EUROPE BUILDS🎙️Ep. #7: How Intelligencia AI revolutionizes drug development with AI, with Dimitris Skaltsas
Notes, insights and key points from the seventh episode.
What does it take to de-risk drug development and bring life-changing therapies to patients faster?
“It’s mind-blowing how much it takes to bring a drug to patients”.
In this episode of EUROPE BUILDS, we sat down with Dimitris Skaltsas, Co-Founder and CEO of Intelligencia AI, to discuss how his company is transforming the pharmaceutical industry by leveraging AI to predict the success of drug candidates. From his personal motivations to the company’s growth journey, Dimitris shared valuable insights into the intersection of life sciences and technology.
Key Takeaways and Insights
1. Turning the Odds in Drug Development
Drug development is a high-risk, high-reward process. Intelligencia AI addresses this by using AI to assess the probability of success for drug candidates, helping pharmaceutical companies make smarter, data-driven decisions that improve outcomes and reduce costs.
2. The “Why” Behind Intelligencia
Dimitris’ passion for life sciences stems from his upbringing—his father was a general surgeon, and Dimitris witnessed firsthand how better healthcare impacts lives. This led him to pursue a career that combined innovation, entrepreneurship, and data science.
3. Navigating Big Decisions
Dimitris walked us through a pivotal moment in Intelligencia’s journey: forming a strategic partnership with a major consulting firm. His approach? A mix of pattern recognition and calculated instinct. Dimitris emphasized the importance of knowing when to move fast and when to gather more data before taking a leap.
4. Building Trust in a Regulated Industry
The pharmaceutical industry is heavily regulated for good reason—people’s lives are at stake. Dimitris explained that earning trust starts with data integrity.
Storytelling and Scaling Global Teams
Dimitris highlighted the importance of storytelling—not just to market their capabilities, but to build trust with clients, investors, and collaborators.
Tailoring the Story:
With clients: Credibility through results and track records.
With entrepreneurs: Personal motivations and lessons learned.
With investors: The broader vision and market opportunity.
Why Listen?
If you’re fascinated by the intersection of AI and life sciences or want to understand how founders make strategic decisions in highly regulated industries, this episode is a must-listen. Dimitris shares practical lessons on: scaling a global team while maintaining culture and trust, building partnerships that enhance a company’s strengths, knowing when to take a leap of faith and when to step back.
🎙️Listen to Ep. #7 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Youtube.
Readings:
🔨 Learn more about EUROPE BUILDS: Does Europe Build Real Innovation?
🚀 Listen to Dimitris discuss how to think fast and slow in start-up culture:
📖 And here are some interesting readings coming from our guest and the Intelligencia AI team:
ASH 2024 Prediction Success (Intelligencia AI blog)
Exec Summary: Elevate and De-Risk Your Drug Portfolio Strategy With AI (Intelligencia AI blog)
Case Study: Enhancing Oncology PTRS Processes With a Cutting-Edge, AI Approach ((Intelligencia AI case study)
Holding on Tight to AI Wave (industry interview with (Intelligencia AI SME)
How AI Is Disrupting Our Industry and What We Can Do About it (article on Medium with Dimitris)
The Leap Forward: Practical Gains for Pharma AI Use (Great industry article)
About EUROPE BUILDS
Europe’s startup ecosystem is no longer just an underdog story. Europe builds and it builds well. This is a podcast dedicated to diving deep into the real stories behind its startups. Each episode tackles, among others, topics like scaling challenges, funding disparities, diverse entrepreneurial culture, and the art of storytelling—through candid conversations with those who live these realities every day. Visionary founders across the continent.
| Co-hosts: Mathilda Nathan & Niko Efstathiou
🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Youtube