Research points to trust as the real barrier to scaling agentic AI, with 58% saying the industry still lacks clear standards for responsible AI

TORONTO and NEW YORK, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Life sciences organizations are putting governance in place to scale agentic AI across commercial, medical, and patient-facing work, according to the Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026. The new industry research is based on roundtables and a survey of senior leaders at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. Two-thirds (64%) surveyed say their organization has an AI governance process either fully established or in development.

The research, from ACTO, finds an industry ready to use AI but still working to trust it. Governance is the AI concern leaders cite most often. It is also the one they admit they have most neglected in practice. More than one-third still either have no defined governance or rely on a one-time IT approval.

Trust is the barrier to adoption at scale

The findings suggest trust will decide how far and how fast life sciences scales AI. Technology no longer appears to be the main obstacle. Leaders rank regulatory, legal, or compliance hesitation (21%) as the biggest internal barrier to scaling AI, while technical readiness ranks near the bottom (9%). Asked which measure matters most when judging an AI pilot, leaders put trust and adoption (24%) ahead of efficiency (23%), a signal that expectations are evolving.

Leaders trust AI more in their own hands than in their organizations’. More than two-thirds of leaders (68%) are involved in an AI project at their organization, and 69% rate their personal comfort with AI as high. But more than half (54%) remain concerned about how AI is being used in their own organizations. Fifty-eight percent say life sciences has no clear industry standard for responsible AI.

“The discussions reflected a wide range of perspectives and experiences related to AI understanding, adoption, and oversight across the industry,” said Lisa DeMarco, general counsel and chief business officer at Arctic Therapeutics and a moderator at the RAIL roundtables hosted by ACTO. “An important theme in the conversations was the need for practical guidance to help organizations assess AI trustworthiness while maintaining a focus on patient safety.”

Governance builds the foundation for trust

Leaders described governance as an ongoing operating model that continues well past initial approval. It needs named business owners, clear escalation paths, and standard operating procedures (SOPs), as well as the ability to deploy and revoke an AI agent and governance enforced at both the agent and sub-agent level. A challenge is that ownership is still unsettled. Asked who should be held ultimately accountable for the actions an AI agent takes, leaders name the end user (34%), legal and compliance (28%), the third-party AI vendor (22%), and IT (16%).

The data suggests responsibility falls to the end user because so much AI use happens outside approved systems. Nearly a quarter of organizations (23%) don’t monitor or discuss employee use of unauthorized AI agents, and roundtable leaders described employees already building their own agents with no governance in place. The gap between AI adoption and AI oversight is where trust seems to be breaking down across the industry.

Industry quickly moving from where to start to what to build next

Leaders want AI to raise performance and to be judged fairly. Four in five (79%) agree AI risk and ROI should be measured against how people do the work today, with its own error rate. Improved results and outcomes (29%) ranked as the top expected benefit, well ahead of budgetary savings (10%) and reduced risk (8%).

The leaders furthest along with AI sort each use case by its value and how hard it is to govern. Most start with easier-to-govern work such as review and approval cycles, pre-call preparation, insight logging, triage, and coaching. With two-thirds already running AI projects, attention is turning to harder work: connecting systems, supporting a full product launch, and chaining multiple agents together. An agent supporting a field rep or medical science liaison has to work across many systems and with the AI agents already built into each one. That raises new questions about what to trust and who answers for the result.

People remain the hardest part of adoption. The issue of change management was a common challenge raised at every roundtable. Asked which skill humans most need to keep, 45% chose judgment, followed by human connection (31%) and strategy (24%). The report recommends redrawing roles in detail, separating what an AI agent handles from what the human keeps.

Introducing a Common Standard for Trust: The RAIL Score

To give the industry a shared bar, the RAIL Score provides a rubric that grades any agentic AI system on six components of responsible AI, including governance, security, testing and certification, human centricity, value creation, and orchestration. Each component is scored “high” and trustworthy enough for use in life sciences, “medium” with specific gaps to close first, and “low” and not fit for use. The report also includes tools to put the score to work. These include a self-grading scorecard, a vendor-grading checklist, an AI agent job description template, and a 90-day launch checklist.

“The industry has moved past whether to use agentic AI. Leaders now want to know which systems they can trust enough to scale, and today there’s no shared bar to answer that,” said Parth Khanna, co-founder and CEO of ACTO. “Any agentic AI system has to get security and governance right. The RAIL Score gives teams a consistent way to grade systems against the standard a regulated industry demands, so trust can rest on evidence instead of vendor claims.”

