Ireland's life sciences leaders gather tomorrow, 22 October, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry for the Life Sciences Industry Conference 2026, a one-day conference focused on putting artificial intelligence to work in pharma and medtech manufacturing, safely and at scale.

Registration opens at 09.00, with the programme running until 15.00. William Fahey, Data Science Lead at Pfizer, delivers the keynote on the future of biopharma manufacturing in the age of AI. He will examine how AI could transform operations, accelerate innovation and prepare organisations for change. Prof. Damien Thompson of the University of Limerick follows with a look at how modelling, machine learning and AI are reshaping pharmaceutical R&D.

The agenda is built around four themes. The first, Trust, Governance and Responsible AI, includes a panel asking whether AI can be trusted enough to scale, covering validation, data quality, cybersecurity and accountability. The second, Scaling AI from Pilot to Production, tackles why so many AI projects never move beyond the pilot stage, with Cognizant, Amgen and Sanofi on the panel.

The afternoon turns to people and enterprise readiness. Fergal Wall of NIBRT shares findings from interviews with senior biopharma executives on digital and AI maturity, followed by a panel on the human side of AI adoption, including workforce skills and resistance to change. The day closes with a leaders' panel on how AI will redefine manufacturing leadership, featuring Novo Nordisk, CAI and Digital Manufacturing Ireland.

Brendan McGrath, former Ireland Site Head and VP Manufacturing at WuXi Biologics, chairs the day. In total, 18 speakers will share practical lessons from the plant floor.

The conference is supported by Platinum Partner Cognizant and Gold Partner ABM Ireland, with Mason Technology and ALS Identify as Collaboration Partners. The Irish Times is a Communications Partner and Amárach Research is a Supporter.

Time is running out to join them. This is your last chance to book your place at the Life Sciences Industry Conference 2026 official website and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.