Helical Brew

Just like the DNA of Life from which the phrase, the DNA of Technology originated, the helical construct is a rollercoaster of endless learning, experimentation, and discovery. The Helical Brew Crew is here to take you along for the ride in a fun, relaxed and informative podcast that explores the twists and turns of technology. We are an enthusiastic group of engineering, scientific, and business professionals that share a passion for the development, mastery, and deployment of technology.

Helical Brew is a technology podcast hosted by Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren, with 67 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Sura Hadi | Mike Ouren hosts Helical Brew, a technology show with 67 episodes published.

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  Episode #67

  #67 - Foundations of the AI-Ready Lab | Aniket Deshpande, NVIDIA

  Sep 20, 20261h 6mS1

  AI can predict what experiment should happen next. But can the laboratory actually execute it? Aniket Deshpande joins Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren to explore the convergence of biological research, scientific computing and laboratory automation - from genomics, GPUs and protein language models to AI agents, digital twins and the lab-in-the-loop. They dig into what AI is genuinely changing in drug discovery, why experimental validation still matters, what happens when agents need to interact with instruments and scientific systems, and why Aniket prefers thinking about AI as “AI-assisted” rather than simply “AI-ready.” Ultimately, the question isn’t how impressive the model is. It’s whether it moves the science forward. The views expressed by Aniket are his own and do not necessarily represent those of his employer.

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  Episode #66

  #66 - Why Great Laboratory Automation Companies Win | Brian O'Sullivan, Opentrons

  Aug 30, 20261 hourS1

  Great technology is only the beginning. Some of the best technology in laboratory automation still fails commercially - while other companies build products customers adopt, trust, and buy again. Brian O'Sullivan has spent more than 20 years seeing what separates the two. Across Velocity11, Agilent, HighRes Biosolutions, Ginkgo Bioworks and now Opentrons, he's watched automation companies scale, disrupt markets, build exceptional teams - and sometimes get in their own way. In this episode, Brian joins Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren to unpack what actually separates automation companies that win from those that don't. In this episode: → Why great technology can still fail commercially → What Velocity11 got right about culture, leadership and execution → Why the best salesperson sometimes says no → Why support may be the most undervalued function in laboratory automation → Why life sciences is still operating on a 20–30-year-old support model → AI hype, autonomous labs and the CFO reality check → Why hardware, software and people have to move together → How open architectures are changing laboratory automation → Why robots are becoming data factories → Why willingness to learn may matter more than the perfect résumé Guest: Brian O'Sullivan - Opentrons Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Series: Science Means Business

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  Episode #65

  Unfiltered Brew: We're Back | LRIG, SLAS & What's Ahead #helicalbrew #viral #shorts

  Aug 16, 202611 minS1

  Helical Brew: Unfiltered is back. ☕️ After a summer break, Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren catch up on what's happening across the laboratory automation community — from LRIG chapters and the growing Southeast life sciences scene to what's ahead for SLAS 2027 in San Diego. Plus, Mike discovers one upside to turning 50 in the same year America turns 250. In this episode: → What's happening across the LRIG community → The growing Southeast life sciences ecosystem → Looking ahead to SLAS 2027 → What's next for Helical Brew No guest. No slides. Just Sura + Mike, Unfiltered. Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Series: Helical Brew: Unfiltered

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  Episode #64

  #64 - Building the Road to Autonomous Labs | Rui Campos, Automata

  Jun 21, 202650 minS1

  First to market with NFC payments two years before Apple Pay. First smartwatch for tarmac environments. Now helping the largest life sciences companies in the world build autonomous labs. Rui Campos has been ahead of the market his entire career, and he's here to talk about where lab automation is actually going. Rui Campos is VP of Product at Automata, leading product, engineering, design, data, and AI. Before life sciences, he drove digital transformation across payments, supply chain, airport operations, and IoT. He brings a cross-industry perspective to lab automation that this industry rarely sees. In this episode: Why the problems in lab automation aren't unique—the environment is What product-market fit actually looks like in life sciences What AI-native teams actually do differently What autonomous labs really mean versus the hype Why only 1% of professionals are actually using AI Guest: Rui Campos, Automata Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren Series: Science Means Business LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ruicampos Automata: https://automata.tech Email: helicalbrew@gmail.com YouTube: https://youtu.be/oaLvdLOQuQw CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold Open 00:20 Welcome & Guest Intro — Rui Campos, Automata 07:53 Icebreaker — How Do You Know When You're Early vs Simply Wrong? 10:56 Segment 1 — What Life Sciences Can Learn From Other Industries 12:16 Segment 2 — Product Market Fit in Lab Automation 22:48 Segment 3 — AI Native Teams vs AI Theater 37:59 Segment 4 — The Road to Autonomous Labs 49:50 Pick of the Week 55:54 Where to Find Rui @helicalbrew

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  Episode #63

  #63 - The Execution Problem | Lab Donkey

  Jun 8, 202653 minS1

  <p>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.</p><p>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 proble...

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