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“Pursuing the miracles of science to improve people’s lives” is the mission at the core of Sanofi - an innovative global healthcare company with a rich history dating back to the 19th century.
Now, Sanofi has already shed its image as a traditional pharmaceutical company, evolving into a science-driven, AI-powered, patient-centric organization. However, its true transformation is not just about scientific advancements but also about people, culture, and impact.
That’s where Raj Verma, Chief Diversity, Culture & Experience Officer at Sanofi, plays a vital role. Raj joined Sanofi in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when the company was already undergoing a major transformation. In this Vietnam Innovators episode, he sits down with Hao Tran, CEO of Vietcetera, to discuss how culture, diversity, and employee experience shape Sanofi’s future—alongside its groundbreaking AI integration.
AI Integration At The Forefront Of Pharma’s Evolution
Scaling AI Across The Organization
The pharmaceutical industry has traditionally been slow to adopt digital transformation due to regulatory complexity and risk-averse mindsets. However, Sanofi saw an opportunity to use AI to revolutionize the way medicine is discovered, developed, and delivered to patients. Therefore, Sanofi is positioning itself as the first pharmaceutical company to leverage AI at scale—not just as a tool for efficiency but as a fundamental driver of innovation, research, and decision-making.
There are 3 types of AI in Sanofi. One is Expert AI used in Research & Development to help accelerate drug discovery by analyzing molecules faster and enhance clinical trial efficiency by predicting potential outcomes. The second is Generative AI used in product design, branding, and packaging. The third one is Snackable AI which helps managers make faster, data-driven decisions by providing real-time monitoring of supply chains, sales performance, and market insights.
As AI usage and integration have always been accompanied by concerns over ethics, especially in healthcare, that’s why Sanofi has a dedicated Ethics & AI Compliance Team to build AI code of conduct and ensure every employee receives training through mandatory workshops and courses.
Building A Culture Of DE&I- The “Superpower” Of Sanofi
When first joining Sanofi, Raf identified three reasons why people were leaving companies through research and conversations:
- The company’s approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I).
- The company’s culture and how its employees perceived it.
- The daily experiences employees had in their roles.
Ironically, these are also the top 3 reasons that people want to join a company. That finding led Raj to identify three factors—culture, diversity, and employee experience— as the real enablers of any meaningful organizational transformation.
Connecting The Dots
But how are these three enablers connected?
To make this clearer, Sanofi created Culture Wheel—a simple way to visualize how everything ties together and a set of behaviors to realize that picture. Alongside this, Sanofi introduced a set of behaviors to reinforce these values, ensuring they become an integral part of the company’s culture. To embed these behaviors further, Sanofi developed "culture levers"——tools designed to make these behaviors second nature to employees.
One of the most powerful culture levers at Sanofi is DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), not as a policy checkbox but as a deeply embedded practice that actively shifts mindsets to drive change.
A compelling example of this is Sanofi’s gender-neutral parental leave policy, which offers 14 weeks of paid leave to all parents, regardless of gender or family structure. However, Sanofi discovered that many male employees hesitated to take full advantage of the policy, fearing it might affect their career progression.
To tackle this, Sanofi started conversations at the leadership level, normalizing parental leave for men and addressing biases in the workplace.
Measure The Intangible - Drive Internal Efficiency To Save More Lives
Even in specialized areas, a business and commercial lens is often needed to keep things practical and results-oriented, rather than just another checkbox exercise. That was one of the first conversations Ref had with Sanofi’s CEO—how does the company measure and manage the things that are often seen as intangible, such as DE&I practice?
To answer this question, Sanofi took an innovative approach to quantifying company culture by developing 12 Biomarkers—measurable indicators that link cultural behaviors to business performance. These biomarkers were co-created with employees and leaders across regions, ensuring they accurately reflect real-world behaviors.
One notable example of these biomarkers is "Think One Sanofi", which encourages employees to prioritize the company’s overall goals over individual or local interests.
In the past, employees and regional teams would independently choose suppliers, often selecting vendors they had personal connections with rather than aligning with company-wide procurement strategies. That’s why Sanofi introduced a Preferred Supplier List (PSL) to standardize procurement and increase efficiency, governance, and cost-effectiveness.
Sanofi spends billions of dollars annually on its supply chain. By reducing unapproved spending, the company has been able to redirect savings into R&D, accelerating drug development and ensuring that life-saving treatments reach patients faster.
Raj sums it up best: "Every extra day we spend in development is one more day that patients have to wait for life-saving treatments."