Creative Collision: Building Cross-Industry Teams to Drive Life Science Innovation

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Every company is at a crossroads these days, thanks to stunning developments in computing. As entrepreneurs and incumbents race to embrace new modes of technology, organizations are becoming increasingly cross-disciplinary, making issues of culture and talent even more complex. 

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At Occam Global, we have an established track record of recruiting at the intersection of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) in life science executive recruiting. We work with founders building companies that transcend traditional boundaries and established players seeking impactful, but non-disruptive ways of bringing new competencies into the fold. Each has its set of challenges.

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Case Studies in Crossroads Thinking

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New technology advances led renowned chemist Lee Cronin to seek ways to bring the industrial applications of his discipline into the 21st century. The resulting deep-tech company, Chemify, integrates chemistry, robotics, and AI at scale, essentially digitizing chemistry in ways useful for the production of energy, pharmaceuticals, and advanced materials. Given the intersectional foundation of the company, Cronin sought to incorporate outside-in thinking into his executive team. In February 2025, Occam Global placed technology veteran, Michael Bell, as Chemify’s CTO. Bell’s career has been defined by driving innovation at the edge of disciplines, from the development and launch of the iPhone to more recently fusing advancements in hardware and software technology at electric car makers, Rivian and Lucid. He exemplifies a transcendent leader well-suited to disrupt a category. 

In the domain of biology, Chris Gibson founded Recursion in 2012, long before the term "TechBio" became a moniker. The company helped define a new industrial segment in which computation and biology shared equal billing. At the life science executive and board level, this required finding leaders who combined industrial knowledge with first-principles thinking. We found this in the then-start-up’s inaugural COO, Tina Larson. Now, a decade into Recursion's evolution, we continue to find life science executives who strike the balance of seasoned wisdom and entrepreneurial verve. And nowhere is this potentially more additive than at the board level. Our January 2025 recruitment of Namandjé Bumpus struck that balance as Dr. Bumpus is an accomplished academic and FDA veteran who speaks the language of the establishment while embracing the new.

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Our ability to think creatively and recruit leaders who are comfortable operating at the nexus is also embodied in our work with AI drug discovery leader, insitro. Founded by computer scientist and serial entrepreneur Daphne Koller, a MacArthur genius, the fast-growing startup was trying to escape the fate of being a tale of two companies—one populated by data scientists, the other by biologists. Employees didn’t need to belong to both camps, but the company they were building needed to be non-denominational to encourage a free-flowing, cross-pollination of ideas. We found in Jevan Soo Lenox, a Chief People Officer who didn’t belong to either world but had a fundamental understanding of what it takes to build a strong culture out of bimodal employee populations, which he had done at Stitch Fix and Blue Bottle. Daphne recognized in Jevan the intrinsic of an HR leader who was a strategic business person first and took the fork in the road with his hire. More recently, we worked with Koller to diversify her scientific leadership by bringing on Philip Tagari, a 24-year veteran of Amgen. In Phil, Daphne captured a pharma veteran who, rather than being ossified by his depth of experience, was energized by the possibility of redefining drug discovery and development. 

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Flipping the script, Occam Global also collaborates with established players, forging new paths for life science executives. GSK’s SVP and Global Head of AI/ML, Kim Branson, hired Occam Global to augment his team with a computationally and clinically fluent executive capable of driving new capabilities within large organizations. In Danielle Belgrave, we found a versatile intellect with experience leading richly cross-disciplinary teams at Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and Imperial College London. 

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Choose the Fork in the Road

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Each of these life science executive leaders saw the fork in the road and took it, bringing diversity of experience into their organizations to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts. To quote the Yankee sage again, “the future ain’t what it used to be.” Be ready for it.

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Reach out to Occam Global to find life science executive leaders who thrive where disciplines collide