Prasanna Rao

Prasanna Rao is a distinguished AI practitioner and industry thought leader, currently serving as the Chief Products and Innovation Officer at Saama. With over 30 years of experience in information technology and analytics, including more than a decade in healthcare and life sciences, Prasanna brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role.

Previously, as Global Head of AI/ML, Clinical Data Sciences at Pfizer Research & Development, Prasanna worked closely with stakeholders, vendors, business SMEs, machine learning developers, and data scientists to foster innovation and advance the adoption of AI in clinical data sciences. His tenure at IBM Watson as a Watson Solution Architect was marked by significant achievements in implementing AI systems for a diverse range of clients.

An accomplished speaker, Prasanna regularly presents at major industry conferences, including SCDM, DIA, SCOPE, DPharm, Tufts University CSDD, and Outsourcing Clinical Trials (OCT). He is also the holder of an IBM patent titled “Monitoring Clinical Research Performance,” further cementing his status as a leading authority in leveraging technology for clinical development in the pharmaceutical industry. Prasanna continues to drive transformative advancements in AI and machine learning, delivering groundbreaking solutions to accelerate clinical research and development.