CASE STUDY BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB
Bristol Myers Squibb scales AI adoption
Making AI part of everyday work to empower employees, unlock innovation and advance enterprise-wide rewiring
3-MINUTE READ
AI is transforming how work gets done, and while employees are embracing it, scaling adoption is the hard part. Sixty percent of leaders say their organizations lack a clear plan to move from isolated impact to enterprise-wide value.
As part of an enterprise‑wide effort to rewire how the organization operates, life sciences leader Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) moved early to build organization‑wide AI fluency, launching an Artificial Intelligence Quotient (“AIQ”) Academy to equip employees with foundational skills. Nearly 40% of employees completed at least one course within the first 10 months—clear proof that the appetite for AI was real.
But BMS didn’t stop at learning. They wanted AI to show up in everyday work—decisions, workflows, and how teams operate—so they partnered with Accenture to scale adoption beyond the classroom, making AI part of how work gets done and building a workforce ready to innovate and deliver measurable outcomes.
AI ADOPTION AT SCALE
8.5%
increase in employee digital readiness in four months
24,000
employees—the majority of the workforce—are now active AI users
Putting AI skills to work
Together, BMS and Accenture built an AI adoption strategy anchored in three principles:
By making AI learning mandatory, BMS signaled that AI is a priority for every employee—a bold move that fast-tracked adoption and ensured consistency across the enterprise.
Next came relevance. Beyond creating learning pathways for enterprise-wide roles like project managers, the team partnered with functional leaders—from Research & Development to Commercialization and Manufacturing—to design persona-based learning journeys anchored in real work, role-specific application and practical use cases.
Each journey comes alive through live workshops and structured experimentation, creating space for hands-on practice, real-time feedback and continuous, iterative growth.
Making AI second nature
BMS aimed to position AI as a strategic enabler of innovation, performance and career growth across the enterprise while reinforcing the mindset and behavior shifts needed for lasting impact.
Ready for what’s next
With adoption well underway across the enterprise, BMS teams are transforming how work gets done—creating meaningful results today and paving the way for what’s next.
For example, commercial teams are personalizing communications for healthcare providers—providing the right information at the right time to help bring therapies to patients sooner—while research teams are using AI to streamline data analysis and uncover insights that accelerate drug development.
By putting people at the center of its AI ambition, BMS is rewiring how work gets done across the enterprise—building a workforce equipped to lead change, drive innovation and bring more therapies to more patients, faster.
AI is becoming a key part of our DNA at BMS. It’s a superpower everyone is embracing—unlocking efficiencies, accelerating discovery, and amplifying outcomes for patients.
Sydney Klein / CISO & Head of Enterprise IT, Bristol Myers Squibb
AI has the potential to reshape how work gets done and amplify the impact of every employee. We’re equipping our people with the skills, tools, and support to grow in an AI-enabled environment.
Amanda Poole / Executive VP, Chief People Officer, Bristol Myers Squibb