Dr. Shekhar Thumake is Head of AI at Ephicacy, where he leads the design and evolution of agentic AI capabilities across the company’s biometrics and data operations. He works closely with clients and delivery teams to reimagine how clinical trial data workflows are built, moving beyond point automation toward intelligent, standards driven systems and within the compliance boundaries the industry demands.
A techno-functional leader with nearly two decades of experience, Dr. Shekhar has built his career at the intersection of clinical domain depth and applied AI. He has built AI innovation functions from the ground up, shaping multiyear road maps that prioritize the highest impact opportunities across the clinical trial life cycle.
His hands-on work includes protocol digitization using CDISC’s USDM standard to unlock interoperability across clinical applications, AI systems that mine unstructured clinical notes to support patient eligibility and identification, natural language tools that protect sensitive patient information, and predictive intelligence platforms that help identify high performing trial sites.
Dr. Shekhar is equally recognized for his consulting acumen in the clinical development domain. He has a strong track record of partnering with senior client and sponsor stakeholders to translate ambiguous business challenges into well scoped, technically sound solutions. He has represented organizations through proposal development, solution design, and executive-level engagements.
A physician by training with a degree in alternative medicine, Dr. Shekhar brings a distinctive clinical lens to technology leadership, one that is further shaped by a master’s degree in business management and postgraduate study in data science and big data analytics. This combination of medical grounding, business acumen, and technical depth defines his approach to building AI that biometrics teams can trust.
His passion for innovation with AI extends beyond work. He is an avid follower of the AI industry and spends much of his time reading and listening to leading voices in the field, tracking where the technology is heading in the near and long term.
