Medical affairs teams are under pressure to deliver credible, data-driven insights faster and across global teams. Yet many still face the same barrier: fragmented data. Without a single source of truth, decisions slow down, trust erodes, and opportunities to act on real-time insights are lost.
To explore how medical teams can overcome these challenges, David Blackman, Vice President of Business & Technology Strategy, sat down with Joe Zeleski, Director of Data Solutions & Insights, and Jim Streeter, Chief Technology Officer at Envision. Together, they discussed how a unified data lake can transform medical affairs operations by enabling collaboration, compliance, and innovation.
From fragmented data to connected insights
David Blackman: In today’s data-driven pharmaceutical environment, what are the biggest challenges facing medical affairs teams?
Joe Zeleski: The biggest challenge is fragmentation. Teams deal with disconnected systems, inconsistent formats, duplicated records, and compliance hurdles. That makes it hard to align cross-functional teams or act quickly on insights.
Jim Streeter: Exactly. When data lives in multiple places – Excel sheets, CRMs, publication trackers – it becomes almost impossible to see the full picture. This slows progress and erodes trust among teams and stakeholders.
Creating a shared source of truth
David Blackman: What impact does fragmented data have on collaboration and decision-making?
Joe Zeleski: It creates friction. Teams spend too much time reconciling differences instead of interpreting insights. One of our clients told us that since adopting a unified approach, they’ve cut reconciliation time nearly in half. That frees people to focus on higher-value work.
Jim Streeter: What’s really needed isn’t just cleaner data, it’s a shared source of truth. A unified foundation that reduces noise, improves clarity, and builds confidence to act quickly. That’s exactly what a data lake provides.
Understanding the role of a data lake
David Blackman: For those unfamiliar, what is a data lake? And, why does it matter for medical affairs?
Jim Streeter: A data lake is a centralized environment that brings together data from across the medical affairs landscape, including everything from field medical interactions and publication planning to compliance systems. Think of it as a giant digital reservoir where all your organization’s data flows in and is stored – ready to be explored, processed, or analyzed later.
Unlike a data warehouse, which functions more like a neatly organized library of books, a data lake can handle both structured and unstructured data without requiring rigid formats.
Joe Zeleski: The advantage is flexibility. Teams can store, access, and analyze all their data in one place, maintaining the context and integrity of each source. They’re no longer working with isolated snapshots but with a complete, connected view. In a space where accuracy and alignment are critical, that’s transformational.
Governance and transparency: building the foundation of trust
David Blackman: How does governance play into this idea of trust?
Joe Zeleski: Trust is about more than having data. It’s about how that data is managed, accessed, and protected. A well-governed data lake includes role-based access controls so that the right people have access to the right information at the right time. That level of governance not only strengthens compliance but also ensures audit readiness.
Jim Streeter: Every piece of information in the data lake carries metadata, audit trails, and lineage. You can see where data came from and how it’s been used. That transparency builds confidence both internally and externally. When everyone follows the same standards and understands the data’s provenance, trust becomes built-in.
Smarter collaboration, faster decisions
David Blackman: Once teams have this trusted data foundation, how does collaboration change?
Jim Streeter: It’s transformative. Teams stop questioning which version of the data is correct and move directly to decision-making. That’s where true value happens.
Joe Zeleski: Global medical teams can now share consistent insights across geographies. Compliance, publication, and field teams can collaborate on shared priorities instead of working in silos. And leadership gains the confidence to act quickly, backed by data they can rely on.
Preparing for AI and predictive analytics
David Blackman: How does a unified data lake set the stage for innovation, particularly with AI and predictive analytics?
Joe Zeleski: Once your data is unified and governed, you can unlock its full potential. AI can surface trends, accelerate decisions, and deliver real-time insights – but only if the data underneath it is clean and connected. There’s a misconception that a data lake is just a big storage bucket. In reality, an effective one is curated and query-ready, which is what makes AI both reliable and explainable.
Jim Streeter: That’s where tools like EnvisionOne and Vantage, our all-in-one data and insights platform, come in. With trusted data, AI, and insights, organizations can predict trends, align strategy, and ultimately deliver better outcomes faster. This includes everything from lowering costs to bringing therapies to patients more quickly.
The bottom line: trust begins with the right foundation
David Blackman: What’s the most important takeaway for organizations considering a data unification strategy?
Jim Streeter: Data fragmentation isn’t just a technical issue – it’s a trust issue. When teams work from disconnected or inconsistent data, confidence erodes and collaboration slows.
Joe Zeleski: A unified data lake changes that. It transforms data into a governed, shared asset that enables faster decision-making, stronger compliance, and greater alignment across the organization. It’s the foundation for responsible AI and long-term innovation.
David Blackman: So, trust and speed begin with the right foundation?
Joe Zeleski: Exactly. Trust and speed don’t just happen, they’re the outcomes of a deliberate and strategic approach to data. When teams have full confidence in the quality, integrity, and accessibility of their information, they can take quicker, more decisive actions.
It reduces operational friction, removes bottlenecks, and lets medical affairs focus on insight generation rather than data cleanup. In essence, when data is unified, governed, and reliable, speed becomes a natural byproduct of trust.
Jim Streeter: I couldn’t agree more. A unified data lake doesn’t just give organizations a technical advantage, it provides strategic agility. It allows teams to respond quickly to evolving market dynamics, regulatory changes, and stakeholder needs while maintaining complete confidence in the data.
As organizations move toward AI-driven insights, that trust becomes the key differentiator. Reliable, transparent data governance ensures that innovation is both responsible and effective, giving teams the confidence to act … and to act fast.
Partnering with Envision
In an industry where trust, speed, and precision are critical, a unified data lake is foundational. Envision partners with medical affairs teams to build this foundation through EnvisionOne, our comprehensive platform designed to support governance, security, and scalability across the data lifecycle.
EnvisionOne Vantage, a powerful subset of the EnvisionOne ecosystem, enables organizations to unify and activate their data with confidence – surfacing insights, aligning with physician sentiment, and adapting to market shifts in real time. But Vantage is just one part of the story. By centralizing data into a governed, scalable lake, organizations unlock the ability to:
• Accelerate insight generation across teams and functions
• Enable responsible AI adoption with trusted, structured data
• Respond to change with agility, staying ahead of evolving market needs
• Drive strategic alignment between scientific engagement and commercial goals
Unlike fragmented solutions, EnvisionOne is purpose-built for life sciences, combining deep domain expertise with a unified architecture that supports long-term data strategy. From analytics to automation and beyond, EnvisionOne empowers medical affairs teams to scale their impact.
Get in touch to see how Envision can support your data strategy.