Will AI make scientific research more creative, or simply more efficient? Revisiting Creative Equilibrium and proposing foundations for a Leadership Framework for AI in Research.
From Organisational Creativity to AI-Augmented Scientific Judgement
Will artificial intelligence make scientific research more creative – or simply more efficient?
More than two decades ago, research into pharmaceutical R&D revealed a fundamental paradox: increasing technological sophistication, standardisation and management control did not necessarily translate into greater scientific innovation. Breakthrough discoveries depended on something more – scientific intuition, human expertise, collaboration, organisational creativity and leadership.
Today, AI brings renewed urgency to these questions. Drawing on original research into successful pharmaceutical innovations, the philosophies of Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead, and decades of experience in pharmaceutical R&D transformation, Mats Sundgren explores how AI challenges established assumptions about scientific discovery, human judgement and organisational leadership. The keynote revisits Creative Equilibrium – the dynamic balance between organisational stability and the capacity to challenge established thinking – and examines its relevance to AI-augmented research.
Connecting these insights to the CLAIR Research Agenda 2026, the keynote proposes scientific and conceptual foundations for an emerging Leadership Framework for AI in Research, addressing critical thinking, accountability, organisational transformation and the conditions for responsible scientific innovation.
The future of research will depend not only on what AI can do, but on how we lead science in an increasingly intelligent world.