Why Strathclyde?

"There is a shift in the clinical development landscape and AI enabled solutions are being leveraged. In order to have an in-depth understanding of the solutions I decided to study the MSc Artificial Intelligence & Applications programme."

Applying AI to real-world challenges

For Rani, one of the most valuable aspects of the programme was its practical focus.

"The programme covered the practical aspects which are much required in the current shift in paradigm in research."

The MSc also provided technical knowledge that helped her identify where AI can make the greatest impact in clinical development, including predictive analytics, gene expression analysis and related modelling approaches.

Reflecting on the course, she says:

"My MSc in AI and its Applications gave me the technical grounding to identify precisely where AI can be applied with the greatest impact in clinical development. It sharpened my understanding of both the scale of opportunity in this space and the practical considerations required to translate AI capability into deployable, clinically meaningful tools rather than research exercises."

Founding evexai

Following graduation, Rani founded evexai, a company focused on supporting the use of AI in clinical development.

The idea emerged from their experience in the CRO industry and a desire to help shape the future of AI-enabled research.

"As a pharmacologist with extensive experience across the CRO industry, I have witnessed a change in the landscape with the leveraging of AI enabled solutions in clinical development. The industry is now shifting decisively toward AI enabled and agentic solutions, and I founded evexai to be at the forefront of that shift."

Evexai is an AI-augmented CRO built around AI-enabled precision medicine models and clinical decision support systems (CDSS), helping bridge the gap between broad clinical trial outcomes and treatment approaches tailored to individual patients.

Bridging clinical development and AI

Looking back, Rani believes the MSc helped position them at the intersection of clinical development and rapidly evolving AI technologies.

"The programme helped me be placed strategically between clinical development and evolving AI enabled technologies."

Today, they see AI as having the potential to improve how genomic, molecular and clinical data are analysed, helping researchers identify patterns, improve patient stratification and support more informed decision-making.

Looking ahead

Rani believes AI and automation will continue to reshape clinical research, helping professionals focus on higher-value and more strategic work.

"Automation and AI/ML are increasingly taking on repetitive, logic-based work across clinical operations, freeing people to focus on higher value, strategic work. Building fluency in these tools now is one of the best ways to future proof a career in clinical research."

Their ambition for evexai is to develop agentic, biomarker-driven precision medicine and clinical decision support solutions designed specifically for the realities of clinical development.

"As regulators worldwide move toward harmonised, lifecycle based oversight of AI in drug development, building regulatory grade AI models from the outset, not retrofitting compliance later, is what determines whether a tool can actually be deployed in clinical practice rather than remain a research exercise."

Advice for future students

"Clinical development is shifting quickly toward AI-enabled ways of working and having both the scientific and technical grounding gives you a real edge."

"The course builds practical, hands-on skills rather than just theory, so you come out able to apply what you've learned from day one."