Agentic AI in Life Sciences: What It Really Means — and Why It Matters
“Agentic AI” has quickly become one of the most talked-about concepts in artificial intelligence. But in highly regulated environments—like pharmaceutical promotion, medical communications, and scientific exchange, the term needs far more precision than catchy headlines provide.
Agentic AI is not simply “smarter AI. It’s not just automation. And it isn’t another fancy label for assistive chat interfaces. It is important to distinguish between fully autonomous agentic systems—where models dynamically determine their own plans and sequences of action—and regulated agentic workflows, where the steps are predefined and orchestrated, and large language models operate as specialized executors within each stage rather than as self-directing managers.
Agentic AI refers to systems that don’t just respond — they act within a defined, governed workflow. They execute purpose-driven steps. They evaluate. They reason. They follow goals. They generate outputs that can be repeated, tested, audited, and defended.
In other words: an agent doesn’t merely help the reviewer. It behaves like a reviewer.
What Does an Agentic Workflow Look Like?
An agentic workflow in regulated content should mirror the core expectations of human review, while bringing speed, consistency, and structure to the process. A true agentic workflow:
Follows defined steps with intentional logic behind each phase
Maintains traceability so decisions are explainable
Enables repeatability so outcomes are not random
Supports human oversight rather than replacing it
In life sciences review environments, an ideal agentic workflow aligns closely with how sophisticated reviewers evaluate materials—and does so at scale.
A Practical Model for Agentic AI in Life Sciences
A meaningful agentic framework in this space typically reflects three core responsibilities:
Extraction — Understanding the Content
An agent must first recognize what matters. That means identifying:
Key medical and scientific statements
Mechanisms of action
Outcomes and clinical implications
Dosing and safety language
Potential “claims” in promotional or precommercial settings
This is foundational. Without understanding what is being said, nothing else can be evaluated.
Consistency — Evaluating What It Aligns To
Once content is understood, a true agent asks:
Has this statement appeared before?
Did the language change?
Does it align with prior approvals, reference materials, or structured libraries?
This moves beyond detection and into reasoning. It connects past to present and evaluates whether the evolution of language remains compliant and scientifically sound.
Fair Balance — Interpreting Risk and Benefit
Finally, Agentic AI must “see through the promotional lens”:
Are risks minimized or buried?
Are benefits overstated?
Is sufficient context present?
Does the narrative create imbalance?
This is where regulatory intelligence becomes essential. It’s not about language alone, it’s about how that language functions.
Why Agentic AI Matters — Especially Now
The shift underway in the industry is profound. For years, AI has been positioned as assistive: tools that help users complete a task faster.
Agentic AI shifts to operational intelligence — systems that:
Execute defined review workflows
Reason across multiple documents
Learn from human corrections
Create structured outputs ready for governance and audit
This evolution is not theoretical. It represents the next maturity phase of AI in regulated industries.
About SecureCHEK AI
SecureCHEK AI is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) system that seamlessly integrates with enterprise platforms to enhance MLR efficiency. Purpose-built for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the software helps MLR reviewers efficiently assess and mitigate compliance risks and reduce comments and re-reviews.
SecureCHEK AI leverages a full hybrid AI model—the gold standard architecture for accuracy and hallucination control to ensure confidence and trust in the findings. Rapid deployment and the user-friendly interface minimize the learning curve, making it easy to get started.
Contact us for a demo to learn how SecureCHEK AI builds libraries and executes prechecking.