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Compilers for the wet lab. High-level languages for biology. A co-founder who started pipetting and ended up writing code that talks to robots. Alexandra Rolfness is building something this industry has never seen — and she's here to explain why lab automation needs a new language.
Alexandra Rolfness co-founded Tetsuwan Scientific straight out of Caltech, where she studied computer science after years in the wet lab — stem cell production, cancer biology, plant epigenetics. She's one of the few people in this industry who genuinely owns the full stack of biology and software, and she's using it to rewrite how scientists talk to machines.
In this episode:
→ Why automation breaks down in real labs
→ What it actually means to compile biology
→ Where LLMs fit in and where they fall short→ What autonomous labs actually mean vs the hype
→ What it's like being a young woman founder in lab automation🎙️ Guest: Alexandra Rolfness — Tetsuwan Scientific
👥 Hosts: Sura Hadi & Mike Ouren
📁 Series: AI Thought Leaders
🔗 Follow Alex on LinkedIn: / arolfness
🔗 Tetsuwan Scientific: tetsuwan.com
📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com
CHAPTERS
00:00 Automation Isn’t a Hardware Problem (Cold Open)
00:27 Welcome & Guest Intro — Alexandra Rolfnes, Tetsuwan Scientific
01:08 What People Underestimate About Young Technical Founders
03:01 Why Lab Automation Breaks in Real Labs
18:56 Compiling Biology — A New Language for Automation
32:41 From Wet Lab Scientist to Full-Stack Founder
42:13 Autonomous Labs vs. Reality
50:25 Pick of the Week — Claude Code, Visualization & Retro Ray-Bans
53:59 Final Thoughts & Where to Find Tetsuwan Scientific
👉 YouTube: / @helicalbrew
🎧 Spotify, iTunes & Amazon Podcasts
📩 helicalbrew@gmail.com
📍 @helicalbrew everywhere
#HelicalBrew #AIThoughtLeaders #LabAutomation #Biotech #AI #Biology #Automation #CompilerDesign #DSL #AutonomousLab #SciencePodcast #Podcast #TetsuwanScientific #WomenInSTEM
