S6E07: Foundation Models and Agents

S6E07: Foundation Models and Agents

From Two Scientists Walk Into a Bar by Genentech

December 10, 2025 · 46 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how AI is transforming drug discovery and scientific research with insights from experts in the field.

In our season six finale, we dive deeper into how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of drug discovery and scientific research. With remarkable scale and speed, AI models parse through complex datasets and confirm or generate hypotheses, which can help scientists accelerate R&D. In this episode, co-host Danielle Mandikian welcomes Aviv Regev, Head of gRED, and Jure Leskovec, Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, to talk about foundation models and autonomous agents. Together, they explore the opportunities and challenges of applying AI in drug discovery, including balancing innovation with scientific rigor and the evolving role of scientists. They also discuss how AI is reshaping the future of research — from building more biologically meaningful models to advancing agent-based systems and lab automation. Read the full text transcript at www.gene.com/stories/foundation-models-and-agents

People in this episode

Host: Danielle Mandikian

Guests: Aviv Regev, Jure Leskovec

Topics covered

  • artificial intelligence
  • drug discovery
  • scientific research
  • foundation models
  • autonomous agents

Keywords

  • R&D
  • innovation
  • scientific rigor
  • lab automation

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