Perplexed by AI? Pharma First-line Sales Managers and Brand Managers read this so you aren’t replaced
Pharma first-line sales managers and brand managers, you’ve probably heard this quote more times than you’ve heard “Lunch is ready” —
“AI cannot replace humans, but humans who don’t know AI can be replaced by those who do.”
Ouch. But also… true.
This three-part essay is for those brave souls who want to proudly declare:
“I am not replaceable. I am a learning machine (minus the wires).”
Brought to you by B– Black Belt Brand Builders, this is your AI dojo — where pharma sales and brand management students train to outsmart the bots, not be outpaced by them.
Perplexed by AI? Pharma First-line Sales Managers and Brand Managers, read this so you aren’t replaced
Compiled by B- Black Belt Brand Builders
What is Perplexity AI?
- Perplexity AI is an AI-powered search engine. Rather than giving you a long list of web links, it gives you a clear answer with citations (so you see the source of information).
- You ask it a question in natural language:
“How many arthritis patients in India in 2025?” or
“What are latest pain-relief OTC brand trends?”)
It searches the web in real time, gathers relevant info, then summarises the information for you.
- It works on a freemium model: there’s a free version and a paid “Pro” version with more features.
How can a pharma first-line sales managers and brand managers in India use it?
Here are some practical ways, in a pharma-brand-context:
1] Quick market-overview & trend spotting
As a first-line sales manager or a brand manager (for e.g., a pain-killer like a fictitious brand “Brandicoxib”, you might want to know:
“What’s the growth of pain relief OTC in India?”,
“What are major competitor launches in India in the last 6 months?”,
“What drugs are doctors asking about for morning stiffness in arthritis?”
Use Perplexity to ask such questions. It delivers a summary + links to deeper sources. Perplexity saves you the time of hunting through many websites, reports, and journals.
2] Doctor & healthcare-professional insight prep
When you meet medical specialists / KOLs, you can prepare by querying, e.g.,
“What are current physician opinions in India about morning stiffness in arthritis?”,
“What recent guideline update for NSAIDs use in India?”, or
“What are key patient-concerns shifting in arthritis therapy?”
For your sales review meetings or cycle meetings you can pull up up-to-date commentary and evidence, and have the sources ready.
3] Supporting materials & internal briefing
For internal meetings (with regional managers, district managers) or for presentations, you need clear, reliable info:
“What recent regulatory changes impact pain medications in India?”
“What are new reimbursement/insurance issues for OTC pain relief in tier-2 cities?”
“What consumer behaviour shifts for pain management in India urban/rural?”
Use Perplexity to quickly build a briefing document (the summary, plus citations) which you can adapt into slides or internal reports.
4] Local market customization & competitor intelligence
Since you are in India, you might have specific local questions like:
“Which states in India have highest arthritis prevalence?”,
“What pharmacy-retail chains in Gujarat are expanding pain-relief ranges?”
“What are recent OTC pain relief brand launches in India (2024-25)?”
Use the tool to dig into local/regional nuances which might support your first-line sales manager’s execution strategies.
5] Insight validation & cross-checking.
One challenge in pharma marketing is misinformation or partial data.
Since Perplexity gives you citations, you can verify your assumptions or claims before using them in materials or training.
E.g., you heard a claim “Morning stiffness affects 50 % of rheumatoid arthritis patients in India”.
You ask Perplexity and check the actual data + source.
6] Time saving & creative freedom.
Because routine research (gathering data, summarizing, verifying) takes time, using a tool like Perplexity frees you to focus on strategy, creative engagement with doctors/teams, local adaption — rather than purely spend time digging through many PDFs and websites.
Some cautions / things to keep in mind
- Even though it gives citations, the quality of the sources still matters. Always check whether the source is credible (journal, trusted publication, regulatory site).
- Perplexity is only a support tool, not a full substitute for deep domain expertise or primary research – The reason why AI cannot replace HI i.e. Human Intelligence. You might still need to do local surveys, KOL interviews, or field-data.
- If your data involves sensitive or proprietary information (internal MIS, sales data, competitor confidential information), you must ensure compliance (data privacy, company policy).
- The free version may have limits (number of queries, depth of features) so for heavy use you may need the paid tier. However for routine and day-to-day applications, the free version suffices.
You might like to have a few workflow examples of how Perplexity AI in day-to-day execution, can be customised for the use of a pharma brand manager in India.
Await Part-2 next week
Shailaja Dwivedi and Vivek Hattangadi: B – Black Belt Brand Builders