#63 - The Execution Problem: Lab Donkey

Donkey work. That's what a British scientist called it — the tedious, repetitive, unglamorous work that keeps labs running. Petia and Safwan Hak heard that phrase and built a company around it. Lab Donkey is focused on one of the hardest problems in lab automation: execution, scheduling and robotics for the problems that are too big, too complex and too challenging for anyone else to tackle. And they built it from the outside - Petia from project management and operations, Safwan from enterprise software architecture including time at Automata - watching scientists work, living in the lab, and solving the problems nobody else would touch. In this episode: → Why automation works in demos but breaks in real labs → Why the human is the biggest challenge in automation → What enterprise software can teach life sciences → Why standards are the real bottleneck in lab automation → How Lab Donkey is building what the industry was missing 🎙️ Guests: Petia Hak & Safwan Hak — Lab Donkey 👥 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren 📁 Series: Automation in the Wild 🔗 Follow Petia on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/petiahak-4bb26a3 🔗 Follow Safwan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/safwanhak 🔗 Lab Donkey: labdonkey.com 📩 [email protected] CHAPTERS 00:00 The Story Behind "Lab Donkey" 00:24 Meet the Founders 01:40 The Real Problem with Lab Automation 08:49 Why Automation Demos Don't Match Reality 10:50 What Actually Breaks in a Lab 17:59 Software Lessons Life Sciences Needs 22:11 Is AI Ready for Lab Automation? 26:04 Why So Many Automation Projects Fail 29:03 The Hidden Complexity of Lab Workflows 34:29 Designing for Scientists, Not Programmers 41:52 What Shocked Them About the Industry 45:20 The Mindset Behind Lab Donkey 50:42 The Future of Lab Donkey 51:59 Final Thoughts 👉 YouTube: / @helicalbrew 🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts 📩 [email protected] 📍 @helicalbrew everywhere #HelicalBrew #AutomationInTheWild #LabAutomation #Biotech #LabDonkey #Robotics #Scheduling #LabTech #SciencePodcast #Podcast #WomenFounders #StartupLife #Biology #Automation