iOS App for Pharma Reps with AI Search

A mobile app for pharmaceutical sales reps centralizes company content, makes it available offline and lets them search it in natural language with AI-based answers and source citations. For a company in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sector we built one, for the roughly 180-200 sales reps who work on the move every day.

Pharmaceutical reps are the point of contact between the company and the physician: during visits they need scientific materials that are always up to date and instantly available, even in healthcare facilities where connectivity is not guaranteed. The company already had a system to manage that content, but with limits that reduced its effectiveness in the field.

The problem: the content exists, but without smart search or offline access

The existing system had three concrete limits: an interface not aligned with the company’s visual identity, the absence of intelligent search over the content and no integration with the company’s document ecosystem, in particular with SharePoint.

The result, for the rep, was slow and cumbersome consultation precisely when speed mattered — in front of the physician, with only a few minutes available. And the lack of a reliable offline mode turned every area without coverage into an obstacle. The content existed; the problem was reaching it, at the right moment and in the right format.

The solution: a branded iOS app with AI conversational search

We built a native iOS app, developed with React Native and deployed on company iPads, aligned with the company’s branding and designed as the single access point to scientific content. The app is backed by a .NET backend on Microsoft Azure and offers visual navigation by category, PDF and video consultation optimized for iPad, and full-text search with metadata filters.

SharePoint synchronization and offline mode

The backend automatically synchronizes content from the corporate SharePoint repository, converts source documents to PDF preserving cross-document references, indexes them and makes them available on the devices even offline. The offline mode is complete: all content and consultation features remain available without a connection, with automatic and consistent synchronization when connectivity returns. It was one of the two main challenges of the delivery — ensuring that nothing, in the field, depended on the presence of the network.

RAG-based conversational search with citations

On top of the company content we built a conversational search engine based on RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), which lets the rep ask questions in natural language and get answers with direct citations to the source documents. The second delivery challenge was precisely upstream: acquiring the documents from SharePoint, converting them while preserving cross-document references, extracting the text and preparing it (chunking and embedding) so that both full-text search and the conversational engine worked reliably. It is the same principle as the RAG chatbot in Teams: the quality of the answer comes from the preparation of the content, not just the model. It is the same approach as the AI agent for tender analysis, which retrieves the right passages from technical manuals.

An experience designed for use in the field

Beyond search, what matters is the way the rep reaches the content. The app is native iOS, deployed on company iPads and aligned with the company’s visual identity: it offers visual navigation by category — a catalog-style experience that makes it immediate to find the right product line — with PDF and video consultation optimized for iPad and a full-text search with metadata filters, complementary to the conversational one. These are details that weigh precisely in the context of use: in front of the physician, with only a few minutes available, the difference between content reached in two taps and one searched for with effort is the entire effectiveness of the visit. The choice of native, over a simple web portal, stems exactly from this: guaranteeing speed and continuity of consultation even when the connection is missing.

Permissions and security

Permission management by business line is based on Entra ID groups, with Single Sign-On: each rep only accesses the content relevant to them. The app thus inherits the security model already in use in the company’s Microsoft 365 ecosystem, with no parallel permission framework to maintain. Microsoft Clarity and Azure Application Insights provide usage analytics and error monitoring, to evolve the app based on how it is actually used in the field.

What changes for the field network

The value of this solution is not measured in a single figure, but in how it changes the rep’s day. The scientific materials are always aligned with the latest version published on SharePoint, with no manual steps; they are fully consultable even where the network doesn’t reach; and they are reachable in natural language, with the relevant answer and the cited source, instead of a hit-or-miss search through the documents. Three capabilities that usually live separately — content synced from a single source, offline availability and conversational search — here coexist in a single, brand-aligned tool, so that the technology disappears and only the relationship with the physician remains. For a network of roughly 180-200 people working on the move every day, it is the difference between putting up with the tool and leaning on an ally.

Who benefits from this approach

This kind of solution is relevant for companies with a sales force or a network of specialists that works on the move and needs to consult always-up-to-date company content, often in uncertain connectivity conditions: pharma reps, field technicians, agents, staff operating off-site. The value lies in combining three elements that usually live separately — content synced from a single source, offline availability and natural-language search — in a single, brand-aligned app.

If your field network wastes time looking for the right content, or works on outdated materials, an app integrated with Microsoft 365 can turn access to information into a competitive advantage. Contact us for an assessment →