Scientific Associate Director

Axtria Ignite 2026: 450+ life sciences leaders convene with a contrarian message - fix the foundation before you scale AI. Jun 26, 2026 * More than 450 executives from 100+ leading life sciences organizations gathered in Princeton, NJ to move agentic AI past the proof-of-concept stage * Founder and CEO Jaswinder "Jassi" Chadha challenged the industry with a counterintuitive mandate: before you build more agents, fix the foundation first * The Ignite Leadership Awards honored transformation leaders from Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, and Biogen; the Axtria Bedrock Honor recognized a 15-year partnership with Quest Diagnostics BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J., June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Axtria Inc., a global leader in AI-first data & analytics solutions and platforms for the life sciences industry, hosted Axtria Ignite 2026 on June 10 and 11 at the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal under the theme "Industrializing Intelligence: The Agentic Enterprise." More than 450 executives from over 100 leading life sciences, MedTech, and biotech organizations gathered to work through the harder question of 2026: what must be true before an enterprise can trust AI to run at machine speed. Day 1 of the by-invitation-only event drew more than 200 attendees to product workshops on practical applications of AI, analytics, and commercial excellence. It included real-world success stories and value delivered from agents and hands-on experience with live agents. Day 2 featured four mainstage sessions and 16 panels across four tracks: industrialized data and the agentic backbone, agentic AI for business insights, high-performance customer engagement, and the shift from software to agentic ecosystems. Now in its fourth year, Axtria Ignite has become a regular fixture on the calendars of senior commercial and data leaders in life sciences. The foundation is the strategy In his keynote address, Axtria founder and CEO Jaswinder "Jassi" Chadha argued that the foundation determines whether AI in pharma scales. Drawing on three decades in the industry, he pointed to the persistent gap between ambition and execution: roughly 73% of biopharma still reports significant data issues, as many as 89% of AI pilots never reach production, and trust in AI systems has slipped from 61% in 2019 to 53% today, even as the industry races toward a projected 100,000-plus AI agents. Against a pharma accuracy bar of 99.5%, Chadha laid out four things the foundation must carry: an AI-ready data supply chain, a semantic layer for agent accuracy, software guardrails for deterministic precision where stakes are highest, and a governance framework for digital workers at scale. Agents, in his framing, are new hires who must earn trust through validation and audit, not receive it on day one. "Before you build the agent, fix the foundation first. The companies that will lead the agentic era are not the ones who moved fastest; they are the ones who built them with trust," Jaswinder "Jassi" Chadha, Founder and CEO, Axtria. Proving CFO-certifiable business value Co-founder and CTO Navdeep "Navi" Chadha led a mainstage session with senior leaders from Thermo Fisher Scientific and Quest Diagnostics. The discussion moved past future potential to candid accounts of what has worked and what has not, from CFO-certifiable value reporting and integrated risk management to the discipline of defining exit criteria before a proof of concept begins. A recurring lesson surfaced across panelists: change management is the work, not a footnote. "Change management and adoption cannot be the 45th slide in a 30-page deck at the business case approval," Senior Digital Leader, speaking on a mainstage panel. The conversations attendees took home Across tracks, the discussions reached a level of candor that does not show up in industry research reports. A senior leader at a major pharma company described her team's unlock: making clear that AI was here to elevate marketers rather than replace them. By her account, adoption now stands at over 90%. "This is not an AI revolution. It's a people revolution," VP of Commercial AI at a top pharma company, closing mainstage session. Ignite Leadership Awards Axtria presented its annual Ignite Leadership Awards, recognizing leaders doing the hard work of transformation inside their organizations. These leaders were recognized for driving enterprise-wide AI transformations and genuinely bringing multiple disciplines together to truly make a difference to the foundation of AI to realize the true value. The 2026 honorees were: * Anvita Karara, Vice President, Commercialization AI Strategy & Analytics, Bristol Myers Squibb * Jeremy Pincus, Vice President, Medical Affairs IT, GSK * Bharti Rai, Senior Vice President, Biogen Axtria Bedrock Honor The Axtria Bedrock Honor recognized Quest Diagnostics for a 15-year partnership and the recent implementation of an Axtria SalesIQ sales force alignment solution across 34 role types and a ~1,300-person field organization, among the most complex sales force alignments in healthcare. The honor was accepted by John Liffert, Vice President, Commercial Operations, alongside Samantha Barnes-Weaver, Director, National Deployment and Alignments, and Marc Cangemi, Senior Director, Commercial Excellence, Compensation, and Deployment. "Those of you who know the Quest business know it's probably the most complex sales force alignment in healthcare. Because we were able to solve that, you made us better. You made our product better. Thank you for being our partners in this journey," Jassi Chadha, Founder and CEO, Axtria. About the event Ignite 2026 featured 45+ speakers across panels and presentations, plus hands-on workshops with Axtria's agentic products, including Axtria HIQ, Axtria SalesIQ, Axtria MarketingIQ, and Axtria DataMAx. The agenda also included an Executive Incentive Compensation Roundtable and networking receptions on both evenings. About Axtria Axtria helps life sciences companies harness the potential of data science and software to improve patient outcomes by connecting the right therapies to the right patients at the right time. A leading global provider of award-winning cloud software and data analytics, Axtria delivers proven solutions that help pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics companies complete their journey from data to insights to action. As a participant in the United Nations Global Compact, Axtria is committed to aligning its strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. For more information, visit www.axtria.com. Facebook Comment

