James Atwood is CEO at Opentrons, a laboratory robotics company building AI-enabled infrastructure for autonomous science with over 10,000 robotic systems deployed globally. He was promoted to CEO in July 2025 after leading the Robotics Business Unit since April 2023.

James earned his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Georgia and co-founded Bioinquire, which was acquired by NuSep. He held leadership roles at PerkinElmer, MOBILion Systems, and Omni International before joining Opentrons.

James has deep expertise in mass spectrometry, proteomics, genomics, and laboratory automation with over 20 years in the life sciences sector. He is also a multiple Ironman triathlete who brings passion and dedication to scientific innovation.

Under his leadership, Opentrons partnered with NVIDIA to integrate physical AI into laboratory robotics and expanded deployments across every top-20 U.S. research university and 14 of the top 15 global biopharma companies. Opentrons is backed by SoftBank and Khosla Ventures with a valuation of 1.8 billion dollars.

Opentrons operates the world's largest standardized network of lab automation, democratizing access to robotics for researchers worldwide. The company's systems have automated millions of experiments, including over 1 million COVID-19 tests monthly during the pandemic, making lab automation 10x more affordable and accessible.