Field Notes

Direct observations from conferences, frameworks, and the work itself. Where First Light captures what is becoming visible before it becomes obvious.

AI Biology

Software Agents have Changed Science

At Bio-IT World 2026, a Genentech scientist showed 4,000 lines of R code with no handwritten lines, and the bottleneck moved to verification.

Topographic illustration showing two peaks separated by a valley. A gold pin labeled "We are Here" sits in the valley. First Light publication mark in the corner.

AI Biology

“We are Here” - AI and Drug Discovery by Jeremy Jenkins, Novartis’ Head of US Discovery Sciences

A field note from Dr. Jeremy Jenkins's BioIT World 2026 plenary on where AI and drug discovery actually stand today. Not the hyped version, not a future projection. The current state of AI implementation, from inside Novartis.