Catalyst Agent

Catalyst Agent is a conversational AI platform developed by Ginkgo Bioworks that partners with scientists to translate natural language intent directly into lab automation execution. Designed for life sciences teams who want to eliminate routine, repetitive benchwork, Catalyst Agent enables researchers to drive their automation at any level — from high-level protocol demands down to precise, low-level individual instrument commands — without writing complex scripts or manually supervising machines.

By feeding data and API information back into the agent in real time, Catalyst Agent empowers scientists to generate analysis-ready data faster and with fewer operational headaches, freeing valuable scientific talent to focus on higher-order thinking rather than mundane tasks.

Core Capabilities

• Protocol development and iteration in seconds: Scientists define a high-level goal and Catalyst Agent takes over the multi-day experimental loop — analyzing results, adjusting parameters, and queuing the next batch automatically until the goal is achieved. This enables true closed-loop science built for speed and precision, with no manual intervention required.
• 24/7 autonomous lab operation: Catalyst Agent acts as a permanent on-site supervisor. By integrating with RAC event streams, the agent monitors experimental integrity in real time, reacts to batch-level events, and ensures maximum utilization by launching and managing protocols around the clock — keeping the automation system working harder, smarter, and longer.
• Instant data visualization and analysis: Users can move directly from raw data files to actionable scientific insights within the agent's conversational interface. By simply requesting an analysis, the integrated Data Processing Agent automatically retrieves and contextualizes data, generates visualizations such as microplate heatmaps, and provides clear summaries of key metrics — eliminating the need for manual file transfers or separate analytical software.

How Catalyst Agent Fits Into the Lab Workflow

1. The scientist defines their experimental intent or goal in natural language through the conversational interface.
2. Catalyst Agent translates that intent into the appropriate automation scripts and instrument commands, operating at whichever layer of the autonomous lab is required.
3. The agent monitors ongoing experiments via RAC event stream integration, reacting dynamically to real-time batch-level events.
4. Upon data generation, the Data Processing Agent retrieves, contextualizes, and visualizes results, delivering insights directly within the same conversational interface.
5. The agent iterates on parameters and queues subsequent runs autonomously until the defined scientific goal is achieved.

Catalyst Agent is built to integrate across the layers of an autonomous lab environment, connecting with existing automation infrastructure and event streams to enable continuous, closed-loop scientific operations. Organizations interested in exploring the platform can schedule a hands-on demo with the Ginkgo Bioworks team.