Benchsci Analytics Inc. has become one of Canada's most promising and heavily funded startups, allowing the drug giant to use artificial intelligence to reduce time and costs from the drug discovery process.
Now, Toronto companies are turning their own eyes to AI to cut costs. Since May, Benchsci has cut 23% of its staff (about 83 jobs). This is said in an email as we are committed to adopting generative AI to do work that previously humans did.
CEO Liran Belenzon signaled Benchsci's commitment to generating AI in a blog post in July. “Like I often remind myself of my team, people who don't accept the risks of AI, not by the technology itself, but by the peers who have mastered it,” he wrote. This year, the company has shifted to “AI-first companies,” which has become our guiding principle. Before adding new people or processes, they ask, “Can AI do this?” ”
Over the past two weeks alone, Benchsci has reduced its software engineering rank to around 100, Belenzon said in an interview. It deploys company-wide tools such as Gemini for Google Workspace and NotebookLM, using AI to automate repetitive workflows with employment practices, and using AI to streamline operations and increase efficiency.
“In the end, the goal is very simple: it gives the team the tools they need to be more efficient and to succeed,” the memo says.
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Benchsci cut 17% in early 2024 in response to concerns about the economic situation and how the availability of generative AI tools like ChatGPT will affect businesses.
As Globe and Mail recently reported, several companies are pushing quickly to adopt generative AI tools internally to increase productivity and save money.
In particular, technology CEOs are concerned about the competitive threat posed by new startups that have fewer employees and can grow faster with less money than they have in the past. Generation AI tool. These applications can write computer code, prototype software, create documents and reports, review legal contracts and more.
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Canadian tech companies such as League Inc. and Geotab Inc. require employees to use AI tools and incorporate their use into employee performance reviews. Other companies are trying to avoid bringing in new employees by completing more work with AI instead. Vancouver Business Intelligence software provider Klue Labs Inc. sent 40% of its employees in June to stay competitive in the age of AI.
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Berenzon told Globe that his generative AI push was inspired by Shopify CEO TobiLütke. Lucke further instructed that the team should only request more staff or resources after showing that they cannot get what they want to do with AI.
Belenzon said staff cuts were not related to business challenges, and Benchsci recently hired US technology entrepreneur John Jackson as Chief Technology Officer and former Amgen Vice President of Research Peter Grandsard as Senior Vice President of Strategy. The company also added Michael Dorsten, former Pfizer chief science officer, to its board two weeks ago. “It's growing, the business is strong and on track,” Benchsci plans to announce significant developments in the coming months.
Founded in 2015 by Berenzon and three other people who met through the University of Toronto Creative Destruction Lab, Benchsci has raised more than $225 million backed by American investors, including former US vice president Algoa's generational investment management. Private and public market investment giant TCV, Google-backed Gradient Ventures, and F-Prime Capital Partners are part of the Johnson family of Fund Giant Fidelity. Canadian investors include Radical Ventures, Inavia Capital, Golden Ventures and Real Ventures.
BenchSci acts as an AI co-pilot for medical researchers to quickly peruse millions of science publications using AI and quickly determine which antibodies and reagents are best used in early experiments. Over half of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies are BenchSci clients.
