Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the way laboratories and life science companies operate. From accelerating drug discovery pipelines to enabling smarter automation in research environments, AI is optimizing labs for efficiency, accuracy, and innovation. The pharmaceutical industry in particular is seeing a surge in AI-driven approaches that shorten development timelines and optimize resource use.
Messe München, one of the world’s leading trade fair organizers, plays a central role in bringing these innovations to the global stage. Its flagship event, analytica, has long been recognized as a world-leading platform for laboratory technology, analysis, and biotechnology. In 2025, analytica will launch in the United States for the first time, taking place September 10-12 in Columbus, Ohio. The trade fair concept combines three elements: a scientific conference, an industry exhibition, and a practice-oriented supporting program — creating a comprehensive forum where science, business, and application come together.
As AI, automation, and digitalization transform both science and business, DDN spoke with Susanne Groedl, Global Industry Lead & Exhibition Director of analytica USA at Messe München, about the opportunities and challenges these changes bring to trade fairs, laboratories, and the wider research community.
How is AI changing the laboratory world?
Artificial intelligence will revolutionize the laboratory world. The entire laboratory process is likely to become simpler, faster, and more efficient. The integration of AI into a laboratory simplifies interaction, accelerates the retrieval of required content, and noticeably increases overall efficiency. AI enables users of laboratory information management systems (LIMS) to easily and directly access complex data structures, perform sample analyses using natural language interaction, and interact with the LIMS from anywhere in the laboratory using mobile devices. Furthermore, sources of error are minimized, training time for employees is optimized, and overall laboratory productivity is increased. In addition, digital transformation makes a decisive contribution to increasing sustainability in the laboratory.
What role does AI play in drug research?
AI, digitalization, and computer-aided drug design play a central role, especially in times of increasing demand for efficiency and high sample throughput, as is the case in the pharmaceutical industry. AI makes a valuable contribution to the discovery of new active ingredients, especially in the automated structural elucidation of unknown molecules. AI enables the fully automated structural identification of complex mixtures, analyzing large numbers of unknown molecules with high-throughput methods, without relying on reference substances or time-consuming spectral library searches. So, AI and automation technologies have the potential to save time and costs for drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry.
What benefits do you see for users?
By automating sample sorting and sample preparation, laboratories can reduce the need for monotonous work, allowing laboratory staff to focus on more complex and specialized tasks. Machine learning methods are used to predict molecular structural properties from mass spectra databases, which results in significant time savings, increased efficiency and decision-making support. This significantly reduces the risk of late-stage failures and the need for costly and time-consuming follow-up experiments.
Which digitalization topics are currently represented at the analytica USA trade fair?
Analytica USA will be offering a first-hand look into the future of labs and how intelligent automation and connected workflows will transform laboratory operations. Find out what your lab could look like tomorrow and take a step into the future of cell biology, drug discovery, genetics, immunology and cancer research. Digital transformation and lab automation play an important role in all of these areas. The lab industry's global players and market leaders converge at analytica USA. This is the only event where you'll find such a high concentration of market leaders, leading scientists, and top experts.
Furthermore, we have developed a special show concept for this important topic. At analytica USA 2025, the show “Digital Transformation” demonstrates how intelligent automation and connected workflows will transform laboratory operations in the near future. Discover three unmissable lab shows with live experiments, an exclusive hands-on supporting program alongside the exhibition. The special shows "Live Lab", “Digital Transformation”, and the “Lab Safety Show” give insights into the lab of tomorrow.
