News-Medical spoke with Gary Stimson, head of AI technology at LabVantage, at Pittcon 2026 about agent AI and laboratory workflows. He will discuss LabVantage CORTEX, a platform that connects lab data between systems and supports analysis as well as storage. We also describe a step-by-step path to AI support in the lab, from UI prompts that reduce errors to autonomous agents that take on routine data tasks.
What is your role at LabVantage and how did you get there?
I’ve been using LabVantage for nearly 25 years. I went to LabVantage right out of college and they gave me great guidance.
Currently, I am the Head of AI Technology at LabVantage. I’m also a developer and have worked on customer sites and been a product manager. The company has led me to this role throughout my career.
Image credit: Golden Sikorka/Shutterstock.com
Where did your interest in science and technology start and when did you know you wanted to go into industry?
So my father is a chemist. He worked at Associated Octel. He was increasing the octane rating of gasoline – I think we call it gasoline here.
When I was 15 years old and I was looking for a job, I remember my dad saying, “You know what? “Oh, come to the lab. Come see how it works.” I completely fell in love with it. I remembered the excitement of working with the machines of those days and the sight of all the scientists enjoying their work. I thought. “Yes, this is what I want to do. I want to be a chemist.”
As a result, I went to university and studied chemistry. While I was there, I spent a year studying abroad at another university in Chicago, deepening my exposure to computer science. One of my closest friends there was a computer scientist, and I realized: “Oh, I love computer science too.” That’s why I got a second master’s degree in computer science.
This is why LabVantage, which combines both of these, is ideal.
Who has been an important mentor for you over the years?
Unfortunately, my colleague Mark Hill will be retiring at the end of this month. I worked with him for about 20 years and he was a great mentor.
He encouraged me to research and consider new technologies. That’s why we made this leap, and that’s what the products we’re going to announce at Pitcon will also address.
This helped us take a leap forward, discover new technologies, use and apply them in a very good way.
This interview took place at Pittcon 2026 in San Antonio. What are we here to announce? What is LabVantage CORTEX?
We’re here to release new platforms and products. We believe now is the right time for agent AI and created LabVantage CORTEX, a platform for this new technology.
What will LabVantage CORTEX change for labs currently using LabVantage, and what does this announcement mean for customers?
I now think of LabVantage CORTEX as a laboratory operating system. Traditionally, we have been a LIMS company and will continue to be a LIMS company, but now we are doing this. In addition to storing your data, we can also analyze and process your data and work with you to enhance your laboratory.
LabVantage CORTEX and the additional agent platforms inside it will help you power your lab. For customers, it makes their daily lives easier, saves time, and improves work efficiency.
What were your customers looking for and why do you feel now is the right time to implement agent AI in your lab?
We often meet with our customers. We hold conferences several times a year, including user conferences and stakeholder conferences. I recently visited some customers and they all do their research in-house.
They actually came up to us and said, “You know what? “We want to move into important areas, and we want to bring more AI into the lab.” So instead of having these bespoke applications everywhere, we thought it was the perfect time to create a centralized platform.
I think the important thing is trust. We are now using AI in our daily lives. At the moment, I don’t know what I would do without it when summarizing a meeting. This increases efficiency, and I think that’s very important.
I actually tried using it in my company. We have been implementing this technology over the past 12 months. All LabVantage employees use it. I’ve seen applications like summarizing emails, summarizing meeting notes, and providing agendas that allow me to focus on the task at hand rather than mundane tasks.
Driverless cars have been around for nearly a decade, but it’s only now that they’re actually starting to be deployed in cities. I think it’s the same here. So trusting the technology ultimately matters.
I think this can also be applied to the laboratory. You can focus on the science instead of the mundane tasks of data analysis.
When you think about AI working in collaboration with scientists, what advances do you expect to see first?
First, the first agents we release into production will help scientists use the user interface more efficiently. A typical example is when you are entering data on a page and filling out fields. You will be prompted if you make a mistake.
For example, say the due date must be within 7 days of the request. If you fall outside of that 7-day period, your work will not be interrupted. It just prompts them to say, “I don’t know. “Are you sure you want that date?” I believe this will increase efficiency and reduce errors.
What lies ahead is increased autonomy, and the platform allows you to create fully autonomous agents that can process data, like digital versions of themselves, performing everyday tasks such as processing data and seeing trends, so you can focus on your research science and have real moments of discovery for yourself.
Many labs are still dealing with data silos. What is the LabVantage CORTEX-enabled environment and do I need to put anything in place before my organization can use it?
We currently work with hospitals that are siled, with many labs spread out and different systems with different data. The problem is, if a patient comes in and asks, “Does Joe Bloggs have sepsis?”Of course, the blood is all in a different system.
What we do is use the BioTech360 plugin. This allows these agents to display prompts such as the following: “Does Joe Bloggs have sepsis?” You can then use a semantic layer to bring in all the data. These silos are gone.
With LabVantage CORTEX, you link to all these external data sources, external systems such as SAP, and Empower (Waters) products. We can combine all your data and ask you questions about it from one simple chatbot interface.
Facilities like these hospitals do not need any infrastructure in place before using LabVantage CORTEX. That’s the great thing about this platform. You have it and it basically becomes your lab and your company’s operating system.
Looking 5 to 10 years from now, how do you expect LIMS systems to evolve for the scientists using them?
I’m a big sci-fi fan. If I were to leave it up to you, it would be a robot that lives next to you in your lab and works with you as your assistant.
I think it will be baby steps. Initially, people will adopt this technology to improve their work efficiency, but I believe that over the next 5 to 10 years, labs will become even more autonomous.
You’ll be able to focus on your work, and a digital version of yourself will help you handle everyday tasks, increasing your efficiency.
How Agent AI Reimagines Lab Workflows with LabVantage at Pittcon 2026play
About Gary Stimson
Gary Stimson is the Director of AI Technology at LabVantage Solutions, Inc. He is responsible for the company’s enterprise AI/ML strategy, architecture,
Responsible for reference architectures across LLM, predictive models, computer vision, and NLP. He also oversees MLOps implementation, data platform architecture, and governance, with a focus on security, privacy, and responsible AI.
Stimson has held a series of technical leadership roles at LabVantage since 2003, including Senior Architect Scrum Master, Senior Architect, and Senior Software Engineer. He holds a Master’s degree in Information Technology from the University of Nottingham and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Leicester.
About Pitcon
Pitcon is North America’s largest conference and exhibition in experimental science, attracting thousands of industry, academia, and government attendees and exhibitors from around the world. Pitcon is more than a typical conference. It is a global community dedicated to advancing science through education, collaboration, and philanthropy. By bringing together scientists, researchers, educators, students, and industry leaders, Pitcon creates opportunities to learn, connect, and inspire innovation. Beyond the event itself, more than 90% of Pitcon’s net proceeds support local and global science education and outreach efforts, funding scholarships, grants, STEM programs, laboratory improvements, and other initiatives that strengthen communities and expand access to science.
Pittcon offers world-class educational and professional development opportunities through technical programs, short courses, networking workshops and roundtables. Attendees can explore the latest scientific research through symposiums, oral presentations, and poster presentations, improve their skills with in-depth, expert-led courses, and connect with colleagues through interactive workshops and networking experiences designed to foster collaboration and career growth.
Pittcon Expo brings together the scientific community in an immersive environment where attendees can discover the latest laboratory technology, meet key equipment and service providers, and experience science in action. In addition to exhibition booths, the expo floor will feature engaging attractions, educational experiences, demonstrations, and networking spaces, as well as receptions, parties, and social events that will create opportunities to make lasting connections with colleagues from around the world.
