90% Faster Approvals, Trusted Compliance: Agentforce Drives Smarter, Safer Research at Austin Health
A big thank you to Heidi Gaulke from Austin Health’s Discovery Unit, who shared this story in Salesforce’s webinar, The Future of Healthcare with Salesforce. Her insights into the practical use of AI in research compliance brought this transformation to life. With the help of Agentforce, ProQuest has delivered a smarter way to review submissions, flag issues early, and keep expert advisors in full control of the final decision: fast tracking the research approval process while ensuring every decision remains safe, accurate, and well-governed.
Austin Health is one of Melbourne’s leading healthcare providers and a recognised research powerhouse. Its 3,800+ active research projects each year include clinical trials, which require careful oversight to ensure protocols are followed, activities are conducted safely, and patients are involved responsibly. Austin Health plays a critical role in making sure all of this happens within a strong compliance and governance framework.
Compliance: From Bottleneck to Enabler
With thousands of submissions each year, compliance advisors at Austin Health face a heavy and high-stakes workload. Each research case is submitted through an internal system, where researchers upload documents for ethics and governance review. These submissions are the entry point for research to proceed, so accuracy and completeness are critical. Every application must be reviewed thoroughly, with no room for error. If something is missed, patient safety can be at risk, studies delayed or shut down, and trust with regulators damaged.
Despite the pressure, compliance cannot be rushed or sacrificed. It underpins safe, ethical research and ensures trials move forward responsibly. But as volumes grow, advisors are stretched thin, backlogs build, and the risk of oversight increases. The system was becoming unsustainable.
The Discovery Unit set out to change that, with the power of Agentforce. AI Agents help reviewers triage cases, flag risks early, and focus their time where it matters most. With built-in checks and transparent logic, it brings structure and speed while keeping decisions firmly in human hands.
Smarter Compliance in Practice
Agentforce assesses submissions in the research approval process in real-time. It reviews each case by comparing it against the original approved protocol, checking for consistency, completeness, and compliance with key requirements. The AI then provides a recommendation, supported by a structured rationale and a list of any further actions needed.
For cases ready for approval, Agentforce generates a summary explaining what it reviewed, how the submission aligned with the original approval, and whether any follow-up was required. It confirms that documentation matches the intended scope of research and that key compliance elements are present. Advisors receive a clear snapshot and can approve with confidence, knowing the core checks have already been completed.
When a case needs more attention, Agentforce flags the submission, outlines the issue, and clearly states what must be addressed. This triage helps governance advisors focus their attention where it matters most, reducing the risk of accidental approvals and improving overall compliance quality.
Throughout the process, human oversight remains central. Advisors have full visibility and control over every decision Agentforce suggests. They can agree, disagree, or make adjustments, maintaining accountability while benefiting from increased speed and clarity.
Measurable Impact for Austin Health
By supporting governance advisors with intelligent triage and structured insights, Agentforce helped transform research compliance from a time-consuming manual task into a faster, more focused process. Advisors are now able to make informed decisions more quickly, with better visibility into risks and alignment, and greater confidence in the guardrails around each case.
Key outcomes included:
- Review time reduced from 10 to 15 minutes to within a minute per case
- Case processing accelerated from weeks to same-day turnaround
- Improved audit readiness and consistency across submissions
- Fewer errors and missed compliance steps through proactive flagging
As research continues to grow in volume and complexity, solutions like Agentforce will be critical in helping organisations meet their ethical, legal, and operational responsibilities without slowing innovation.
Smarter compliance. Safer research. Trusted outcomes.
