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Zlatko Joncev

Zlatko Joncev

Co-Founder & CEO at b-12, focused on AI for chemical R&D

zlatko-joncev
San Francisco, California, United States
Joined June 2025

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Swiss Chemistry Research
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Summary

Zlatko Joncev is a visionary entrepreneur and scientist at the forefront of combining AI, robotics, and chemistry to revolutionize pharmaceutical and biotech R&D. As Co-Founder & CEO of b-12 (YC S25), he is building an AI copilot to automate chemical lab experiments, designing autonomous labs capable of complex syntheses with minimal human intervention. His work focuses on creating 'chemical super intelligence' that can understand literature, design experiments, and control robotic systems, significantly accelerating drug discovery. nocap+2
His academic foundation is strong, holding a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Basel and serving as a Scientific Collaborator/Postdoc at EPFL's Lab of Artificial Chemical Intelligence (LIAC). His research at EPFL focuses on leveraging large language models (LLMs) for strategy-aware retrosynthetic planning and reaction mechanism elucidation, aiming to bridge the gap between AI capabilities and human chemical intuition. epfl+2
Zlatko possesses a unique blend of chemical expertise and software engineering skills, complemented by an XSeries in Computer Science from MITx on edX. This interdisciplinary background enables him to develop cutting-edge solutions at the intersection of chemistry, AI, and robotics. His practical experience includes building chemistry robots at Chemspeed Technologies and consulting on AI/ML applications, which directly informs the development of b-12's platform. linkedin
He is a recognized contributor to scientific literature, with notable writings on topics such as constrained synthesis planning (Tango*), training scientific reasoning models for chemistry, and using LLMs to enhance strategy-aware synthesis planning and reaction mechanism elucidation. These contributions highlight his commitment to advancing the field of AI-driven chemistry. sciencedirect+3
Beyond academic papers, Zlatko actively demonstrates his work through projects like the 'B12 - ChemCrow Demo' and 'B12 - Steer Retrosynthesis Agent Demo' available on his YouTube channel. These demonstrations provide tangible insights into his practical applications of AI in chemical synthesis and laboratory automation. youtube+2

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Tango*: constrained synthesis planning using chemically informed value functions

January 1, 2025

Introduces a guided search method, Tango*, for solving starting material-constrained synthesis planning problems. It showcases how optimizing a single hyperparameter can lead to improved efficiency and solve rates, and highlights the effectiveness of a computed node cost function in guiding synthesis pathways.

Favicon imagesciencedirect.com

Training a Scientific Reasoning Model for Chemistry

January 1, 2024

This paper focuses on the development and training of a scientific reasoning model specifically for chemistry, indicating advancements in AI's ability to understand and process complex chemical information. Co-authored with Andres M Bran, Theo A Neukomm, Daniel P Armstrong, and Philippe Schwaller.

Favicon imagearxiv.org

Knowledge Graph Extraction from Total Synthesis Documents

January 1, 2024

Explores methods for extracting structured chemical knowledge from total synthesis documents using LLMs and other computational approaches, contributing to the automation and analysis of chemical data.

Favicon imageaclanthology.org

Chemical reasoning in LLMs unlocks strategy-aware synthesis planning and reaction mechanism elucidation

Demonstrates that large language models (LLMs) can serve as powerful tools for chemical analysis. When integrated with traditional search algorithms, LLMs enable a new approach to computer-aided synthesis that mirrors human expert thinking, guiding search algorithms toward chemically meaningful solutions for strategy-aware retrosynthetic planning and mechanism elucidation.

Favicon imagearxiv.org