discipline, noting that the technology has largely been “immune to the sort of returns analysis” applied to other corporate investments. In biopharma, the true bottom-line value of AI is frequently tied to accelerating drug development timelines rather than simple cost-cutting. According to Kramer, AI-assisted medical writing has significantly shortened regulatory submission packaging time, directly impacting top-line potential.
Talent pressures and AI as a “copilot”
Simultaneously, the broader finance profession is navigating a severe talent crunch. Astudyby the Controllers Council revealed a staggering 77% Talent Shortage Index alongside rising compensation pressures. Amid these workforce constraints, finance departments are rapidly evaluating or implementing AI—with 53% actively engaged in AI solutions.
co-founder of Metrix Advisory and former FASB board member Mark Siegel advises to “lean in.”
“Part of the interesting thing about being around right at the cusp of something new is that nobody else is an expert on it yet. If you lean in, you can become that expert,” he said.
Addressing fears of workforce displacement, executive leaders firmly characterize AI as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement. Kramerstated, “I view it as another enabler for us to do our jobs more effectively and better,” noting that Biogen’s governance policies mandate strict human review of all AI outputs for accuracy and ethics. Giovine agreed, describing AI as a “copilot” and advising professionals early in their careers to build core skillsets around decision support and data synthesis while learning the tools that augment human steps.
Finance and accounting professionals seeking deeper dives into these transformative shifts can look forward to upcoming discussions, case studies, and strategic frameworks at the upcoming Finance and Accounting for Bioscience conference in Boston on September 24–25.
This article was created with AI assistance and comprises a collection of BioXconomy articles about AI written in H126.
Finance & Accounting for Bioscience
Tailored to the unique needs of bioscience companies, this CPE-accredited annual forum convenes the brightest financial and accounting minds from the nation’s leading trailblazers. Hear from industry experts on high impact topics such as strategies to scale the business, creating value, emerging risks and digital transformation.
