LAB DONKEY'S BLOG
The Donkey Diaries - tales from behind the lab bench.
Latest Posts
We Purposely Broke Lab Donkey
Two scientists at the AstraZeneca BioVentureHub forced Lab Donkey into an error state on purpose so they could fix an instrument mid-run. That is what good lab automation should feel like.
Safwan HAK
The Next Chapter for Lab Donkey
This is not a funding announcement. It is a story update: where Lab Donkey is today, what has changed, and why we believe we have only scratched the surface of what it can become.
Petia HAK
The Problem with Lab Automation Software
Why lab automation needs to move away from one-off workflow thinking and towards platforms built on reusable primitives. Custom rules should sit on top of the platform, not become it.
Safwan HAK
Success Is Everything We Did Not Put in the Statement of Work
Exploring what truly defines a successful deployment. Delivery is the minimum - real success is measured by what teams talk about afterwards, without being prompted.
Petia HAK
Lab Automation Doesn't Scale Because People Don't
Why traditional integration approaches fail: they depend on individuals rather than scalable systems. A critique of the lab automation industry and how to build something better.
Safwan HAK
Automation Should Adapt To The Lab, Not The Other Way Around
Most labs will never resemble industrial workcells. It's time to build automation that fits how labs actually work, not how we wish they worked.
Safwan HAK
What It Really Takes to Build a Lab Automation Scheduler
Scheduling is not the hard part. Respecting the science is. Why faster schedulers don't equal better solutions, and what actually matters.
Safwan HAK
What I Learned After Two Weeks of Conversations About Chemistry Automation
Exploring why chemistry automation lags behind biology automation through conversations with industry leaders. Identifying structural gaps in standardization, hardware complexity, and software orchestration.
Safwan HAK
Building a Company with Your Family Feels Like a Superpower
We are building something we are proud to share with our kids, and I want everyone who joins Lab Donkey to feel that same pride.
Petia HAK
The Truth About Your Product Lives in What Customers Repeat
Your product is not what you say it is. It's what your customers repeat to visitors, colleagues, and leadership.
Safwan HAK
Building a Startup Means Becoming an Expert in Whatever Today Demands
Startup life is messy, unpredictable, and often ridiculous. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Petia HAK
It's the Little Things That Make the Difference
The little things aren't little. They're the difference between a good experience and a great one. And that applies to both software and people.
Safwan HAK
The No-Code Myth in Lab Automation
Why no-code automation solutions are largely a marketing concept, and what real lab automation actually requires.
Safwan HAK
From Consulting to Innovating: Our Journey into Lab Automation
After 30 years of software development, lab automation introduced us to a new frontier—one where the challenges were unlike anything we had faced before.
Safwan HAK