Hybrid Liaisons, Sales Pods, and AI: Reimagining the Pharma Rep

For decades, pharmaceutical success followed a familiar formula: increase reach, boost frequency, carry the message, and build relationships, then rinse and repeat.

It was a model built for the age of blockbuster drugs, when 1 or 2 products could carry a company and physicians welcomed visits with open doors. With the blockbuster model mostly behind us, that world has quietly faded.

Most new launches now target smaller populations, specialty indications, or extremely specific patient subgroups. In other cases, single molecules have expanded into multiple indications. Take the massively popular GLP-1 therapies, for example. They began in diabetes but now extend to obesity, cardiovascular risk, and kidney disease. One product can touch several specialties at once—a pipeline in a pill, or a pen needle.

It's not like the rep model hasn’t morphed over the years. In the late 2000s, companies shrank oversized primary care sales forces and shifted more and more toward specialty-focused teams, emphasizing outcomes over linkage to business goals. Reps also moved from calling on individual offices to increasingly doing top-down selling by calling on larger practice networks, adopting more of an account management mindset while incorporating virtual and other nonpersonal engagement tools.

Yet, for all the changes, the old style of carrying the bag is still alive and well. Now, it's time for another sea change. In many companies, different brands end up competing with each other for the same healthcare professionals’ (HCPs’) mind share. This repetition is inefficient for the company and exhausting for HCPs. Add shrinking access, stricter payer control, and the rise of direct-to-consumer selling platforms, and the traditional rep model no longer fits.

Today, less than half of physicians in the United States are open to in-person visits, compared with more than half just 2 years ago.¹ Fifty percent of accessible doctors meet with 3 or fewer companies. In internal medicine, oncology, psychiatry, and urology, nearly 30% of HCPs restrict access to just 1 company. At the same time, the engagement mix has expanded beyond in-person (73%) to include email (19%), phone (6%), and video (2%).

The average doctor now faces thousands of promotional touches every year, creating overload and fatigue. It’s quite a different playing field versus yesteryear. Blockbusters are harder to come by, smaller launches are more frequent, therapies overlap across specialties, and access is more difficult to earn. Digital engagement dominates. Patients behave like informed consumers. Employers and payers have become influential players in care.

In this new reality, the field representative must deliver more value, more insight, and more coordination across all stakeholders. The old style of carrying a bag and repeating a script will not survive the next decade.

The new shape of the role

So, what will the rep of the future look like? Three archetypes stand out. The role will evolve through new skills, a new agenda, and new ways of working.

1. New skills: The digital- and insight-enabled rep: This rep uses data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to identify the most valuable HCPs and to deliver personalized engagement. Their focus is on impact, not activity. Hybrid engagement models that mix in-person and virtual contact have been shown to generate almost 3 times more promotional response than face-to-face alone. The insight-enabled rep is fluent in virtual meetings, remote detailing, and tailored storytelling supported by analytics.

Consider a rep focused on cardiology and nephrology. They identify the 20 physicians with the largest base of eligible patients. They send concise digital summaries, host virtual case discussions, then meet in person to review patient flow and access barriers. Their performance is measured not by visit counts, but by patient starts, adherence, and time to therapy. This archetype needs data literacy, storytelling around value and outcomes, and comfort working from dashboards rather than scripts.

• New agenda: The above-brand or portfolio rep. The second archetype shifts the conversation from individual brands to the broader therapeutic space. Instead of 3 different representatives visiting the same endocrinologist for diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular risk, a single portfolio rep covers the full disease area. This approach reflects how physicians think. It centers on patient journeys rather than on separate products. It also eliminates internal overlap and uncoordinated visits.

For example, 1 portfolio rep might handle all cardio-metabolic brands. They meet quarterly with their key physicians; discuss patient segmentation, comorbidities, and outcomes; and link to support programs that span brands. The focus moves from promoting single products to improving the entire care pathway. Another version of this above-brand mindset is the thought-leader liaison. This hybrid role blends the skills of an MSL and a commercial representative.

The goal is not to sell but to shape care. These professionals engage at a higher altitude, focusing on evidence, outcomes, and patient pathways. For a new cardio-renal launch, such a liaison might connect cardiologists, nephrologists, and primary care teams to align referral criteria and patient management plans. They coordinate with medical and access teams to ensure reimbursement readiness, then return with outcomes data to show progress. This role demands scientific fluency, collaboration, system thinking, and commercial awareness.

• New constructs: The pod model and team-based approach. The third transformation lies in how the field force is organized. The rep of the future will not work alone. They will operate within coordinated pods. Each pod may include a field representative, a digital engagement specialist, a data analyst, an access lead, and a patient support expert. The smallest unit of sale will not be a rep but a pod, as complexity increases. The pod expands during launches and scales down as products mature to meet needs. It functions like a SWAT team built around the customer.

Imagine a quarterly goal, such as reducing the time to therapy by 5 days across 10 major accounts. The data analyst pinpoints bottlenecks, the access lead removes prior authorization hurdles, and the field and digital members run targeted follow-ups. By the end of the quarter, results show faster starts and better adherence. This teamwork model ensures consistency, flexibility, and measurable impact. It replaces fragmented efforts with shared purpose and real accountability.

Integrating with direct models

The rep of the future must also integrate with direct-to-consumer, direct-to-patient, and direct-to-employer models. These new pathways do not replace the field force; they make it more relevant. The rep becomes the connector among digital platforms, health systems, and patient experiences.

• Direct-to-consumer: Companies now reach patients through education campaigns, digital platforms, and telehealth networks. Patients arrive better informed. The rep must know what information patients have seen and help the physician connect that awareness with clinical practice.
• Direct-to-patient: Home delivery, virtual onboarding, and digital support programs reduce friction and speed up access. One major company has already launched a direct-to-patient fulfilment platform for eligible cash-paying patients, offering lower net cost and simpler access. Reps who can explain these programs clearly build instant trust with practices.
• Direct-to-employer: Employers are negotiating directly with pharmaceutical companies to manage costs and outcomes. This influences the clinic and the workplace. The modern rep must understand how these programs affect local care and be able to discuss them intelligently with both physicians and system administrators.

What will success look like?

This model has several promising benefits. Companies that embrace it can achieve higher efficiency and lower cost per impact. Through these new ways, they can deliver better physician experiences. They can enable faster therapy and improved patient outcomes, build stronger partnerships with health care systems and payers, and create resilience across product life cycles. And, they can gain a clear competitive edge over slower rivals.

The case for change is urgent. Access is falling, digital preference is rising, and therapies are multiplying. The current model cannot keep pace. As one industry executive puts it, in a world where access is limited and patients expect solutions, the field force must evolve from messenger to partner. The rep of the future is not a visitor with samples. The rep for the future is a strategist, a data-enabled connector, and a trusted ally in improving patient care.

Reference
1. Veeva. Veeva Pulse Field Trends Report. https://www.veeva.com/resources/veeva-pulse-field-trends-report-1q24. Accessed March 6, 2026.

Rohit Gupta, MBA, is VP and partner at Beghou Consulting.