Alberto Pascual: Making the Maximum Use of Disruptive Technologies to Boost the Growth of Pharma and Other Industries

IDBS helps research and development (R&D) teams around the world to make discoveries that have the potential to transform the lives of people worldwide. The company's diverse customer list includes 22 of the top 25 global pharmaceutical companies and other R&D-driven organizations in the biotechnology, agricultural sciences, chemicals, consumer goods, energy, food and beverage, and healthcare, serving over 50,000 researchers in 25 countries.

IDBS helps provide a foundation for the portfolio of life science informatics and knowledge management solutions to accelerate the speed of discovering, developing, and producing new drugs and therapies.

A Pioneering Leader

Alberto Pascual is a doctor in bioinformatics with enhanced experience in data science and biomedical domains. He completed his bachelor's in computer science and received a Ph.D. in bioinformatics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Postdoc period, he joined the National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), leading a bioinformatics research and core facility group. During that time, Alberto also co-founded Integromics, a bioinformatics start-up that started its operations in 2003. The company received the Frost and Sullivan European Bioinformatics Project of the Year Award for 2007. It was acquired by PerkinElmer in 2014, where Alberto had served as the Senior Manager for AI and analytics innovation. In his role, Alberto developed analytics solutions in Translational, Screening, and Bioprocessing techniques. In September 2020, he joined IDBS (Danaher group) as the Director of data science and analytics.

At IDBS, Alberto is responsible for developing and executing the company's strategy on AI, data science, and analytics to deliver novel products and services for the customers in life sciences R&D markets.

Learning from Life Experience

Alberto mentions that working for his own company shaped him into a successful data scientist.  "Creating value is all you can do to survive in a very competitive market. Innovation is not an option; it is the secret recipe for success," says Alberto. Talking about another relevant experience Albert feels that education and teaching are interconnected. According to him, teaching is one of the best ways to learn.

Being Rigorous in Analysis is the Only Way to Survive

Perhaps the most significant challenge, according to Alberto, was related to communication. He mentions that he faced a lot of difficulties to determine how to transmit the right messages to the customers or users while dealing with complex problems in data science and analytics simultaneously. Alberto adds that as a data scientist, one must be rigorous in analysis and be flexible in communication. He also claims that both statistical and mathematical concepts are not always easy topics to share and he hence advises to have patience, curiosity towards education to improve master the subjects.

Patience at the Core of Data Science Leadership

Alberto acknowledges that a perfect data science leader must be able to understand the science and the domain by being patient and also by being a good listener. He mentions, that "working hard for what one believes is correct, even if the results are not always pleasant." Alberto further adds that it is crucial to educate the younger generations about values and ethics because technology-wise new generations are already well educated and sophisticated.

He highlights, "Work for them, not for you. Work for your customers. Focus on the business problem and not on the technical solution."

Unleashing Customer-Centric Innovation

Alberto declares that listening to customers and focusing on the business problem is everything one needs for innovation. He believes that technical knowledge and technology access is somehow easier to get, but how and when to apply it is when the innovation happens. From ideation to delivery, involving multiple teams and experts in the development and transformation processes is the key to innovation.

Leadership Mantra: Always Stay Up to Date in Technology

Technologies are always disruptive because they evolve fast. Alberto affirms that what is a trending topic today can easily get old tomorrow and hence he asks the data scientist leaders to stay up to date by finding the right balance in the adoption and usage of technologies. "It is a reality that data is driving all decisions nowadays, and to be competitive, leaders need to understand and use the data to get insights and knowledge, which necessarily needs using all tools in their hands, hire and retain the best talent and adopt technologies," says Alberto while talking about evolution.

Heading Towards an Advanced Analytics Future

Alberto strongly believes that IDBS will become an industry leader in democratizing advanced analytics in the pharma R&D space by providing and automating better decision-making. The company will definitely be recognized as the best-in-class analytics tool.

A Word of Wisdom for Upcoming Leaders

Lastly, Alberto conveys a strong message for aspiring tech leaders and executives. He says, "Focus on what is important: your customers, their data, and their problems. Use your tools wisely. Take care of your teams, let them grow, create the talent."