In lab workflow expansion, SPT Labtech’s CEO Rob Walton and Illumina’s Sandy Ottensmann discussed efforts to simplify NGS automation for smaller oncology research labs. The focus is on bringing automation capabilities to environments that may not have the resources of major sequencing centers. The initiative aligns with broader industry demand for standardized, higher-throughput sample-to-data pipelines, particularly as oncology research scales from discovery into biomarker development and clinical solution contexts. For biotech R&D teams, the emphasis on automation accessibility targets operational bottlenecks—reducing manual steps and variability across runs—without requiring the same footprint as enterprise systems.