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Sumana Rao

Module 2 -Week 2 at AMP - Visit from Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna


One of the highlights of this week was the visit from Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, a former HBS student (MBA 2000, AMP 170) who was invited by Prof. Marco Iansiti.



Prof. Iansetti co-authored the book ‘Competing in the Age of AI’ with Prof.Karim Lakhani. Highly recommend the book for anyone that is trying to reinvent their business and operating model to scale faster and add more value to customers.



Bancel shared insights into how Moderna built a digital organization and leveraged artificial intelligence and other digital resources to speed up its operations, manage its processes, and ensure quality across research, testing, and manufacturing.


During his talk, Bancel spoke about the challenges he faced in the summer of 2020 as Moderna's groundbreaking COVID-19 vaccine entered Phase III clinical trials, and how his team balanced the demands of developing a vaccine for a virus creating a global pandemic alongside the other important vaccines and therapies in Moderna's pipeline. He also shared his experience working in the biotech industry and the challenges that come with developing new drugs and therapies. Bancel's talk was inspiring and gave us a glimpse into the world of biotech and the tremendous impact that it can have on people's lives. His passion for his work and his dedication to making a difference left a lasting impression on us.


What impressed me the most about Bancel was his humility, belief in himself, persistence, and learning mindset. He shared that when they first thought about mRNA, no one believed it would work, and the odds were high. However, Bancel and his team were determined to succeed as they believed it could change medicine forever. Bancel mentioned that you don't have to be the smartest person in the room, but your team needs to learn the fastest. He also shared that their mindset was to obsess about learning and using science and the platform to learn the fastest. I found this to be an insightful takeaway.


Another takeaway was Bancel's approach to looking at everyone as a resource who can help him, and not as competition. He sees the world as a resource to accomplish his mission to save lives. This approach is refreshing and demonstrates Bancel's dedication to his work.


Furthermore, Bancel mentioned that his biggest challenge was people and culture, in an industry that does not want to take risks.


Overall, Bancel's insights were inspiring and thought-provoking.


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