Advanced Life Sciences is expanding its work in technology, artificial intelligence and digital-platform development. Its projects include Pharma Intelligence, the ORBIT management system and the forthcoming Depth Stride artificial intelligence platform.
To discuss this new phase, the Advanced Editorial Team spoke with Eduardo Bravim, an executive at Advanced Life Sciences, about artificial intelligence, technological specialization, B2B applications and the group’s plans for the coming years.
Is Advanced moving away from its focus on Life Sciences?
No. Life Sciences remains a fundamental part of our identity. Our history is closely connected to the pharmaceutical, analytical, scientific and regulatory fields. What we are doing now is expanding our technological capabilities.
We believe technical knowledge and technology must advance together. We are using all the experience we have accumulated as the foundation for developing new tools.
Where did the idea of creating a technology division come from?
It was a natural evolution.
For many years, we worked directly with companies, laboratories, equipment, processes, regulations and technical information. We realized that an enormous amount of knowledge is distributed across standards, documents, procedures, databases and different systems.
Artificial intelligence created a very interesting opportunity to organize, interpret and use that knowledge in a completely new way.
Does Advanced already have projects in this area?
Yes. We are already working on several fronts.
One of them is Pharma Intelligence, an online platform designed to organize, retrieve and analyze information relevant to the pharmaceutical sector.
We also have ORBIT, our management system, developed to organize companies’ processes, information and activities.
We are now moving toward an even more ambitious stage involving generative artificial intelligence and language-model development.
Is that where Depth Stride comes in?
Exactly.
Depth Stride will be one of the principal artificial intelligence platforms developed within this new technology division.
Naturally, it has a strong connection to the pharmaceutical, analytical and Life Sciences fields, where we have extensive experience and accumulated knowledge. But our vision is much broader.
We do not want Depth Stride to be an artificial intelligence platform only for the pharmaceutical sector. We want to build a B2B tool able to serve different industrial sectors.
You are entering a market dominated by large technology companies. How do you view that challenge?
We fully understand the scale of the challenge.
It is an extremely competitive market, with companies investing hundreds of millions—and even billions—of dollars in infrastructure, research and model development.
It would make no sense simply to reproduce what those companies already do. Our strategy must be different.
And what will make it different?
Specialization.
We do not simply want to develop another artificial intelligence that answers anything about any subject. We want to develop tools deeply connected to corporate and industrial environments.
Imagine artificial intelligence integrated with a large library of technical standards, regulations, procedures, scientific documents, specifications, quality requirements and specialized knowledge from different sectors. That is the direction in which we want to work.
Will Depth Stride have a more specialized positioning?
Yes. That is one of its central concepts.
General-purpose artificial intelligence models are already extremely powerful. The opportunity we see lies in combining generative intelligence, specialized knowledge and business applications.
In certain industrial environments, a merely good answer is not enough. Professionals need to understand where the information came from, which standard is related to it, which document supports a particular interpretation, and what technical or regulatory context applies.
We want to build solutions designed precisely for that type of need.
Why should the pharmaceutical industry be one of the first areas of focus?
Because we know this environment deeply.
We have decades of experience in pharmaceuticals, analytics, instrumentation, quality, processes, equipment, regulation and commercial development.
There is a significant learning curve involved in truly understanding this market. We already have that foundation.
It therefore makes sense to begin with sectors where we possess the greatest knowledge and then expand gradually into other areas of industry.
How do you envision the integration of Pharma Intelligence, ORBIT and Depth Stride?
Our long-term vision is to build an ecosystem.
These platforms do not need to operate in isolation. In the future, they may communicate with one another and form a technology infrastructure designed for the business environment.
Artificial intelligence can be connected to management, documents, procedures, standards, data and an organization’s technical knowledge. When we begin integrating all these layers, very interesting possibilities emerge.
Is there an expected launch date for Depth Stride?
We are working intensively on the technological development of Depth Stride so that we can introduce our first solutions in the near future.
This is a project that requires significant investment, and we are not talking only about financial resources. There is also a major investment in knowledge, research, development, technological architecture, and, above all, in building an intelligence platform that truly makes sense for the B2B environment.
At the moment, we are still in the early stages of development, testing, and refinement. We are evaluating different applications, improving the technology, and gradually building the knowledge base that will become part of the platform.
We do not want to simply launch another artificial intelligence tool. Our goal is to develop technology capable of understanding business contexts, documents, standards, technical information, and processes across different industries.
It is still too early to announce a definitive launch date, but I believe we will have major developments to share over the course of next year.
“We are building something that needs to go beyond technology. It needs to understand the business environment in which it will be used.”