Methodology

The Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026 draws on eight in-person executive roundtables with 80 senior leaders across North America and Europe, held February through April 2026, as well as an online survey of 135 leaders at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies, fielded June 8 through July 17, 2026. Nearly all survey respondents (97%) hold director-level roles or above across commercial, medical affairs, legal and compliance, learning and development, and marketing functions.

The complimentary RAIL Report 2026 and related tools are available now at acto.com/RAIL.

To hear more about the findings, register for the upcoming webinar, “Responsible AI in Life Sciences: What Leaders Say About Scaling Agentic AI,” on Wednesday, November 4 at 11:00am Eastern.

About ACTO

ACTO helps life sciences companies bring therapies to patients after regulatory approval. Its AI-powered Field Excellence Platform and AI SuperAgents speed product launches, strengthen field execution, and deepen customer engagement for commercial and medical teams. ACTO elevates training and coaching and agentifies up to 30% of the work in customer-facing roles. That frees reps, medical science liaisons, and their leaders to focus on human connection, judgment, and strategic execution. Fourteen of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies use ACTO, along with high-growth biotechs and leading medtech organizations. ACTO is FDA 21 CFR Part 11 validated, SOC 2 Type II certified, and a Veeva Gold Product Partner. Learn more at www.acto.com.

Research Highlights
Responsible AI in Life Sciences (RAIL) Report 2026

The RAIL Report 2026 draws on eight executive roundtables with 80 senior leaders across North America and Europe and an online survey of 135 leaders at pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies. Nearly all respondents (97%) are director level or above. The research examines how life sciences organizations evaluate, govern, and scale agentic AI in commercialization.

Governance Is the Defining Issue

Nearly two-thirds (64%) say their organization has an AI governance process fully established (22%) or in development (42%).More than a third (36%) have no defined governance (21%) or rely on a one-time approval gate (15%).Governance was the most-cited AI concern across the roundtables, and leaders called it the most neglected in practice.Accountability is unsettled. Leaders are split on who owns an AI agent’s actions: the end user (34%), legal and compliance (28%), the AI vendor (22%), and IT (16%).Nearly a quarter (23%) don’t monitor or discuss employee use of unauthorized AI agents. Another 37% view it as a severe security violation.

Trust May Be the Real Barrier to Scale

Over half (58%) say the life sciences industry lacks clear standards for responsible AI.More than half (54%) are concerned about how AI is used in their organization, even though 69% report high personal comfort with AI.Leaders define responsible AI as validated (81%), ethical (79%), and safe (75%). Fewer chose compliant (46%), auditable (45%), or controlled (40%).Four in five (79%) agree AI risk and ROI should be measured against today’s human-led baseline.Trust and adoption (24%) narrowly lead efficiency (23%), risk (21%), and ROI (18%) as the most critical measure of a pilot’s success.

From Where to Start to What to Build Next

Two-thirds (68%) are already involved in an AI project at their organization.Start now (high value, easy to govern): review and approval cycles, pre-call prep, insight logging, triage, coaching.Build next (high value, harder to govern): connecting systems, supporting a full product launch, chaining multiple agents.Defer or constrain: anything that could reach a patient or regulator without a human in between.Improved results and outcomes (29%) lead efficiency (25%) and productivity (24%) as the most important expected benefit. Budgetary savings (10%) rank far lower, and reduced risk ranks last among the listed benefits (8%).

Barriers Are Organizational

The top barriers to scaling are regulatory, legal, or compliance hesitation (21%) and a lack of comparative ROI metrics (20%). Technical readiness ranks near the bottom (9%).Leaders named three pressures driving AI adoption: more to commercialize, tighter budgets, and pressure to adopt AI even without a clear strategy.Workforce redesign is the real bottleneck to scaling. Leaders say judgment (45%), human connection (31%), and strategy (24%) are the skills humans most need to keep.

The RAIL Score

The RAIL Score grades any agentic AI system on six components: Governance, Security, Testing & Certification, Human Centricity, Value Creation, and Orchestration.Each component is scored from 1 to 3, for a total out of 18: High (16–18), Medium (12–15), or Low (below 12).Security and Governance are hard floors. A score below 3 on either caps the system at Low.

The complimentary RAIL Report 2026 and related tools are available now at acto.com/RAIL.

