In this episode of the CAIO Connect Podcast, host Sanjay Puri sits down with Dr. Bijoy Sagar, Chief Information & Digital Transformation Officer at Bayer, to explore how one of the world’s most iconic life sciences companies is reimagining itself with AI. 

What you’ll learn: 

• How Bayer launched MyGenAssist, a secure GenAI platform for 50,000+ employees. 
• Why pharma & agriculture are ideal testbeds for AI innovation. 
• The rise of agentic AI – shifting from tools to enterprise-wide decision velocity. 
• Balancing compliance, governance, and innovation in highly regulated industries. 
• The future of synthetic data, quantum compute, and digital twins in life sciences. 

👉 Watch now to hear how Bayer is driving “Health for All, Hunger for None” with AI-first strategies. 

Resources Mentioned: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijoysagar/ 

⏱️ Timestamps: 

0:00 Podcast Highlights & Introduction  

1:36 Why pharma and agriculture are ideal for AI  

4:34 Bijoy’s "aha moment" with Gen AI  

6:49 AI as a driver of decision velocity  

10:03 Convincing the board and the bottom-up approach to Gen AI adoption 

13:20 Differentiating between Gen AI and agentic AI use cases  

17:43 The role of AI agents in life sciences and the concept of "transition points"  

21:45 Defining AI agents: autonomous decisions and outcome-driven goals  

26:13 Model selection and the importance of compute and token optimization  

28:57 Rethinking the intranet as a living AI interface  

33:56 Balancing AI innovation with regulatory compliance  

37:16 Protecting data and the ethical use of black-box models  

40:17 The future of synthetic data, digital twins, and a hybrid approach  

47:50 The role of TPU accelerated compute in scientific innovation  

50:25 The war for AI talent and attracting mission-driven employees  

53:46 The importance of diversity in AI development and addressing the digital divide  

59:18 AI's role in sustainability and food security  

1:01:55 The importance of C-suite and board support for AI transformation  

1:04:18 Lightning Round of Questions  

1:06:09 Key advice for peers: be prepared to be wrong  

1:07:16 Conclusion and farewell