Big investments, big jobs, and a stronger Houston housing market. June 18, 2026 Houston's housing market is not moving in just one direction right now. Affordability has improved, but it remains a challenge for some buyers, especially with mortgage rates still elevated compared to the ultra-low-rate years. Even so, the Houston real estate market has remained resilient, with the luxury market showing particular strength. According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors report, Houston home prices rose in May, helped in part by continued activity in the upper end of the market. Pending sales also reached their strongest May level in four years, while inventory remained near balanced-market levels. That combination tells an interesting story. Buyers have more choices than they did a few years ago, but demand has not disappeared. One reason may be Houston's economy. Houston is quietly becoming one of the most important manufacturing markets in the country. A recent Colliers report shows the Houston MSA now has more than 239,000 manufacturing workers, more than 10,500 manufacturing businesses, and more than $9 billion in capital investment tied to the sector. The report also notes that Houston delivered 3.1 million square feet of manufacturing space over the last 24 months, one of the strongest two-year supply increases in nearly eight years. The projects landing here are significant: * Eli Lilly is building a $6.5 billion pharmaceutical plant totaling roughly 1 million square feet and expected to create more than 600 jobs. * Bristol Myers Squibb is planning a $1 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing campus expected to create about 500 jobs. * Foxconn is investing $450 million in an AI supercomputer factory tied to Nvidia. * Apple has expanded its Houston footprint to 500,000 square feet for Mac mini assembly and Apple Intelligence server production. These are not small announcements. They represent major long-term bets on Houston as a place to manufacture, hire, expand, and innovate. That type of investment may already be showing up in the luxury market. Large corporate expansions tend to bring executives, engineers, senior managers, consultants, investors, contractors, and business owners into the local economy. Many of those households have the income, equity, or relocation support to compete for higher-priced homes. That can help support demand in Houston's luxury neighborhoods, especially in areas with strong schools, proximity to major employment centers, established amenities, and high-quality housing stock. But the longer-term impact may not stop at the luxury market. As these projects become fully realized, they could have a broader effect on Houston's middle-market housing as well. Manufacturing campuses do not only create executive-level jobs. They also support a much larger ecosystem of employees, vendors, suppliers, logistics companies, construction firms, service providers, and small businesses. Over time, that can create more stable household formation, more relocation activity, and more demand from buyers looking for attainable homes in established neighborhoods and growing suburban markets. In other words, the luxury market may be the first place Norhill Realty see the impact because higher-income buyers often move first. But as jobs are filled, facilities open, supplier networks grow, and workers settle into the region, the benefits could gradually filter into the broader housing market. This is part of a larger Texas story. Texas' economy has nearly quadrupled over the last 25 years, growing from roughly $742 billion in GDP in 2000 to about $2.9 trillion in 2025. That growth has helped Texas move from the third-largest state economy to the second-largest. Houston remains one of the biggest engines behind that growth. Population trends tell a similar story. Among the 20 most populous cities in the United States, Houston ranked third for residents added since 2020, behind only San Antonio and Fort Worth. Houston added roughly 99,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. That matters for housing. Population growth supports demand. Job growth supports purchasing power. Corporate investment supports confidence. When all three are happening at the same time, the housing market has a stronger foundation. Of course, this does not mean every home will sell quickly or that sellers can ignore pricing. Buyers are still selective, inventory has improved, and affordability remains a constraint. Homes still need to be priced correctly, marketed well, and positioned thoughtfully. But Houston's economic story is an important reason to remain optimistic. The city is not relying on one industry alone. Energy remains important, but Houston is also seeing major investment in life sciences, advanced manufacturing, technology, logistics, medicine, and AI-related infrastructure. That economic diversity could help support housing demand across multiple price points over time. For luxury homeowners, these trends may already be helping create a deeper pool of qualified buyers. For middle-market homeowners, the impact may be more gradual, but potentially meaningful as these projects move from announcements to completed facilities, active hiring, and long-term economic activity. Bottom line: Houston's luxury housing market may already be benefiting from the city's strong economic momentum. But the bigger story could unfold over the next several years, as major manufacturing investments create jobs, attract new residents, and support demand across a wider range of Houston homes. Curious how Houston's changing economy could affect your next move? Tell Norhill Realty where you're thinking about buying or selling, and Norhill Realty'll help you evaluate the market. Click here to connect with a Norhill agent... To receive market updates and tips like this one on a monthly basis, fill out the form below. By submitting information, I am providing my express written consent to be contacted by representatives of this website through a live agent, artificial or prerecorded voice, and automated SMS text at my residential or cellular number, dialed manually or by autodialer, by email, and mail. Note: This article discusses possible relationships between economic growth, job creation, population trends, and housing demand. Individual market conditions may vary by neighborhood, price point, property condition, and buyer demand.

