Diego Rao, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Lilly Pharmaceuticals, has recently been named Manager of the Year. Through his leadership, he has transformed the way drugs are produced and made technology a core part of medical processes.
Creation of the LillyPad Supercomputer
Rao is known for launching the LillyPad supercomputer, built with over 1,000 Blackwell graphics processing units in collaboration with NVIDIA. This supercomputer was designed and built in just four months and is currently modeling biological processes and screening potential molecules before they enter real trials. This technology enables Lilly to operate with greater speed and accuracy in identifying new drugs.
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Utilizing Technology in Production
Additionally, Rao has incorporated technology into the drug manufacturing approach. His team has created an AI digital twin of the bottlenecks in Lilly's production process, allowing them to virtually test temperature and pressure variables. This initiative has helped reduce time in a critical process and led to a significant increase in the number of units produced. Rao has stated that these changes have had a tangible impact on the company's revenue.
Rao generally believes that the drug manufacturing process is moving towards computational methods, and this change will ultimately transform how scientists work. He predicts that in the next ten years, the number of scientists active in laboratories will significantly decrease.
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