How Forge DC Began: From Pharma to Forging a New Path

One year ago, we took the leap. 

Before starting this journey, we spent more than a decade inside the pharmaceutical world. Toon led AstraZeneca’s first dedicated Omnichannel team, and Tom consulted at Accenture before joining that team as its first hire. 

From different starting points, our paths converged at AstraZeneca, where we worked side by side for over four and a half years. Together, we reimagined how a global company engaged with healthcare professionals, rolling out new customer engagement models, shaping marketing technology, and building the data strategies that made omnichannel possible at scale. 

It was work we were proud of. We saw pharma at its very best: brilliant people, bold strategies, and ambitious investments in data and technology. But we also saw the cracks. Strategies that lost momentum at the point of execution. Customer data that was abundant, but rarely used or trusted. 

Teams were left asking the same questions: What did we actually deliver? What did it cost? Did it make a difference? 

The issue wasn’t effort, talent, or motivation. The real gap was the missing link between strategy and execution. 

That realisation became the foundation for Forge DC. 

We wanted to create the consultancy we always wished existed when we were on the inside: a partner who could cut through the noise, make data usable for both people and platforms, and deliver solutions designed to hold up in the real world. Clear, actionable, and built to create trust and measurable outcomes. 

So, one year ago, we took the leap.  

Since then, we’ve partnered with pharma leaders across markets to tackle one of the industry’s toughest challenges: making customer data usable. 

That sounds straightforward, but in reality it touches every part of an organization. It has meant helping teams unlock the value of platforms that once sat underused, turning raw data into insights they could finally act on. It has meant giving organisations greater control of their own data, creating the clarity needed to see what’s really working, and what’s not. And it has meant designing engagement strategies that outperform old models, shifting the focus from channel-first execution to audience-first impact. 

Across every project, the lesson has been the same: the biggest gains don’t come from collecting more data, but from making what’s already there clearer, trusted, and actionable. Our role has been to strip away the noise, build the right structures, and give teams the confidence to act. 

What started as just the two of us has already grown into a team of experts. Today, Forge DC brings together specialists in data, platforms, and AI - the kinds of skills pharma will need even more in the years ahead. That growth reflects our belief that solving pharma’s toughest problems requires more than sharp ideas. It takes the right people, with the right expertise, working side by side with clients to make change stick. 

Different projects, same mission: to lay the data foundations that finally unlock the value pharma has held for years but struggled to use. 

Looking back, taking the leap was not just about starting a company. It was about carrying forward everything we had learned about the industry, the challenges, and the way we worked together and putting it to use in a new way. It was the chance to build a consultancy that could finally deliver the clarity, trust, and outcomes we had always wanted when we were on the inside. 

Looking ahead, the mission is just as clear. Pharma’s challenges are not getting simpler. The role of data, platforms, and AI will only grow in importance. Companies will continue to need partners who can help them make sense of complexity and act with confidence. 

That is the space Forge DC was created to fill, and the reason we believe this journey is only just beginning. 

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