Why this CPO believes AI and EQ need to work in tandem. June 11, 2026 The Chief People Officer at Bristol Myers Squibb, Amanda Poole, just returned from presenting at a CHRO conference. For six hours, the conversation never left AI: How AI will change HR, how AI will reshape work, how AI will alter productivity, planning, and workforce strategy. By the time Amanda Poole took the stage, the room had heard every version of the same message: AI is coming fast, and leaders need to be ready. Poole didn't disagree, but she reframed the conversation, saying, "AI is transformative. It will do so much and bring so much. But do you know what AI can't do and doesn't do? It can't care." That line gets at a central leadership question many organizations are now facing. AI can summarize, automate, analyze, and accelerate. But it can't make people feel seen. It can't create trust on a team, coach a struggling manager through a hard conversation, or make complex human decisions under pressure. Across more than 40 interviews with Learning & Development leaders, nearly every leader has stated that L&D is optimally suited to fill one of AI's biggest gaps - the need for enduring human skills. The more powerful AI becomes, Poole pointed out, the more valuable care, connection, and emotional intelligence will also become. "People want to do good work, they want to be valued for their work, and they want to know that we care about them and see them," she said. BMS's top 3 skills for the future of work. Poole believes three skills will matter most in the AI Era: curiosity, resilience, and connection. First is intellectual curiosity. This is your ability to think in "three different worlds." "The world of possibility, the world of decisions, and the world of data." This requires a blend of disciplined curiosity and unafraid creativity. Second is resilience. "We certainly don't know what's coming, but what will it look like to demonstrate resilience, to be agile, to navigate change?" Poole said. Third is connection. "Can you still work within a team and bring out the best of yourself and the best of your team?" she asked. "To do this, you need to understand other people's work. You need to be able to do systems thinking, seeing how work gets done and how the ecosystem needs to operate." Curiosity, resilience, and connectedness all tie closely together with emotional intelligence. Consider, for example, how: * you can't practice curiosity if you're closed off and judgmental (low self-awareness, low social awareness) * you can't be agile and resilient in times of change if you can't recognize the emotions change stirs up (self-awareness) and manage those emotions (self-management). * you can't build connection with your team members without awareness of their tendencies and feelings (social awareness) or the expression of care and trust (relationship management) How EQ and personality work in unison. One of the more distinctive things Poole shared was Bristol Myers Squibb's "Valuably Quiet" program. The idea emerged from a reality many science-based organizations know well: not every high contributor is loud, fast-talking, or outwardly expressive. "We've got all sorts of extroverts, but boy, do we have a lot of introverts, too," Poole said. Poole's team wanted to explore the idea that impactful contribution can look different from different people. One example Poole shared was "passion." In many workplaces, passion gets coded by the degree of a person's expression. The person who speaks first, speaks often, and visibly energizes a room can be seen as more engaged. But Poole is explicit that "passion looks different for introverts and extroverts." That is where emotional intelligence comes in. Socially aware leaders can learn the natural tendencies of team members and start to look for "passion" in different ways from different people. Rather than try to turn introverts into extroverts, or extroverts into introverts, the emotionally intelligent leader will tap into the inherent strengths and styles of each type. This leads to more balanced, inclusive, and creative teamwork. The BMS Manager Excellence program operationalizes emotional intelligence. Earlier in Poole's career, she moved out of HR and into the commercial side of the business. That experience, she pointed out, was transformative because it showed her what management really means. In field-based roles, "you effectively are the company," she said. That lesson now sits at the center of Bristol Myers Squibb's manager development strategy. The company's Manager Excellence program, or MAX, helps develop roughly 6,000 managers under the premise that if the company is going to navigate change, it needs strong managers. To strengthen their managers, they first set a clear definition of what great management looks like. Whether you've been a manager for three weeks or 30 years, the baseline standards for "great" are the same. What sits inside that baseline is unmistakably emotional intelligence in practice: self-awareness, empathy, listening, coaching, psychological safety, and the ability to give feedback well. The MAX training program is a six-month journey with ongoing coaching. Poole noted that the coaching conversations delve deep into EQ work. BMS's brain health program: 'work hard, recover harder' As AI accelerates work, many leaders feel pressure to move faster and to take on more work. BMS is betting on a different idea: performance now depends not just on output, but on recovery. "If we want to be leaders in brain health, it needs to start with us, and it needs to acknowledge brain health as a component of well-being," Poole said. "We've translated this demand for brain health into a new mantra, which is 'Work hard, recover harder.' The work we do is hard, and the pace, especially with AI, will not change. The answer isn't to work harder, it's to purposely create the space to recover harder." Under the "Work hard, recover harder" mantra, recovery will become BMS's differentiator, a way to "unlock and unleash a new level of performance at BMS." Enduring human skills like EQ can't be replaced. The practical lesson for other leaders and other organizations is clear: don't let AI become an excuse to neglect the human layer of performance. Build curiosity, resilience, and connection into how you hire and develop talent. Train managers to turn those skills into visible behaviors, and make recovery part of performance, not a reward for surviving it. Because when the room spends six hours talking about AI, the smartest leader may still be the one willing to stand up and remind everyone what the technology is lacking: care.