To reduce the overall costs of drugs, pharmaceutical companies need to look for innovations in the pharmaceutical value chain and research and development, especially clinical trials, which represent a great opportunity. It becomes more and more obvious that, in this space, digital transformations like wearables, health apps, and social media are being increasingly adopted by pharma companies and CROs alike, which will, in turn, improve the entire spectrum of patient recruitment, engagement and retention throughout the clinical trials study. In addition, new methods like virtual studies and technologies like artificial intelligence provide opportunities in this context and increase the speed of digital transformation. The presentation should provide an insight into what this development means for clinical trials and trigger discussions about the changed role of humans in future clinical trials and the importance of ethics and culture.