Episode Overview

Podcast: The Digital Executive by Coruzant Technologies
Episode: Paul Neyman on Scaling Clinical Trials with AI (Ep 1191)
Date: February 1, 2026

This episode features Paul Neyman, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Areti Health, who leverages his deep technical background and sales expertise to discuss how generative AI is revolutionizing patient engagement and recruitment in clinical trials. Paul shares how automating traditionally manual processes is addressing major bottlenecks, increasing enrollment accuracy, and delivering value to large, regulated enterprises in healthcare.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Engineer to Sales Leader: The Power of Technical Credibility

• Paul’s Unconventional Journey: Paul describes his career shift from software engineering to sales leadership, which enables him to bridge technical and business conversations, particularly in complex enterprise environments.
• Quote:

  “That transition gave me ability to articulate how the product is built, what it does, what it delivers with much greater authority.” – Paul Neyman [02:00]

• Key Insight:
  Paul’s engineering background allows him to act as his own sales engineer, deep-diving into discussions about integrations and tech stacks, which creates trust and earns credibility with clients.

2. Fixing Clinical Trial Recruitment with AI

• The Problem:
  Clinical trial recruitment is the No. 1 pain point in the industry, with “80% of clinical trials do not meet their targets on enrollment.” [03:57]
• Manual Bottlenecks:
  • Reliance on call centers and manual review of hundreds-page-long medical records, often requiring hours per patient.
  • Labor- and time-intensive processes that slow down drug development.
• AI Transformation:
  • AI automates extraction and analysis of unstructured data (doctor notes, lab results, images) from medical records “in minutes,” enabling high-fidelity patient matching.
  • AI operates 24/7 to engage patients immediately and personally via calls or texts, in multiple languages, without human delay.
  • Automation continues to schedule, remind, and nurture patients throughout the entire trial process to minimize drop-off.
• Quote:

  “Now that we're bringing AI, we're able to one, analyze those records in minutes, pull them in minutes, analyze everything… until definitively we're 99% confident this patient is a match for this medical trial.” – Paul Neyman [06:20]

• Memorable Moment:
  The AI "holistically" reviews complex, 300-page medical records and triages patients, reporting not only who is a fit, but how confident the match is—eliminating wasted effort on poor candidates.

3. Translating AI Capability into Tangible Business Value

• What Resonates with Fortune 100 Executives:
  • Clear articulation of value delivered (e.g., cost savings, decreased timelines, improved accuracy).
  • Proof points and case studies over “feature” lists.
  • De-risked decisions with compliance guardrails, especially vital in regulated, conservative healthcare sectors.
  • Acknowledgement that AI is not a “magic bullet”—human oversight is still critical in 20% of edge cases.
• Quote:

  “What is the value that I'm bringing? Why would a Fortune 100 onboard this technology? … Are there guardrails around this? We did a lot of work on compliance and all these guardrails…” – Paul Neyman [10:26]

• Key Insight:
  Enterprises care about how quickly AI can compress recruitment timelines and deliver operational savings while ensuring regulatory compliance and patient safety.

4. The Future: Generative AI in Enterprise Sales & Healthcare Innovation

• Current Trends:
  • Proliferation of AI-driven tools throughout the sales process, from SDR (Sales Development Representative) automation to call center replacement.
• CRO Skills for the Future:
  • Ability to filter out “AI noise” and select tools that add actual value.
  • Staying current with tech trends and maintaining a strategic view of which automations enhance, rather than hinder, productivity.
• Strategic Choices:
  • Decision-making around where and how to deploy AI is dependent on the business context—mass automation for some, highly tailored outreach for others.
• Quote:

  “It's just ability to filter out the noise from the true, truly enabling features within the stack…” – Paul Neyman [14:50]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• [02:00] “That transition gave me ability to articulate how the product is built…with much greater authority.” — Paul Neyman
• [03:57] “Something like 80% of clinical trials do not meet their targets on enrollment.” — Paul Neyman
• [06:20] “We’re able to…analyze everything from doctor notes to lab results to prescriptions to your image scans holistically…we’re 99% confident this patient is a match.” — Paul Neyman
• [10:26] “Are there guardrails around this? …We did a lot of work on compliance and all these guardrails to make sure that we…detect what's called an adverse event, that we can resolve this or quickly escalate to someone responsible.” — Paul Neyman
• [14:50] “It's just ability to filter out the noise from the true, truly enabling features within the stack…” — Paul Neyman

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:23 | Introduction of guest and Paul’s background.
• 02:00–03:15 | Paul on using a technical background in enterprise sales.
• 03:57–09:18 | How AI transforms patient recruitment and engagement in clinical trials.
• 10:26–12:52 | Communicating value of AI platforms to Fortune 100 enterprises.
• 13:52–15:28 | The evolving role of AI in sales, future CRO skills, and enterprise tech strategy.

Episode Takeaways

• AI is dramatically accelerating and improving accuracy in clinical trial recruitment by automating time-intensive processes.
• Blending technical expertise with sales skills creates major advantages in winning enterprise deals.
• Fortune 100 executives need real, risk-mitigated, compliant value before adopting AI—case studies and guardrails matter.
• Future sales and healthcare leaders must stay current, strategically filter tools, and understand where AI brings true business value.

This episode offers a lucid, firsthand perspective on harnessing generative AI to solve entrenched industry bottlenecks, tactics to gain stakeholder buy-in, and what it’ll take to succeed in a rapidly changing, tech-enabled healthcare landscape.