Q. After consulting (33.7%), technology (24.1%) and finance (19.9%), your vertical secured the next highest percentage of MIT Sloan’s class of 2023 graduates (5.8%)[1]. As you have worked across various sized firms, including your role as President of Merck’s Emerging Business unit as well as CEO of smaller firms; what should the class of 2025 consider as they map out their post-graduation career paths?
A. (Galeota) MIT Sloan’s and all MIT students should consider the tremendous career opportunities that the Healthcare/Pharma/Biotech vertical offers. Further, these career experiences often come with the relatively rare opportunity to dream about the possible, and innovate around it, often driven by strong sense of purpose. This vertical offers a broad range of roles. Frankly, most people don’t understand how strategic and large this vertical is, so let’s break it down to three simple but specific buckets.
First, given my 30+ years working for big pharma, specialty generics and biotechs, it’s important to understand that the discovery of novel drugs and therapeutics often occurs within the biotech ecosystem, and as these advance through the drug’s life cycle towards commercialization; they are developed, commercialized, manufactured and distributed by large pharmcos, since they are leveraged given their scale, domain expertise, and processes that support effectiveness and efficiency KPIs.
Second, MIT Sloan Finance-focused students in particular should consider how all of this is funded, as the funding infrastructure for this vertical includes several different roles offered by venture capital, private equity and/or large banks. In my years engaging with these organizations, I’ve noticed that people who tend to have a leg up are those who have a business mindset coupled with scientific background. So, if you’re a graduate of MIT’s LGO (Leaders for Global Operations), share how your Sloan Finance and MIT Biotech/Bioengineering dual degrees make you a top candidate.
Third, many people are not aware of how large some of the players are in the supply chain, drug delivery and distribution vertical. Consider that all of the top firms here (Cardinal Health, Cencora, and McKesson) are amongst Fortune’s top-fifteen largest firms. Their impact is vast and significant, and the skills these firms demand are highly focused on the efficiency and economics of pharmaceuticals.
So, a key starting point is to study this vertical carefully and learn about the various roles each of its segments (and others I didn’t mention like hospitals and integrated care delivery networks) have to offer, and how these could be part of your long-term career adventure in healthcare and the life sciences.
Q. In a May 2024 interview with MIT President Sally Kornbluth; Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, recently shared how he believes that AI’s technology is potentially “the biggest, the best, and the most important” of the technology revolutions. Given your 30+ years working in this vertical and participating in many digital transformations, what are your top career recommendations for students and biopharma/healthcare employees?
A. (Galeota) In my experience, the only truism that can be relied on over time is that there is no steady state. Given the rate of technological evolution alone, plus so many other constantly moving variables, the idea that a particular topic of interest at a point in time will endure indefinitely is not realistic. There is no doubt that macro trends influence our direction, but those too always evolve with time and what’s talked about, often with urgency, today will almost certainly not be what’s at the top of the interest list five years from now. So, learn to get comfortable with change and look for it. Be on the lookout for ways to stay close to emerging ideas and lean into new, ambiguous, and often times unfamiliar scenarios. For example, when we launched Merck’s Global Innovation Fund, a primary driver was to get us closer to front line innovation and learn what the emerging and developing marketplace changes were. Recognize, that Merck had earned the #1 ranking on Fortune’s Most Admired Companies for a record seven years in a row; and so, Fortune 500 C-Suites were studying what we were doing right! Nonetheless, Merck executives then recognized the risks of resting on one’s laurels and so establishing this fund enabled us to stay close to and in some cases secure not only original ideas but also emerging trends.
Also, another opportunity to force yourself to stay ahead of the innovation curve is taking on roles where there are no defined job descriptions because the team or business unit is so new that there is not a playbook in place with the responsibilities neatly defined. While it might seem counter-intuitive to mentoring advice that often stresses the importance of having clear career progression paths that one can focus full energy on; the reality is that the various jobs you will have over time will change, and often the “off the beaten path” assignments can be differentiating. Consider the points that Sam Alman shared with MIT’s President, “…AI is going to eliminate a lot of current jobs, and there will be classes of jobs that totally go away. AI is also going to change the way a lot of current jobs function, and it’s going to create entirely new jobs.” Even if your job is not one that will be eliminated, your existing job’s tasks will be disrupted and/or you will be taking on some of those entirely new jobs that have not even been created yet. Therefore, change should be your mindset! Adaptability leads to survival, as Darwin showed us, over strength or intellect.
Moreover, adaptability is often forced by failure. While many people love posting comments like “Fail Fast and Innovate” on LinkedIn, the reality is that most people don’t like to be associated with failure. It’s okay if there is a success story at the end of the rainbow; and then one can humble-brag about the journey through failure. But keep in mind that failure is a reality that has or will happen to even the best and brightest. Failure is a powerful learning tool that cannot be wasted on remorse or criticism but must be embraced for learning and experience. Executive leaders need to step up and recognize the value of this and define their norms around it.
Finally, I would challenge the readership to consider how their careers can support humanity, not just them and their direct families. With the 2023 median salary of $170k for MIT Sloan’s graduating class, compared to the $59k median salary (per US Department of Labor) for Americans last year, many of you are positioned for a comfortable life. Look for ways to bring humanity into it everywhere possible. This is what matters most in the end. For example, tap into the school’s continuing education, alumni and various other programs like MIT’s InnovationWORKS to create solutions to critical pain points like cost-effective elder care and other seemingly impossible pain points. Are you a participant or a catalyst? You’re from MIT, you can do it!
Jay Galeota is President and Chief Executive Officer of Kallyope. Prior to joining Kallyope, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Inheris BioPharma and President of G&W Laboratories. Jay started his career at Merck & Co. as a front-line sales representative and eventually rose to become Merck’s Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer as well as President, Emerging Business. He holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from Villanova University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Jay is the co-author of publications in Harvard Business Review and Chief Executive.
Partha Anbil is a Contributing Writer for MIT Sloan Career Development Office and an alum of MIT Sloan. Besides being VP of Programs of the MIT Club of Delaware Valley, Partha is a long-time Life Sciences consulting industry veteran,currently with WNS Global Services, an NYSE-listed company, as SVP & Practice Leader for Life Sciences.
Michael Wong is a Contributing Writer for the MIT Sloan Career Development Office. Besides being an Emeritus Board Member of the Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni Association, Michael’s ideas have been shared in the MIT Sloan Management Review and Harvard Business Review.
[1] https://mitsloan.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2023-12/MBA-Employment-Report-2023-2024_2.pdf
