Boehringer: AI Drives Technology Spend Reallocation

Research evidence excerpt

Boehringer: AI Drives Technology Spend Reallocation

EUROPE | Software EquityJulyResearch8, 2026

Boehringer: AI Drives Technology Spend

Reallocation

We hosted a call with Michael Lang, Head of Digital Transformation at

Boehringer. The over-riding message was that AI is starting to reshape IT

budgets. Meanwhile, traditional Software and Services are coming from

behind and having to fight hard against increasing competition for IT

budget allocations. That said, the extreme SaaSpocalypse narrative is likely

overplayed.

Spending backdrop: The technology landscape in the pharmaceutical industry was described

as being more dynamic than at any point in decades. Technologies such as AI offer the

potential to dramatically compress new drug development times from 12 to 8 years, creating a

race for efficiency. Given these pressures, Boehringer expects to increase their current €300m

annual spend on technology (c1% of group revenues) by c10% p.a.

AI set to accelerate: While the overall budget growth is healthy, beneath the headlines there will

be a reallocation of spend. Notably, AI is seen as a key enabler and over the next 5 yrs AI spend

(ie agents plus tokens) is expected to accelerate and account for 10-20% of their software

spend by 2030. Boehringer expects 50% of its AI capability to come from existing technology

partners, with 30% from internal development teams and 20% from newer entrants.

Core software: SAP and Veeva are Boehringer's 2 largest technology partners, accounting for

c10% of the overall IT budget. Both of these vendors were described as being late to AI and both

in catch up mode. SAP was described as having more mature agents than Veeva. In recognition

of being late, both vendors are providing discounts to encourage adoption. As productivity