How has the role of lab ops and facilities evolved as teams are asked to do more with less?
The role has shifted from reactive maintenance to strategic efficiency. Lab ops used to be largely invisible — you succeeded by staying out of the way. If you didn't hear any complaints, you were doing a good job. Now, ops and facilities leaders are being asked to be strategic and proactive rather than reactive. Budget pressures have forced teams to get creative: consolidating space, renegotiating vendor contracts, and finding ways to sweat existing assets harder before requesting new capital. This also strains equipment that was never designed to function at this scale, requiring much more hands on maintenance and monitoring. The upside is that ops leaders have been given a voice — but the expectations that come with that seat are significantly higher.
What are the biggest operational challenges facing lab ops and facilities teams today?
Four things come up constantly: space utilization (labs are expensive and chronically underused), equipment downtime (a broken instrument in a critical workflow can cost far more than the repair), budgeting and team management— finding and retaining people who understand enough of the science and have the operational mentality. Organizations must adapt by investing in data: sensors, CMMS platforms, and digital dashboards that surface problems before they escalate. The shift from reactive decision-making to proactive operations is real.
What will "best-in-class" lab operations look like in 5–10 years?
The best labs will feel less like buildings and more like living systems — continuously sensing, learning, and self-optimizing. Space will be dynamically allocated based on actual usage patterns. Preventive maintenance will give way to predictive maintenance driven by equipment telemetry. And sustainability won't be a separate initiative; it'll be baked into every operational decision.
Megan McMaster,
Senior Manager, Laboratory Operations Operations
New Limit
How will automation, AI, and smarter asset management change the way labs operate?
Automation handles the repetitive and the sensitive — liquid handling, sample tracking, environmental monitoringm, etc. AI goes a layer deeper: it finds the patterns humans miss. Which equipment fails on what schedule. Which space sits dark on Tuesday afternoons. Smarter asset management ties it together by giving you a single source of truth across your entire portfolio. The compounding effect of all three is that your team stops fighting fires and starts making decisions — which is where their skills are actually most valuable.
What are you most looking forward to at the 3rd Lab Ops & Facility Management for Biopharma West Summit?
Honestly, the hallway conversations. The sessions set the agenda, but the real value is comparing notes with peers who are wrestling with the same problems — finding out who's actually implemented something that works versus what's still a pipe dream. I'm particularly curious to hear how other organizations are navigating the AI hype and figuring out where it can best be utilized.
Finally, could you share a one-line teaser of the key insight or takeaway you’ll be sharing during your session?
The labs that win the next decade won't have the best scientists or the biggest budgets — they'll have the best operational teams.
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