Chris Arendt, CSO of Takeda, likens the AI overhaul at the pharma to gutting and rebuilding an old house, from the plumbing and electrical up, while you’re still living there. In a Fireside Chat at Grand Rounds U.S. in Seattle, Arendt sat down with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn to discuss how Takeda is integrating AI across R&amp;D, in and beyond the science, while still executing on the active programs in drug development. View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659807 #ArtificialIntelligence #PharmaInnovation #DrugDevelopment #DigitalTransformation #ResearchAndDevelopment 00:00 - Introduction 02:07 - Revamping Takeda for AI 19:03 - Teams &amp; Talent 26:43 - Alliances 32:50 - Q&amp;A

Ep. 112 - Chris Arendt on rebuilding Takeda for AI

The BioCentury Show

This is the BioCentury Show. Brought to you by BioCentury Grand Rounds. Join BioCentury this September in Amsterdam for the second Grand Rounds Europe, an R&D forum focused on translational science at the interface of industry and academia. Hello and welcome to the BioCentury Show. I am Selina Koch, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief at BioCentury.

And this is a special edition of the show brought to you from our Grand Rounds US meeting in Seattle, where I sat down in a fireside chat with Chris Arendt, the CSO of Takeda. We discussed how Takeda is bringing AI into its R&D and its broader business in and beyond the science in a session titled, This AI Moment, Two Steps Forward and One Step Back.

The session was recorded live and is followed by audience questions. Enjoy the show. Good morning, everybody. So what an absolute pleasure to kick off the session with Chris Arendt, the CSO at Takeda. Absolute highlight for me to be able to have this or continue, I should say, this conversation, right?

We've been having this conversation for a little while. And I think that, you know, in 2026, you know, what better way to start the day than by talking about AI, right?

I mean, I think that's the focus of what you and I will talk about. And based on our conversations, which sort of, as I said, sort of go back recently and a little bit further back than that, you know, I really feel that we're in this era of two steps forward and one step back.

Ep. 112 - Chris Arendt on rebuilding Takeda for AI

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Ep. 112 - Chris Arendt on rebuilding Takeda for AI

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.