Medical Affairs Has a Leadership Problem

Published 9 August 2026

Author(s): Richard Meyer

There’s something bubbling up through Medical Affairs that the pharma world isn’t talking about nearly enough. Ad nauseum, we discuss transforming Medical Affairs. Artificial Intelligence. Omnichannel engagement. New operating models. Field effectiveness. Insight generation. KOL segmentation. Better metrics. Streamlined MSL teams. But perhaps we’re steering clear of a much more basic question: Do the leaders of Medical Affairs even understand what makes Medical Affairs valuable? Lately, I’ve been wondering.

If you sit down and have an honest conversation with seasoned MSLs, they will tell you they share the same concern. They are being asked to do more touches. Input more insights. Record more activity. Meet engagement quotas. Sit in on internal meetings. Adopt new technologies. Show more “impact.” Yet some of the things that truly make an MSL valuable – instinct, scientific curiosity, judgment and physician trust – are skills that are becoming increasingly difficult to quantify on a dashboard. That isn’t an MSL issue. That’s a leadership issue.