Function cockpit
Research & Development
Agents run research operations. Scientists own hypotheses and conclusions.
Phase: Phase 2 — Supervised execution
Connect scientific programs to resources, evidence and decision gates: retrieval, scheduling, data integrity, simulation and reproducibility are agent work; hypothesis selection, safety and scientific conclusions remain human.
Trust score
0
Touchless
0%
Human review
0%
Override rate
0%
Capacity released
20-35% research-operating capacity (no presumption that success rates improve)
Accountable human
Chief Scientific Officer
CoS agent: R&D Chief of Staff
Cost to serve per unit including inference, and where the capacity went
Unit economics
What a unit of Research & Development work costs to serve
Cost per unit is stated after inference, not before it. more
Units per week
88,371
Cost to serve / wk
$1.1M
was $3.2M
Run-rate saving
$108.4M
annualized at current volume
Inference spend / wk
$223K
20% of cost to serve
Capacity released
163.9 FTE
492 → 328 on the work
Cost to serve by sub-function
Before and after, per unit, with the inference component shown separately.
| Sub-function | Units / wk | Cost / unit before | Cost / unit now | Of which inference | Change | Weekly delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Research | 2,471 | $50 | $17 | $3.14 | -66% | $81K |
| Innovation Portfolio | 11,992 | $12 | $5.54 | $1.32 | -54% | $78K |
| Experiment Design | 10,635 | $45 | $17 | $2.29 | -63% | $303K |
| Lab Operations | 9,721 | $13 | $2.96 | $0.54 | -78% | $101K |
| Data Science & Modeling | 15,032 | $46 | $14 | $3.42 | -69% | $472K |
| Prototype & Pilot | 5,131 | $27 | $9.63 | $1.78 | -65% | $92K |
| IP Creation & Capture | 1,100 | $44 | $13 | $3.66 | -70% | $34K |
| Regulatory Science | 22,214 | $40 | $15 | $3.46 | -62% | $552K |
| External Collaboration | 6,778 | $12 | $3.65 | $0.59 | -69% | $56K |
| Technology Scouting | 3,124 | $46 | $13 | $2.67 | -71% | $102K |
| Portfolio Analytics | 173 | $2K | $557 | $94 | -69% | $214K |
| Total | 88,371 | $3.2M | $1.1M | $223K | -66% | $2.1M |
Inference is a variable cost that scales with volume, unlike the headcount it replaced. more
Where the released capacity went
Capacity that is not redeployed is not a saving, it is a rounding error waiting to be re-hired.
Discovery Research
23.3 → 15.0 FTE
Redeployed into exception judgment and supplier relationship work.
Innovation Portfolio
79.5 → 54.2 FTE
Redeployed into scenario work and strategy authoring review.
Experiment Design
59.7 → 38.4 FTE
Redeployed into agent supervision, calibration and coaching.
Lab Operations
35.5 → 23.4 FTE
Redeployed into exception judgment and supplier relationship work.
Data Science & Modeling
69.2 → 50.6 FTE
Redeployed into scenario work and strategy authoring review.
Prototype & Pilot
42.5 → 28.1 FTE
Redeployed into customer-facing escalation ownership.
IP Creation & Capture
28.3 → 15.9 FTE
Redeployed into cross-function process redesign.
Regulatory Science
65.8 → 43.1 FTE
Redeployed into customer-facing escalation ownership.
External Collaboration
34.7 → 23.2 FTE
Redeployed into scenario work and strategy authoring review.
Technology Scouting
44.6 → 31.0 FTE
Roles held flat; released hours absorbed volume growth rather than headcount reduction.
Portfolio Analytics
9.1 → 5.4 FTE
Redeployed into scenario work and strategy authoring review.