Case Study: AstraZeneca achieves rapid analytics, 3‑hour planning cycles and $1B/year savings with Talend

Pushing the boundaries of data to deliver life-changing medicines

AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical leader, faced fragmented data across CRM, HR, finance and multiple ERP systems after rapid growth and acquisitions. These silos slowed reporting, undermined trust in metrics, and risked non‑compliance with GxP and GDPR—all while the company needed faster, reliable insights to shorten drug development timelines and improve operational efficiency.

AstraZeneca built an AWS data lake and deployed the Talend Cloud suite for integration, quality, cataloging, stewardship and APIs, standardizing pipelines, governance and data lineage. The platform made 90% of data analysis-ready within three minutes, cut planning cycles from 15 days to 3 hours, delivered a $1B/year benefit from shaving one month off clinical trials, and achieved roughly $40 return for every $1 invested—while enabling AI/ML and faster decision‑making across the business.

AstraZeneca

Andy McPhee

Science and Enabling Units Data & Analytics Engineering Lead