Inside the world of pharma consulting: The career that teaches you to think differently

When a survey by TCS and the Association of Management Consulting Firms revealed that nearly 80% of MBA students in India aspired to become consultants, I wasn’t surprised (see survey). I’ve seen that excitement firsthand. From campus placements where students crowd around consulting stalls to mid-career professionals who message me saying, “How do I move into consulting?” The fascination is real.  

Consulting has long held a certain mystique. Jet-setting meetings, global projects, international travel, it all sounds glamorous! 

But while many chase the consulting dream, few understand what it means to build a career in pharma consulting. Ask them what the job really entails, and you’ll get a mix of vague answers: “strategy”, “advice”, “data”. Now add the word “pharma” before it and the confusion doubles.

Having spent over 15 years advising global pharma giants and start-ups, building teams, and shaping strategies across continents, I can tell you this, consulting is the art and science of thinking deeply about things you don’t own but are responsible for fixing. It’s about making sense of the complexity of the industry so that new therapies can reach patients faster and safer.

The invisible engine of the industry 

So what do we actually do?  

If pharma were a giant, complex hospital, consulting would be the team that doesn’t perform surgeries but makes sure the surgeons, nurses, and billing systems are all moving in sync. We don’t touch the patient (the medicine), but we help everyone else do their jobs better. 

Similarly, while scientists are busy running clinical trials, regulators are writing rules, sales teams are fighting for market share, someone has to step back, see the big picture, and say, “Here’s how it all fits together.” That someone is us. Pharma consulting doesn’t make drugs, but it ensures that the drugs get made, tested, priced, approved, and delivered to the right people, at the right time, in the right markets.  

Your “client” may be a pharma company, a biotech firm, a medical device company, a hospital system, a payer, or a government agency. One day you might help a company design a Regulatory Information Management System (RIMS) to track its global filings. The next, you could be advising a government on how to structure a vaccination program for rural outreach. In another project, you may help a start-up price its breakthrough therapy in a way that’s both ethical and sustainable.  

This job involves thinking, analysing, presenting, arguing, rethinking, and then doing it all over again until it makes sense. It is exhausting and extremely demanding but when you realise your recommendation could save a hospital millions or speed up access to a life-saving drug, it feels worth it. 

The consulting flavours: strategy, implementation, and expertise 

Over the years, I’ve learned that consulting can be understood through three simple questions: 

1. Strategy Consulting: “What should we do?”
   Should we enter this therapy area? Expand into this market? Acquire a biotech firm?
   This is the world of the McKinseys, BCGs, and Bains i.e.  firms that help define the “what” and shape global decisions
2. Implementation Consulting: “How should we do it?”
   How do we make R&D faster? How can supply chains be digitised? How do we reduce cost without compromising quality?
   Think Deloitte, PwC, EY, Accenture i.e firms that take strategy from Powerpoint to reality.
3. Functional Specialist Consulting: “What enables us to do it?”
   What data, processes, or systems do we need to make it all work?
   Here live firms like ZS Associates, IQVIA, Syneos, Indegene ,where deep domain expertise meets analytical precision.

Of course, the lines blur. The most rewarding consultants and firms are those who move fluidly across all three worlds: who can think like strategists, plan like engineers, and deliver like caregivers. 

The journey upwards 

In most consulting firms, the journey starts at the analyst level , learning the ropes, building slides and crunching numbers late into the night. It’s demanding, but it’s also your training ground for clarity and precision.

Then comes the consultant and manager phase, where you lead workstreams, engage with clients, and learn to make decisions without having all the answers. Eventually, you become a principal or partner, leading entire practices, shaping industry agendas, and mentoring the next generation.

But titles are secondary. What matters more is the mindset you build along the way i.e  the ability to structure chaos, connect dots across science and business, and stay calm when everything changes (and it will).

What it really takes and the reward 

Firms look for sharp thinkers who don’t panic when the data doesn’t fit. They want people who can see patterns in chaos, stay curious, and explain complex ideas in simple words. 

They look for the ones who are always on, not in the hustle sense, but in the mental agility to shift gears between a spreadsheet, a client meeting, and a brainstorming session. The ones who can take feedback without flinching, who stay grounded when others panic, and who treat every question as an invitation to learn. And above all stay resilient. Because projects fail, data misbehaves, and clients change directions overnight. But you learn to begin again sharper, calmer, and a little humbler each time. 

In the end, consulting gives you something far more lasting than global travel, it transforms you. 

Few careers expose you to so much, so early. One week, you’re decoding R&D bottlenecks; the next, you’re discussing market access with policymakers. You learn to hold your own in rooms filled with people who’ve spent decades mastering their fields and still find a way to add value. 

You start thinking differently. You learn how to ask the right questions, structure ambiguity and see the story behind the data. You begin to trust your logic, sharpen your instincts and communicate in a way that makes people listen. 

And somewhere along the way, you realise the true reward isn’t the snazzy title, but it’s that your mind works differently now. You can walk into chaos, map it and make sense. 

That’s the gift consulting gives you, not just at work, but everywhere else in life. 

Coming next: how to prepare and succeed in a consulting career. The skills, habits and mindsets that separate the good from the exceptional.