#68 - Building the Software Behind the Automated Lab | Armon Naddaf, Persist AI

<p>Everyone sees the robot. But some of the hardest problems in laboratory automation live in the software underneath it.</p><p><br></p><p>Armon Naddaf joins Sura Hadi and Mike Ouren to explore what it actually takes to build software around physical science — from hardware drivers, instrument APIs and version control to orchestration, user interfaces and legacy systems.</p><p><br></p><p>They dig into why testing changes when software controls a physical process, what scientists need from automation interfaces, how standards like OPC UA help bring order to heterogeneous instruments, where AI adds value, and what foundations are still missing before labs can become genuinely more autonomous.</p><p><br></p><p>The through-line: reliable automation is not just about the robot. It is about the software architecture that makes the entire laboratory work together.</p>