Builder of AI-native systems that orchestrate real-world behavior at scale.
Co-founder & CPO of Aktana (acquired by PharmaForceIQ, 2025). 15+ years building AI products that move enterprise behavior — now Head of Product at PharmaForceIQ. Named to PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring in Life Sciences.
In an AI-saturated world, the durable advantage is not the model — it is the structure, continuity, and governance of the context the model reasons over.
Ask Derek
Start a conversation, or pick a prompt below.
Systems shipped, behavior moved.
Pioneering Next-Best-Action
How AI replaced static segmentation in life sciences
Tactic Genie
Strategy planning as a generative search problem
The AI Context Layer
The substrate every answer engine needs
Optipresent
From data → understanding → decision → impact
AI4Kidz
The same flywheel — engagement, data, insight, decision — kid-shaped
Three eras. One thesis.
Building next-best-action systems
Founded Aktana. Designed the first NBA platform purpose-built for life sciences engagement.
Scaling AI adoption globally
Reached >50% of top 20 pharma. $1B+ in script lift. Named to PharmaVoice 100.
Acquisition and acceleration
Aktana acquired by PharmaForceIQ (2025). Now Head of Product, redefining workflows with AI — building agentic AI for life sciences and AI for kids.
Notes from the field.
Press, quotes, and recognition.
Trajectory in one page.
Two decades across consulting, strategy, and AI-native product. The throughline is the same problem in different surfaces — orchestrating real-world behavior over a shared, contextual substrate.
Derek Choy
AI-Native Product Executive · San Francisco Bay Area
University of Melbourne — B.Sc. Computer Science · LL.B (Honors) Law
PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring People in Life Sciences (2019) · Frequent contributor in industry trade press
Let's talk.
Less an inbox, more a doorway. Here's what's open and the cleanest way in.
Brainstorm & build
With other product builders, AI engineers, and founders thinking through agentic systems, the AI context layer, and category creation. Trades and provocations welcome.
Advise & be advised
Mentoring goes both ways. Especially open to early-stage AI-native teams in life sciences and family software — and to learning from people building in adjacent domains.
Speak & on podcasts
On agentic AI, NBA → NBE, attention engineering, AI in regulated industries, and the AI4Kidz thesis. Happy to keynote, panel, or come on as a guest.
PharmaForceIQ inquiries
If your team wants to see the AI Context Layer, Knowledge Nexus, or optichannel orchestration in action — or just talk through the post-Aktana platform direction — I'll connect you with the right people at PFIQ.