Cactus Life Sciences deploys Microsoft 365 Copilot with 30+ custom automation agents to accelerate scientific writing and data extraction

Cactus Life Sciences needed to reduce the manual burden of document-heavy scientific workflows and improve efficiency across scientific writing and project management teams while meeting strict pharmaceutical data security requirements. The company deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot in a phased rollout and built more than 30 custom automation agents using Microsoft's agent builder framework. The agents retrieve and structure information from scientific literature, support abbreviation checks, formatting consistency, and alignment with regulatory and publication standards, with human review controls preserved. A Copilot Champions program and centralized knowledge repository supported governance and peer-led adoption.

Industry
Pharma
Published
June 2026

Reported outcomes

+35%

structured data extraction speedTime & speed

+50%structured data extraction speed

Strategic outcomes

New product / capabilityAutomated scientific literature retrieval and structuringNew product / capabilityAdded compliance and formatting automationSpeed & agilityAccelerated structured data extractionEmployee experienceHelped teams manage large article volumes

Primary read

Use case focus

Showing 3 of 4

  • 1AI productivity assistants
  • 2Document automation
  • 3Knowledge extraction
  • Reduce manual burden in document-heavy scientific workflows such as search string creation, document review, and structured data extraction.
  • Meet strict pharmaceutical data security requirements while improving team efficiency.
  • Deployed Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
  • Built more than 30 custom automation agents using Microsoft's agent builder framework.
  • Automated retrieval and structuring of information from scientific literature.
  • Added automation for abbreviation checks, formatting consistency, and regulatory/publication standards alignment.
  • Supported adoption with a Copilot Champions program and centralized repository for prompts, agent ideas, and best practices.
  • Structured data extraction became approximately 35% to 50% faster.
  • Project managers use agents to summarize email communications and generate task lists.
  • Scientific writers can manage large volumes of articles more effectively.
  • Human review, quality control, and governance remain in place.
Architecture

A phased Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout with more than 30 custom automation agents built using Microsoft's agent builder framework. The agents were decomposed by workflow step to retrieve and structure scientific literature, handle abbreviation checks, formatting consistency, and standards alignment, while human review controls and governance processes remained in place.

Sources & evidence1
Groundedness: 5/5Type: Customer StoryPublished: Jun 13, 2026Publisher: MicrosoftEvidence: PrimaryConfidence: High

AI-generated summary. Verify important details with the linked sources before relying on this case.

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