The Pistoia Alliance, a global not-for-profit advocating collaboration in life sciences R&D, has released the results of its 2025 Lab of the Future survey, revealing that more than three-quarters of life sciences laboratories expect to implement artificial intelligence (AI) within the next two years. Conducted with Open Pharma Research, the survey collected insights from over 200 experts across pharma, biotech, software, services, academia, and non-profits in Europe, the Americas, and APAC. AI remains the leading investment priority, with 63% of respondents citing it as their top focus for the third consecutive year. However, a growing skills shortage is emerging as a major barrier, with 34% of participants citing a lack of qualified personnel as a challenge, up from 23% in 2024.

“AI is evolving faster than any other lab technology with new models and approaches such as multimodal and agentic AI emerging every few months,” said Dr Becky Upton, president of the Pistoia Alliance. “This makes access to skills and expertise increasingly critical if companies are to keep pace and apply AI successfully to accelerate R&D. A shortage of skilled people has become one of the biggest barriers to AI adoption in labs this year, and organisations are increasingly seeking support in upskilling their teams. This is why the Pistoia Alliance is expanding its training programs in AI and FAIR Data Governance, helping the life sciences community adapt to rapid technological evolution and apply AI responsibly.”

The survey highlights broader digitalisation trends across laboratories. Cloud adoption continues to rise, with 80% of respondents now using cloud data platforms, up from 70% in 2023, reflecting both software migration to the cloud and growing confidence in security, scale, and accessibility. Electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) remain the most widely used technology, with adoption increasing to 81% from 66% in 2024. This demonstrates how life sciences organisations are reinforcing robust, digitised data foundations to enable AI and advanced analytics. Mike Hampton, CCO of Sapio Sciences, said: “The Pistoia Alliance’s finding that ELNs are the most widely used technology in the lab shows that teams are reinforcing their data foundations to enable AI, but the bigger story is how ELNs and AI are becoming increasingly intertwined. Traditional ELNs focus on recording information, but the next generation of ‘AILNs’ will use AI agents to interpret multimodal data, and to suggest and execute experimental next steps. This shift won’t just streamline workflows, it will help close the skills gap identified by the Alliance, making it simple for scientists to query data or create templates directly, rather than having to depend on specialist teams.”

Barriers to effective data use are gradually easing. Data silos remain the top challenge at 57%, down from 66% in 2023, while regulatory uncertainty around AI has declined to 9%, compared with 23% last year, reflecting clearer guidance and growing industry confidence. Hype around emerging technologies such as digital twins, quantum computing, and wearable devices has cooled, with expected adoption rates slipping compared with 2024. Collaboration on FAIR initiatives is expanding, and more use cases, benchmarks, and best practices are now in place to support standards and data interoperability.

The survey also shows rising demand for AI education, with 51% of respondents requesting best practice guides, 45% seeking AI/ML courses, and 40% pursuing skills training, reflecting recognition that talent gaps are a key bottleneck for AI adoption.

“Last year, the primary benefit of digitising labs was improving efficiency and effectiveness in R&D,” said Dr Christian Baber, chief portfolio officer at the Pistoia Alliance. “This year, accelerating innovation and enabling scientific breakthroughs has emerged as the top benefit. Companies are increasingly using technology not just to speed up processes but to enable better science. Through initiatives like our Future Labs Evolution, AI/ML, and change management communities, the Alliance helps the industry overcome both cultural and technological challenges, unlocking the full potential of digital transformation to drive better research outcomes.”

The full 2025 The Evolution of Labs report is available for free download at the Pistoia Alliance resource library. Dr Becky Upton will also present the survey’s key findings at the Lab of the Future Europe conference on 30 September–1 October in Amsterdam, exploring the latest advances shaping life sciences research, development, and manufacturing.