Rob Harkness

Dr. Rob Harkness is Senior Director Automation at GSK, where he focuses on laboratory automation, robotics and digital technologies to advance modern scientific workflows. With more than 25 years of experience in laboratory automation and digital transformation, he has held senior technology and product leadership positions across the life-science automation sector, including Biosero, Astech Projects and Peak Analysis & Automation. Rob is also a Director of the SiLA Consortium, contributing to the development and adoption of open standards that enable interoperability and connectivity between laboratory systems. He holds a BSc in Computer-Aided Chemistry and a PhD in Biochemical Assay Automation Software from the University of Surrey.