AI in biotech: separating hype from reality with Ben Locwin

Mar 11, 2026

Ben Locwin, a healthcare and life sciences executive and medical scientist who helps bring drugs and devices to market, talks about AI in biotech. He explains why many firms claim AI but few truly use it. He highlights AlphaFold as a clear win. He stresses data provenance, the limits of black-box models, and balancing optimism with skepticism.

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INSIGHT

AI Claims Often Signal Image More Than Capability

Many biotechs claim to use AI mainly to avoid being seen as laggards rather than because they have substantive applications.
Ben Locwin says companies often invent idealized AI use cases to signal futurism to investors and markets.

INSIGHT

AlphaFold Shows Where AI Truly Excels

AlphaFold is the clearest success story for AI in biotech because its domain is tightly quantified by physics and chemistry.
Ben Locwin highlights molecular modeling like DeepMind's work as the most evolved application so far.

INSIGHT

Manufacturing And Regulatory AI Is Still The Wild West

AI in manufacturing and regulatory work remains a Wild West with many vendors and unclear use cases.
Ben notes the challenge is defining the right question before applying AI to processes like QC or deviations.

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In this episode of Data in Biotech, host Ross Katz sits down with Ben Locwin, Vice President at Reliant Life Sciences, to explore the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence in biotechnology.

Join us as we discuss why nearly every biotech claims to use AI but few actually do, examine successful applications like AlphaFold, and explore the challenges of implementing AI across drug development, manufacturing, and regulatory processes. Ben shares insights on maintaining healthy skepticism, understanding data provenance, and looking ahead to what this year may bring for AI in life sciences.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

>> The AI hype problem in biotech and why most companies claim to use AI but few actually do.

>> AlphaFold as the gold standard and how DeepMind's protein structure prediction model represents the most successful application of AI in biotech

>> Data quality over algorithmic sophistication and the critical importance of data provenance, examining primary sources, and understanding that data quality matters more than the complexity of the AI model

>> The balance between optimism and evidence-based decision-making, distinguishing between sophisticated AI and advanced statistical modeling

Meet our guest:

Ben Locwin is a healthcare and life sciences executive and medical scientist known for helping bring pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical devices to market faster and with higher quality. A TEDx speaker and seasoned leader, he’s worked across major biotech hubs and has deep expertise in global regulatory pathways, having collaborated with the FDA, EMA, MHRA, PMDA, and more.

Connect with Ben Locwin on LinkedIn

About the host:

Ross Katz is Principal and Data Science Lead at CorrDyn. Ross specializes in building intelligent data systems that empower biotech and healthcare organizations to extract insights and drive innovation.

Connect with Ross Katz on LinkedIn

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Sponsored by…

This episode is brought to you by CorrDyn, the leader in data-driven solutions for biotech and healthcare. Discover how CorrDyn is helping organizations turn data into breakthroughs at CorrDyn.