SmartLab Deep Academy
Embed agentic AI into workflows, governance, and decision-making to build an elastic organization that scales intelligence on demand.
Xroads Catalyst has developed an ecosystem of agentic AI capabilities for pharma and life sciences, focused on amplifying human ability and productivity through human-AI collaboration. Xroads is asset-based consulting, bringing reusable frameworks, patterns, and accelerators for safely deploying agents in complex, regulated environments.
“Somewhere along the way, work stopped being about thinking and started being about surviving the tools we built to help us think. That's backwards. That's broken. That's what I want to fix. Technology should serve humanity, not the other way around.”
- Hicham Naim, Xroads Catalyst
Co-Founder & CEO, VITAL. Former Global Head of Digital & AI at Takeda. Author of Crossroads. Co-founder, Health Tech Without Borders.
A clinical pharmacist turned Big Four strategist turned AI leader, Hicham builds companies around one belief: intelligence should compound, not reset.
Co-Founder & COO, VITAL. Biomedical engineer, EPFL. Former medtech CEO, Korn Ferry executive, and startup mentor.
Twenty years building health and digital ventures that survive regulators, investors, and the market—not just the pitch deck.
increase in annual visits
increase in visitor satisfaction
improvement in organizational health
market cap growth
market share
in profit in year three
employees reporting major culture improvement
rise in organizational health
revenue growth
EBITDA growth
SmartLab Deep Academy is a structured agentic AI adoption journey that helps organizations move from individual productivity gains to enterprise-wide impact.
Combining Xroads Catalyst’s domain-specific frameworks with SmartLab’s scalable digital delivery platform, it embeds agents into workflows, roles, and governance—transforming AI from isolated tools at the edges into a governed digital workforce integrated into how the organization runs.
Most organizations invest in AI training that stops at tools and prompts—never reaching the domain-specific orchestration that creates Deep Workers and makes agentic AI work.
This is the gap.
of intelligence initiatives deliver transformative value
Most intelligence initiatives stall at pilot stage, never reaching organizational impact.
Gartner, 2025
of organizations expect significant skill gaps
The gap isn't in intelligence literacy—it's in domain-specific intelligence orchestration.
Deloitte, 2025
can't find domain + intelligence talent
Because this talent doesn't exist yet. It must be built.
BCG, 2025
SmartLab Deep Academy is the bridge from AI tools to an AI workforce.
Analyze workflows and orchestration gaps
Automate domain-specific processes
Scale intelligence across the enterprise
Create role-based agents
Govern agent deployment by design
A professional who combines deep domain expertise with AI orchestration fluency—building and governing intelligent workflows that multiply output without sacrificing quality or compliance.
Deep Academy is designed for knowledge work in complex, regulated environments—from individual contributors to executive leaders.
Ideal participants
CDO/CIO, COO, Heads of Transformation, Heads of Data/AI, Functional VPs
Medical, Regulatory, Market Access, Clinical, Quality, Commercial
AI CoE, Digital/Product teams, L&D, Compliance and Risk
Best-fit organizations
You’ve moved past AI awareness and experimentation, but impact is still stuck at the edges.
You need repeatable, compliant patterns for deploying agents safely into real workflows.
You want role-based capability built around your teams, markets, products, and constraints.
Deep Academy takes you from foundational skills to orchestration mastery through real work — not simulated exercises.
The Deep Academy Learning Model
Foundation building through curated content. Each module combines video instruction, real pharma case studies, and essential readings. Self-paced with weekly checkpoints.
You will:
Hands-on practice in the VITAL sandbox environment. Work with actual datasets and tools under mentor guidance. This is a safe space to experiment and learn from mistakes.
You will:
Apply everything to a real challenge. Design, build, and deploy an intelligent workflow that delivers measurable business value. Present to leadership for certification.
You will:
Domain-specific tracks
Nine tracks. One goal: measurable output in your domain.
Medical
Synthesize 500+ papersmonthly, accelerate KOL engagement
10x faster literaturesynthesis, 5x more KOL touchpoints
Marketeer
Launch omnichannelcampaigns in days, not weeks
80% reduction in contentcreation time, 3x campaign velocity
Market Access
Automate HTA submissionsand pricing models
60% faster dossier preparation, real-time pricing optimization
Regulatory
Accelerate CTD preparationand agency responses
50% faster submission prep,90% reduction in cross-reference errors
R&D
Augment literature review and protocol design
70% faster lit reviews, data-driven protocol optimization
Strategy
Accelerate competitive intelligence and due diligence
Continuous competitive intel, 80% faster due diligence
Analyst
Automate RWE analysis and insight generation
Self-service analytics, 10x faster insight delivery
HR
Scale scientific recruiting and onboarding
50% faster time-to-hire, personalized onboarding at scale
Finance
Real-time revenue modeling and variance analysis
5x faster close process, continuous forecasting capability
Delivery method
A practical, human-centered approach to transformation, delivered at scale.
Powered by SmartLab. Designed with Xroads Catalyst. Built for intelligent workforce transformation.
SmartLab Features
Dynamic timelines → systemic orchestration
Immersive environments
Integrated video conferencing
Adaptive journeys
Personalised dashboards
Decision-making & collaboration apps
Resource libraries
SmartLab AI for decisions, data, learning, and production
Xroads Catalyst Expertise
Pharma and life sciences domain expertise
Agentic AI frameworks for regulated environments
Reusable accelerators and deployment patterns
Human-AI collaboration methodology
Asset-based consulting with proven implementation playbooks
GxP-ready governance by design
Trusted by global organizations
By 2028, the capability gap between organizations with Deep Workers and those without will determine the next generation of leading organizations.