To hear more about the findings, register for the upcoming webinar, “Responsible AI in Life Sciences: What Leaders Say About Scaling Agentic AI,” on Wednesday, November 4 at 11:00am Eastern.

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Company spotlighted for AI Advisory practice helping mid-market enterprises build structured, scalable AI capabilities and NetrioNow, its human-led, AI-powered service delivery platform

MCKINNEY, Texas, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Netrio, a global managed service provider (MSP) helping mid-market enterprises modernize and secure their IT environments, announced it has been named to the 2026 AI Innovators list by CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company.

CRN’s inaugural AI Innovators list celebrates North American solution providers at the forefront of the AI revolution. The companies featured on this list have recognized the vast opportunities of AI and have integrated AI technologies into cutting-edge solutions for their customers.

AI has quickly evolved from an emerging technology to a strategic business imperative. Solution providers are increasingly deploying AI solutions to help businesses improve customer experiences, enhance employee productivity, strengthen decision-making and uncover new opportunities for growth. As a result, the AI market has become a major catalyst for innovation across every sector of the IT channel. Each 2026 AI Innovator has shown dedication to building creative and unique AI solutions that deliver valuable business enhancements to customers.

“Mid-market enterprises are struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing AI landscape and are looking for a trusted advisor to help them navigate it,” said Al Calabrese, VP of AI Services at Netrio. “Being named a CRN AI Innovator affirms our commitment to being that advisor, giving our clients the strategy, platform and governance they need to turn their AI investments into measurable operational impact.”

In May 2026, Netrio launched its new AI Advisory and Transformation practice, which helps mid-market enterprises move from fragmented experimentation to AI capabilities that scale across the business. In September 2025, the company introduced NetrioNow, which fuses AI, automation and governance in one unified experience to deliver faster resolution, proactive security and executive-ready visibility.

“Our 2026 AI Innovators honorees are helping shape the next generation of business transformation through the imaginative use of artificial intelligence,” said Jennifer Follett, vice president, U.S. content and executive editor at CRN, The Channel Company. “By delivering forward-thinking solutions that create value for their customers and technology partners alike, they are pushing the industry forward and setting a high standard for innovation. We are honored to recognize their contributions.”

To view the 2026 CRN AI Innovators list, visit https://www.crn.com/rankings-and-lists/ai-innovators-2026.

About Netrio
Netrio is a full-service IT managed service provider (MSP) changing the way small- to mid-market enterprises think about technology’s role in driving innovation, efficiency and growth. We provide our customers with the skills, experience, tools, infrastructure and best practices to cost-effectively modernize their operations, capitalize on opportunity and thrive in today’s digital marketplace, while reducing costs and improving operational efficiencies from their technology investments.

Our end-to-end portfolio of services includes managed IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, connectivity and voice, and custom application development. With offices in Minnesota, New York, Texas, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Pune, India, Netrio supports more than 1,000 customers with 500 employees across the globe. For more information, visit www.netrio.com.

About The Channel Company 
The Channel Company (TCC) is the global leader in channel growth for the world’s top technology brands. We accelerate success across strategic channels for tech vendors, solution providers and end users with premier media brands, integrated marketing and event services, strategic consulting, and exclusive market and audience insights. TCC is a portfolio company of investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm. For more information, visit thechannelco.com.

Follow The Channel Company: LinkedIn and X.

© 2026 The Channel Company, Inc. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

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SOURCE Netrio

Vale joined FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller to discuss The Evolving Future of Freight.

ATLANTA, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mark Vale, CEO of Transportation Insight Holdings, LLC (TI HoldCo), delivered the industry keynote on Day 1 of FreightWaves’ F3: Future of Freight Festival. TI HoldCo, the parent company of Transportation Insight (TI) and Nolan Transportation Group (NTG), is a leading North American provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and freight brokerage solutions.

Vale joined Craig Fuller, founder and CEO of FreightWaves and SONAR, for “The Evolving Future of Freight” on Tuesday, October 27, at 9:35 a.m. ET. The session took place on the General Session Stage at The Signal in Chattanooga, TN. The conversation explored where the freight market is heading and Vale shared how technology, data and hands-on expertise are coming together to help shippers make faster, better decisions across supply chain networks.

“Freight is changing faster than at any point in my career,” said Vale. “Shippers are asking for clear answers they can act on, across every mode. Together, TI and NTG offer a unique combination of brokerage scale, transportation strategy and execution expertise, supported by artificial intelligence, providing customers with the actionable insights they need to optimize operations and achieve better business outcomes.”

