A look into the future at LabAutomation 2025

Smart technology, inspiring speakers and a glimpse into the future of laboratory automation. LabAutomation 2025 brought together professionals to discover how AI, robotics and digitalisation are shaping the lab of tomorrow. Couldn't make it? Read on for a short review of an inspiring day.

 AI and Chemistry: A Brilliant Combination

Wilhelm Huck, Scientific Director of the Big Chemistry Consortium, will open the day with a fascinating lecture on the power of AI in chemistry. He explains that traditional research methods are too slow to keep up with the materials transition. AI helps predict molecular properties and thus accelerates groundbreaking innovations.

Huck shares his vision with the audience: a fully automated robot lab in which chemists work together with AI to develop new materials. “In the lab of the future, many more actions will be performed by robots, such as pipetting, weighing substances and making mixtures. In addition, we need advanced analytical equipment that can measure very quickly,” he explains.

Collaboration and innovation

Jim Jansen, editor-in-chief of New Scientist, shows how science and technology continue to shape our world. He takes the audience along the most beautiful laboratories in the world and emphasizes that groundbreaking research is only possible through international collaboration. Jansen illustrates this with CERN, the only laboratory in the world where scientists from more than 100 countries work together on groundbreaking research. “We should not only think about the future of science as lab technicians or as a country, but as Europe and the world,” he says. Investing in research and collaboration is crucial to enable new discoveries and tackle major challenges such as AI and sustainability, he concludes.

LIMS, digitalization and AI in the lab

Louis Uunk shares his experiences from sixty LIMS projects and discusses the role of different stakeholders in the process: the lab, the consultant and the supplier. He too is convinced that AI will radically change the laboratory. But are we ready for it? Workflow automation, smart data analysis and AI-driven assistants offer enormous opportunities, but require a solid digital foundation.

According to Uunk, the five biggest opportunities for AI in the lab are: AI workflow automation, AI data analysis, robotization, AI virtual assistants and knowledge retention. Because, as he explains: “We are in an aging world, many lab managers and technical specialists are retiring. With AI we have an opportunity to capture that knowledge and make it accessible to future generations.”

The lab of the future

The future of laboratories revolves around automation, digitalization and AI. This is already clearly visible on the show floor: robots move smoothly in their displays, move samples and perform complex actions, while integrated AI systems optimize entire workflows. Visitors watch in fascination as these technologies perform tasks in real time that were previously done by humans. But are labs ready for it? According to the speakers, the technology is available, but implementation requires vision and investment.

After a day full of insights and inspiring practical examples, visitors returned home with new ideas and concrete tools to make their laboratories future-proof.