Designing AI patient agents to support a brand launch

Our client was preparing to launch a new treatment for an aggressive cancer and needed the patient voice at the heart of their strategy. But late-stage cancer patients are often too unwell and too vulnerable to take part in research. Of the small number who can take part, time is limited – the disease moves fast and caregivers are already burdened. Traditional market research alone couldn’t deliver what the client needed.

We made the most of the time patients and caregivers could give us, then, with their permission, used their data to build AI patient twins: digital stand-ins that captured their experiences and behaviours. The team could consult them throughout the project, keeping the strategy grounded in real patient reality, even when patients themselves couldn’t be in the room.

Patient and caregiver priorities stayed central to every strategic decision. We identified the “moments that matter” to shape brand planning, disease awareness, and the global and local strategies.

The AI patient twins helped the team craft more empathetic messaging, avoid tone-deaf positioning, and spot where patient and caregiver needs diverged. And because the twins remain accessible past project delivery, the client can keep consulting them as strategy evolves, so the patient voice is present long after the work ended.