[Episode Seventy-Nine of ‘The Employee Advocacy and Influence Podcast] 🎧
How AstraZeneca Built Employee Advocacy in a Regulated Industry (with Agata Qanadilo) And why compliance doesn’t have to kill authenticity.
Most people believe industries like pharma can’t embrace employee advocacy.
Too regulated.
Too risky.
Too many lawyers involved.
AstraZeneca proves the opposite.
Agata Qanadilo, Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing Manager, built their employee advocacy program from scratch – with no playbook and no precedent, and turned it into a thriving global movement of confident employee creators.
In this conversation with Lewis Gray and Elliot Elsley, Agata breaks down exactly how she made it work inside one of the most compliance-heavy sectors on the planet.
What follows is a practical, human-first roadmap for any organisation trying to balance authenticity + regulation without shutting down creativity.
Key Takeaways:
- Regulated industries can run world-class advocacy programs – clarity beats fear.
- Education is the engine: employees won’t post confidently unless trained and supported.
- Empowerment > ownership: advocacy scales when the brand decentralises control.
- Structured training models work: the LinkedIn Academy offers a repeatable blueprint.
- Advocacy improves recruitment and culture, not just marketing metrics.
Employee Advocacy Thrives in Regulated Sectors
Pharma is often seen as the hardest environment for employee-generated content.
But Agata’s experience shows that regulation isn’t the enemy: ambiguity is.
She explains that AstraZeneca’s “don’t” list is surprisingly short and logical:
no product claims, no clinical trial details, no medical advice.
Once these guardrails were clarified internally, compliance became an enabler rather than a blocker.
With clear policies, transparent communication, and continuous education through the LinkedIn Academy, employees felt equipped, not restricted, to represent the brand.
The lesson: Most “compliance fears” come from unclear rules, not actual regulation.
From Solo Effort to Army of Gems
When Agata joined AstraZeneca, she was a one-person team tasked with building an employer brand from the ground up.
The breakthrough moment?
Realising that creating everything herself was not only impossible – it was ineffective.
Instead, she invested in educating employees to become confident storytellers. Agata calls them her “gems,” each with their own voice, perspective, and story that reflects the AstraZeneca culture far better than corporate messaging ever could.
The result was a decentralised, empowered advocacy community with much greater reach, trust, and authenticity.
The AstraZeneca LinkedIn Academy
AstraZeneca’s LinkedIn Academy is now a cornerstone of their advocacy strategy, but it didn’t start that way.
What began as 1:1 coaching evolved into a repeatable global program that teaches:
- Profile optimisation
- Storytelling and narrative shaping
- Visual content and video basics
- AI-assisted content creation
- Networking and audience building
- Internal + external campaign collaboration
Every session reinforces confidence, creativity, and compliance, the three ingredients that make advocacy sustainable.
This academy doesn’t just upskill employees.
It strengthens employer brand, accelerates recruitment, and boosts internal engagement by giving people the tools to showcase their impact.
Ready to start your own employee advocacy program?
Whether you’re exploring employee advocacy or considering DSMN8 as your platform, we can help you get started with confidence.
Learn More About Employee Advocacy:
Selina Sher Gill
Selina has a Master's Degree in Marketing and Brand Management, and is DSMN8's Digital Marketing Executive. She's a pro at creating and editing video content, using these skills to create short-form social media videos and edit the Employee Advocacy and Influence podcast.
