Zifo Launches REAL 2026 Summit to Advance AI-Enabled Automated Laboratories

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As physical AI and agentic platforms rapidly reshape biopharma R&D and accelerate the convergence of robotics, scientific data, analytics, and AI, Zifo  announced the launch of REAL 2026: Readiness & Enablement for Automated Labs, an industry summit dedicated to advancing the next generation of connected, AI-enabled lab environments.

Taking place on September 15, 2026, at Boston's Seaport District, REAL 2026 will bring together leaders from pharma, biotech, automation, data, and AI to explore what it will take to realize the industry's vision of a fully integrated 'lab-in-the-loop' environment. By fostering candid discussions between the organizations developing these technologies and those deploying them in real-world research settings, the summit aims to accelerate collective learning around the data, infrastructure, operating models, and collaboration needed to make automated laboratories a practical reality.

Margaret DiFilippo, Zifo's Head of Commercial in North America, stated: "The future of lab innovation will depend on more than automation alone. Real progress requires bringing together scientists, automation experts, data leaders, and AI practitioners to address the technical, operational, and organizational challenges of creating truly connected laboratories. We are proud to announce the launch of REAL 2026 and contribute to these important industry conversations."

Industry Perspectives from Across the Automated Lab Ecosystem

REAL 2026 will feature leaders who are actively building, operating, and scaling automated laboratory environments. The program is designed to combine strategic perspectives with practical implementation experiences, creating an opportunity for attendees to learn from organizations working across the automation stack.

Featured speakers include leaders from companies such as Novo Nordisk, Merck, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Lila Sciences, TetraScience, Benchling, Dotmatics, HighRes, and Automata, representing diverse perspectives across the evolving automated laboratory ecosystem.

The agenda includes:

• The Autonomous Wet Lab of the Future
  • Jason Kelly
• Unlocking Next Gen Translational Bioanalytics for Vaccine Studies for Preclinical and Clinical Studies
  • Xinnian Li, Principal Scientist Leading Autonomous Robotic Orchestration, Merck and Carol Rohl, Associate Vice President, Global Research IT and Informatics at Merck
• Building the Digital Ecosystem for the Lab of the Future — From Data Chaos to AI-Ready Infrastructure
  • Nevin Gerek, Director, Digital Labs, Research Digital Products, Novo Nordisk
• A National Lab Perspective: A Real Implementation Story
  • Todd Edwards, Chief Technology Integration Officer, Environmental Molecular Sciences, PNNL
• Market View: What We Are Seeing Across the Industry
  • Zifo (Organization-led session) A 25-minute view from the front lines of the market, plus live Q&A on where the puck is headed next.
• Hardware Innovator Lightning Talks (Rapid-fire talks on what's possible today and what's on the roadmap from the teams building the physical layer of automated labs)
  • Tom Rawlins, VP, Marketing, HighRes
  • Bohui Li, Ph.D., Product Manager, Lab Automation Solutions, XtalPi
  • Chirag Patel, Head of Sales, Automata
• Software & Data Infrastructure Lightning Talks (Rapid-fire talks from the other half of the stack — the platforms turning lab data into usable intelligence)
  • Michael Hopkins, Product Management, Lab Automation, Benchling
  • Darren Pittman, Principal Lab Orchestration Architect, Dotmatics
  • Matt Studney, Chief Customer Officer, TetraScience
• Scaling the Scientific Method: Frontier AI & Autonomous Labs on the Path to Superintelligence
  • Ryan Leung, Vice President, Head of Life Sciences, LILA
• Closing Panel: What Will It Actually Take to Make It REAL?
  • Moderated by Stacie Calad-Thomson, PhD, Global Business Development Lead, Pharma Labs and Manufacturing at NVIDIA

Advancing Readiness and Enablement for Automated Labs

As labs generate growing volumes of scientific data and organizations pursue new levels of automation, the need for integrated, interoperable, and scalable research environments continues to increase. REAL 2026 aims to help the industry navigate that transition by fostering collaboration among organizations developing automation technologies and those deploying them within scientific environments.

For Zifo this event reflects a continued commitment to helping science-driven organizations connect laboratory processes, scientific data, informatics platforms, and AI capabilities to optimize discovery and improve decision-making. By bringing together experts from across the ecosystem, REAL 2026 seeks to advance the readiness and enablement needed to move automated laboratories from aspiration to reality.

REAL 2026 is designed as a curated event for senior leaders across pharma, biotech, automation, data, and AI. To encourage the candid discussions that are central to the summit's mission, most sessions will not be recorded; however, a written recap will be shared with attendees. Participation is by invitation, and interested attendees can request an invitation through the event registration page. https://real-summit.org/; https://zifo.com/event/real-2026-readiness-enablement-for-automated-labs/