How AI is rewriting the rules for medicine and biotech in Mass.

What they're saying: "The thing about AI is you can run all of the experiments in parallel," Yvonne Hao, chief operating officer at Flagship Pioneering, said during her conversation with Axios' Dan Primack.

• "We can just accelerate the discovery," Hao said.
• It's a shift already speeding progress on Moderna and Merck's cancer vaccine work, Hao said.

Yesmean Wahdan, from event sponsor Bayer, said AI's biggest value isn't computation but forcing scientists to question long-held assumptions on cell and gene therapy, cardiovascular health and oncology.

Clairity's Connie Lehman won a landmark FDA authorization for an AI model that predicts a woman's future breast cancer risk from a standard mammogram — all without adding work to radiologists' routines.

Between the lines: None of the three framed AI as a replacement for scientists or doctors.

• Each expert described it as a way to surface patterns and questions humans alone couldn't reach.

What's next: Industry leaders on the panel said AI's role in life sciences is in its early stages, with more disruption ahead for drug development and diagnostics.