Meet our commercial team

Our commercial team have backgrounds in science, technology, healthcare, project management and relationship success. Meet some of the people dedicated to making your next lab automation project the best experience possible.

With over a decade of experience in life science, healthcare and automation technology between them, Automata’s commercial leaders are focused on ensuring every client project delivers both instant impact and long-term viability.

We believe in service based on a culture of hypercare from beginning to end. Get in touch with our commercial team to start working with an automation partner as passionate about your goals as you are.

Richard C. Grochmal

VP, Head of US Growth

Richard serves as Vice President, Head of US Growth for Automata, leveraging extensive experience in scaling early-stage startups to millions in recurring revenue. Richard graduated from Boston’s Suffolk University with a degree in Business Administration, and studied corporate finance at Georgetown University.

BioBio

Michael Asham

Head of Presales

Mike is Head of Presales here at Automata based in our US office. He’s a self-confessed molecular biologist turned roboticist with over 10 years of experience in the field of liquid handling and robotics with a specialism in genomics, NGS and molecular oncology.

BioBio

Joe Stringer

Executive Chairman and Director of Corporate Development (EMEA)

Joe has over 25 years of experience in health technology having held a wide variety of roles and founding a number of successful businesses in the sector. Today, he has several investor, non-executive and advisory roles alongside his role as Executive Chairman and Director of Corporate Development (EMEA) at Automata including being a non-executive director at Holland & Barrett.

BioBio

Craig Johnston

Global Head of Sales

Craig is Automata’s Global Head of Sales, leading our commercial function from our London office. He has a degree in Economics from University of St Andrew and an extensive background in business development.

BioBio

Commercial team insights

Future-proofing your automation investment

How do you ensure that your investment in automation solutions will be…

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Every career choice should be based on tuna pasta – why I am joining Automata

Automata Executive Chairman and Director of Corporate Development (EMEA) Joe Stringer shares…

Read more Every career choice should be based on tuna pasta – why I am joining Automata

The future role of automation

Following the NHS’ collaboration with automation leader, Automata, to accelerate lab automation,…

Read more The future role of automation

What our clients say

Your lab’s throughput multiplier

“Thanks to Automata’s innovative robotic technology, this UK-first clinical diagnostics installation will transform genomic testing at The Royal Marsden by streamlining our processes, substantially increasing our capacity without compromising accuracy.”

Professor Michael Hubank, Scientific Director of Clinical Genomics at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

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Your lab’s time machine

“The major benefit of our walkaway workflows is the ability to prepare samples and generate data rapidly, accelerating the pace of discoveries at the Crick.”

Jerome Nicod, Head of the Advanced Sequencing Facility at the Francis Crick Institute

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Your lab’s flexible automation partner

“The support level is utmost. They’ve given me a software engineer and a project manager – specific people I can go to for specific problems.

The modularity of the system is also brilliant. When this system becomes obsolete, we’ll be able to easily break it down and adapt to the new processes with minimal cost.”

Jade Brash, Senior Automation Scientist at bit.bio

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What’s it like to work in the commercial team?