New recruit brings over 15 years of leadership experience to the brain health-focused biopharmaceutical company.
Lundbeck A/S has appointed Markus Kede as its new Senior Vice President, Chief AI Officer, commencing from 1 July.
Kede will lead the company’s global artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, putting in place “strong governance and responsible AI practices, build focused AI capabilities, and drive scalable deployment across functions,” according to Lundbeck.
The decision represents a key milestone in Lundbeck’s forward-looking strategy, a key element of which includes becoming a bionic company.
Lundbeck sees AI technology as a strategic tool to strengthen its data-driven decision-making, operational efficiency and enable new, scalable ways of working. The firm has previously established multiple AI-focused partnerships, with the likes of OpenAI, Iambic Therapeutics and the Danish Centre for AI Innovation.
Markus brings the enterprise mindset and proven track record needed to embed AI into our business in a responsible and value-creating way"
Charl van Zyl, the biopharma’s President and CEO, said: "AI is not only about technology implementation. It is about transforming how we think, decide, and execute across our entire value chain. Markus brings the enterprise mindset and proven track record needed to embed AI into our business in a responsible and value-creating way."
Markus Kede currently serves as Senior Vice President, Finance & Business Planning for Lundbeck US. He also chairs the firm’s US Digital & AI Strategy Committee. In this role, he has been “instrumental in defining and advancing AI initiatives and accelerating enterprise adoption of AI and automation”, Lundbeck stated.
In 2024, big pharma company Eli Lilly and Company appointed its first Chief AI Officer, cementing its ambitions to capitalise on the “pivotal time in technological advancement”, as described by the firm’s then new appointee Dr Thomas Fuchs. In the role, he leads Lilly’s artificial intelligence projects across multiple functions, including clinical trials and manufacturing.