TI HoldCo serves more than 14,000 shippers through an extensive carrier network. In 2025, the company generated more than $5.1 billion in gross revenue.

Vale shared how TI and NTG are already putting AI to work every day, with results to show for it:

Productivity improvements up over 20% year-over-yearApproximately half of all proof-of-delivery documents collected by NTG’s AI agent, Buzz, and about 25% of loads built through automationLoad growth year-over-year trending upward in Q3 with high single digit growth in OctoberManaged services new customer wins up more than 45% year over yearTotal company Q3 2026 revenue up about 18% year-over-year, with EBITDA improvement of over 90%.EBITDA has improved for three consecutive yearsAdjusted Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) is a non-GAAP financial measure.

“Across NTG, we’ve focused AI on productivity. We use it for tracking and tracing and for scheduling, and we now book about 80% of our loads digitally. That frees our carrier sales team to focus on their relationships with carriers, and our brokers to focus on taking care of customers,” said Vale.

The keynote follows TI’s October launch of TI Infinity, a decision intelligence platform that lets shippers ask questions of their transportation data in plain language. TI Infinity helps teams spot what is changing, understand why, anticipate outcomes and choose the next best action.

“TI Infinity enables different levels within our customer organizations to become experts on freight very quickly,” said Vale. “Speed of understanding data is very important. Having a lot of data and the ability to use it is a huge competitive advantage.”

TI and NTG were also named to FreightWaves’ 2026 FreightTech 100, which recognizes the most innovative and disruptive companies in freight technology. The recognition reflects how both companies run AI as daily operating infrastructure, from Buzz in NTG’s brokerage operations to TI Infinity, powered by Beon, for TI’s managed transportation customers.

Vale also spoke about how carrier safety and vetting are changing how shippers pick their partners. “A customer came to us recently during a bid process. They used to use 30 different providers and cut it down to four. We’re one of them, and they told us it was because our vetting process gives them confidence,” said Vale. “Trust is a huge factor in supply chain resilience, and it’s becoming a competitive advantage.”

TI and NTG were headline sponsors of F3 2026. The festival ran Oct. 27-28 and brought together more than 1,000 attendees and 50-plus speakers. TI and NTG also hosted “Under the Stadium Lights: Lookout for a Good Time,” an evening reception for attendees at the Chattanooga Lookouts stadium on October 27. More information about F3 is available at live.freightwaves.com.

“I want to thank Craig and the entire FreightWaves team for having me,” said Vale. “Craig has built something rare in F3, a place where shippers, brokers and carriers come together to talk candidly about where this industry is going. It was a pleasure to join him on stage and share how TI and NTG are putting AI to work for our customers every day.”

Fuller founded FreightWaves, which delivers freight market news, data and analytics through its media properties and the SONAR platform. Before FreightWaves, he founded TransCard, a fleet payment processor that US Bank later acquired. A trucking industry veteran, he also founded and led U.S. Xpress Enterprises’ XpressDirect division.

About Transportation Insight Holdings
Transportation Insight Holdings, LLC (TI HoldCo), operating under the Beon brand, is a leading provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and freight brokerage solutions in North America. It is the parent company of Transportation Insight, founded by Paul Thompson, and Nolan Transportation Group, founded by Kevin Nolan. Through TI, NTG and its proprietary Beon Digital Logistics Platform, the company serves more than 14,000 shippers through an extensive carrier network.

About Transportation Insight
Transportation Insight (TI) is a leading provider of supply chain and logistics solutions, helping North American manufacturers, retailers and distributors optimize transportation, reduce costs and improve operational efficiency for more than 25 years. Offering expertise in managed transportation, freight audit and payment, parcel optimization and data-driven analytics, TI partners with clients to streamline supply chains, enhance visibility and drive strategic growth. For more information, visit http://www.transportationinsight.com.

About Nolan Transportation Group
Nolan Transportation Group (NTG) is a leading logistics provider, offering a wide range of services including truckload brokerage, third-party logistics and specialized transportation like LTL, expedited and drayage. With an extensive network of carriers serving 14,000+ customers, NTG experts leverage the advanced technology of the Beon Digital Logistics Platform, with a customer-centric approach, to deliver efficient, scalable solutions. For more information, visit www.ntgfreight.com.

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SOURCE Transportation Insight and Nolan Transportation Group