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Veeva Systems Engineering

To accelerate life sciences innovation through industry-specific cloud software that transforms how companies operate and deliver therapies to patients

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To accelerate life sciences innovation through industry-specific cloud software that transforms how companies operate and deliver therapies to patients

Strengths

  • PLATFORM: Industry-leading Veeva Development Cloud with 95% adoption
  • EXPERTISE: Deep domain knowledge in life sciences regulations
  • ECOSYSTEM: Extensive partner network across 1000+ organizations
  • RETENTION: Industry-leading 99% customer retention rate
  • INNOVATION: R&D investment at 19% of revenue drives new products

Weaknesses

  • SCALABILITY: Technical debt in legacy components limits growth
  • TALENT: Engineering skill gaps in emerging technologies like AI/ML
  • INTEGRATION: Siloed product development slows cross-product synergy
  • AUTOMATION: Manual QA processes increase time-to-market
  • ARCHITECTURE: Monolithic design impedes rapid feature deployment

Opportunities

  • DATA: Expanded real-world evidence capabilities through LSAC
  • CLINICAL: Decentralized clinical trials market growing at 15% CAGR
  • AUTOMATION: AI-driven workflow automation for compliance processes
  • ANALYTICS: Predictive analytics for drug development optimization
  • INTEROPERABILITY: Open standards enabling cross-platform integration

Threats

  • COMPETITION: Oracle, IQVIA expanding life sciences cloud offerings
  • REGULATION: Evolving global data privacy laws increase complexity
  • INNOVATION: Specialized AI startups targeting niche workflows
  • CONSOLIDATION: Industry M&A disrupting customer purchasing cycles
  • TALENT: Tech giants competing for specialized engineering talent

Key Priorities

  • MODERNIZE: Accelerate platform modernization to microservices
  • INTEGRATE: Build seamless cross-product data flows and insights
  • AUTOMATE: Implement AI/ML across development and testing
  • TALENT: Attract and develop specialized life sciences tech talent
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To accelerate life sciences innovation through industry-specific cloud software that transforms how companies operate and deliver therapies to patients

MODERNIZE

Transform our platform for future scalability

  • ARCHITECTURE: Convert 40% of monolithic services to microservices using API-first design by Q3
  • DEVOPS: Implement CI/CD pipelines across 85% of development teams, reducing release time by 30%
  • CLOUD: Migrate 75% of on-premise development environments to containerized cloud infrastructure
  • PERFORMANCE: Achieve 99.99% uptime and <200ms response time for all critical customer workflows
AI INNOVATION

Lead life sciences AI transformation

  • PLATFORM: Launch unified Veeva AI Platform with cross-product foundation models by Q3
  • ADOPTION: Implement AI-powered features in 30% of product workflows with measurable efficiency gains
  • COMPLIANCE: Develop industry-first AI validation framework certified by 3 major regulatory bodies
  • TALENT: Establish AI Center of Excellence with 25 specialized engineers across 5 key domains
DATA INTEGRATION

Create seamless data flows across products

  • INTEROPERABILITY: Implement standardized data exchange layer connecting 90% of Veeva products
  • ANALYTICS: Launch cross-product insights dashboard with 15+ KPIs for life sciences executives
  • ECOSYSTEM: Establish partnerships with 10 key data providers for real-world evidence integration
  • GOVERNANCE: Deploy unified master data management solution across commercial and R&D clouds
TALENT GROWTH

Build the industry's best engineering team

  • RECRUITMENT: Hire 50 specialized engineers with life sciences domain expertise by Q4
  • RETENTION: Improve engineering retention to 92% through competitive compensation and growth paths
  • DEVELOPMENT: Deliver 10,000 hours of specialized technical training across engineering organization
  • DIVERSITY: Increase representation of underrepresented groups in engineering by 20% YoY
METRICS
  • Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): $3.2B for FY2025, $3.7B for FY2026
  • Platform Adoption: 95% of top 50 pharma companies using 3+ Veeva products
  • Engineering Velocity: 25% increase in feature delivery speed YoY
VALUES
  • Customer Success
  • Employee Success
  • Speed
  • Integrity
  • Innovation
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Align the learnings

Veeva Systems Engineering Retrospective

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To accelerate life sciences innovation through industry-specific cloud software that transforms how companies operate and deliver therapies to patients

What Went Well

  • GROWTH: Commercial Cloud subscription revenue increased 15% YoY to $335M
  • ADOPTION: Veeva Vault CDMS reached milestone of 150 clinical trials
  • EXPANSION: Successful launch of Veeva Vault Safety.AI with 12 early adopters
  • RETENTION: Maintained industry-leading 99% customer retention rate

Not So Well

  • EXECUTION: Delayed release of Veeva CRM Next Gen platform by one quarter
  • MARGINS: R&D expenses increased to 21% of revenue, above target of 19%
  • ADOPTION: Slower than expected migration from legacy QualityOne system
  • TALENT: Engineering turnover increased to 12%, above industry average

Learnings

  • ARCHITECTURE: Microservices transition requires more gradual approach
  • METHODOLOGY: Agile transformation needs stronger executive sponsorship
  • PLANNING: Release cadence should align better with customer readiness
  • INTEGRATION: Cross-product data flows need standardized architecture

Action Items

  • PLATFORM: Accelerate API-first architecture across all cloud products
  • TALENT: Implement specialized AI/ML engineering career advancement paths
  • METHODOLOGY: Adopt consistent DevOps practices across all development teams
  • AUTOMATION: Increase automated testing coverage to 85% by end of year
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To accelerate life sciences innovation through industry-specific cloud software that transforms how companies operate and deliver therapies to patients

Strengths

  • DATA: Access to vast life sciences data across product lifecycle
  • DOMAIN: Specialized knowledge for targeted AI model development
  • INTEGRATION: Existing platform provides AI implementation pathway
  • CUSTOMER: Strong relationships for AI solution co-development
  • COMPLIANCE: Experience navigating regulatory AI requirements

Weaknesses

  • EXPERTISE: Limited specialized AI/ML engineering talent in-house
  • INFRASTRUCTURE: Legacy architecture constrains AI deployment
  • STRATEGY: Fragmented AI initiatives across product teams
  • TOOLING: Lack of standardized MLOps practices and platforms
  • GOVERNANCE: Insufficient AI ethics and validation frameworks

Opportunities

  • AUTOMATION: AI-powered regulatory submission review acceleration
  • INSIGHTS: Predictive analytics for clinical trial optimization
  • INTEGRATION: Multimodal models connecting clinical/commercial data
  • PERSONALIZATION: AI-driven HCP engagement optimization
  • COMPLIANCE: Automated validation for regulatory requirements

Threats

  • COMPETITION: AI-native startups targeting specific workflows
  • REGULATION: Emerging FDA/EMA AI validation requirements
  • TALENT: Aggressive recruiting of AI specialists by competitors
  • ADOPTION: Customer hesitancy about AI in regulated processes
  • SECURITY: Increased attack vectors through AI implementation

Key Priorities

  • PLATFORM: Develop unified AI platform across product portfolio
  • TALENT: Establish specialized AI Center of Excellence
  • COMPLIANCE: Build industry-leading AI validation frameworks
  • PARTNERS: Create AI ecosystem with academic/research partners