At Veeva R&D and Quality Summit 2025, we spoke with Manny Vazquez, Senior Director of Clinical Data Strategy at Veeva, about why the industry must rethink its approach to EDC and clinical data workflows.
Vazquez emphasized that many organizations are still operating on twenty years of accumulated custom tools and patched-together processes, noting that this legacy environment is both inefficient and incompatible with the scale of modern trials. He shared that AI marks a turning point, describing it as a completely new computing paradigm that forces companies to assess whether their data and systems are ready for what comes next.
Discussing the shift toward simpler, more sustainable data processes, Vazquez highlighted that the goal is not to reduce data volume but to eliminate unnecessary complexity in how data is collected, processed, and moved along the pipeline. He noted that without simpler workflows and stronger standardization, rising data demands will overwhelm the people responsible for managing them.
He also introduced the foundation required for meaningful AI adoption, explaining how Veeva built tools like CDB and the Study File Format API to centralize data and provide high-frequency access. This infrastructure allows sponsors to train models, automate workflows, and work at the scale modern research requires.
Vazquez urged the industry to challenge the assumption that EDC remains the center of clinical data. “EDC is now just one of many sources. The real hub is the data workbench,” he said.
This content is sponsored by Veeva Systems.
Moe Alsumidaie is Chief Editor of The Clinical Trial Vanguard. Moe holds decades of experience in the clinical trials industry. Moe also serves as Head of Research at CliniBiz and Chief Data Scientist at Annex Clinical Corporation.
