I joined AstraZeneca (AZ) as Global Executive Director of Strategy and Innovation late in the summer of
2014. My reason for joining pharma was simple. Like so many who join the industry, I wanted to help improve people’s lives. I believed that digital innovation was the key to unlocking this, something I stand by today.

During my time at AZ, I was fortunate to work with many talented and incredibly intelligent people from the pharma industry – scientists, technologists, and strategists operating at the very forefront of healthcare. And yet the passion and invention of the guys from the Havas Lynx Group stood out to me from the moment I met them in their role as an agency partner.

Healthcare is a huge beast of an industry, full of obstacles that can get in the way of good ideas. These obstacles never seem to be a problem for the guys at Lynx. Through the challenges we took on together, I witnessed first hand the sheer strength of their will to make things happen. Their ingenuity in coming up with truly innovative responses to testing problems was one thing; their ability to turn these ideas into life-changing realities quite another.

Time and time again, I marvelled at the conveyor belt of pioneering solutions the Lynx team was able to
produce – solutions that transformed lives and made huge leaping steps forward in healthcare. On the occasions I visited the Havas Lynx Group offices, it became clear to me where the root of the company’s success lay.

The passion I saw in pitches and meetings wasn’t a front for the benefit of clients. It was ingrained in everybody. Also ingrained in everybody was a real commitment to each other. Here was a team. Here was a culture to offer help before it was asked for. Here were over 300 people pulling each other along. All moving in the same direction. All pushing healthcare forwards. And all encouraging, supporting, nurturing, and caring for each other.

It wasn’t long before I was thinking, ‘I want to be a part of this.’ And as they always do, the Lynx guys found a way to make that happen.