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. Model spend, retrieval, evaluation and the human review time that agents still trigger are all inside the number. A cost-per-unit figure that excludes inference is a marketing number.
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. If volume doubles, the inference column doubles. That is the honest trade being made here.
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.