How AI is reshaping India’s pharma and healthcare playbook

Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from promise to proof across global pharma and healthcare—and that transition was firmly in focus at the recent J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. From blockbuster partnerships such as the $1-billion NVIDIA–Eli Lilly AI co-innovation lab to a growing pipeline of AI-led drug development announcements, the message was clear: AI is no longer optional for the industry.

That global momentum is now beginning to play out in India as well.

In a conversation with BCG’s

Chris Meier, Global Healthcare Leader and Managing Director & Partner, and Priyanka Aggarwal, India & South East Asia Leader for BCG’s Healthcare Practice, one theme stood out—2026 is likely to mark the shift from experimentation to delivery and scale for AI in pharma.

From awareness to early adoption

BCG notes that the Indian pharma sector has moved beyond awareness into early adoption. Around 20% of Indian pharma companies are already deploying AI, primarily across documentation, quality analytics and repetitive operational workflows. At the same time, experimentation is underway across other parts of the value chain, signalling broader intent to integrate AI capabilities.

According to BCG, the most significant impact of AI over the next one to two years is expected in small-molecule drug discovery. AI is already accelerating molecule optimisation and target selection, helping compress development timelines that traditionally took years. Advances in generative AI technologies are also driving adoption in technical and regulatory documentation, automating complex, knowledge-heavy processes.

Drug discovery leads, scale remains the challenge

BCG estimates that drug discovery and development timelines can be compressed by 25–50% using AI, significantly reducing both cost and time to market. A growing number of AI-enabled molecules are now entering research pipelines and early-stage clinical trials, indicating that AI is beginning to deliver measurable outcomes beyond pilot projects. Overall, AI-led discovery is seen to be 30–50% faster than conventional approaches.

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While innovation momentum is clearly building, scaling remains the key bottleneck for India. BCG highlights the need for bottom-up innovation, particularly in addressing public health challenges, where AI-discovered drugs and data-driven solutions could help bridge access gaps—provided they can be deployed at scale.