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
📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com
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
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📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com
📍 @helicalbrew everywhere
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