Smed Advisory

About Smed Advisory

Smed Advisory is me, Søren Smed Østergaard. I started the company in 2026 to do the work I have done for twenty years, for more than one company at a time.

Before that I worked in global pharma and medtech. I started in devices and launches, advised an EVP, built a medical software business area from scratch and finished as VP responsible for digital strategy and AI in research.

Since 2018 I have been a leader of leaders, with up to 200 people in the organisation and six leaders reporting directly to me.

I have directed top tier consulting firms from the client side and seen where their recommendations stall. So I work close to the people who have to use the result afterwards, and I stay until it runs.

Education

  • Pharmaceutical Medicine, ECPM, University of Basel
  • MSc Management of Innovation & Business Development, Copenhagen Business School
  • BSc Computer Science & Business Administration, Copenhagen Business School

Executive education and certification

  • Strategic Persuasion: The Art of Selling Ideas, The Wharton School
  • Medical Marketing, UCLA Anderson School of Management
  • Leadership Development Series, University of California, Berkeley
  • Obesity Leadership, Harvard
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner

Written and said

Podcast, 2022

Progress, Potential, and Possibilities with Ira Pastor

49 minutes on building a digital health organisation inside pharma, and on why every party has to win before anything holds in healthcare.

I'm a tech realist rather than a tech optimist.

Quoted

Substack

I write as QuickWinExec, mostly about data, AI and organisations.

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