Discourse with Jacob Thaysen: Insights into Illumina's Future Vision

New CEO of Illumina, Jacob Thaysen, to Discuss His Vision at "The State of Multiomics and NGS" Virtual Summit

In a significant move for the genomics industry, Jacob Thaysen was appointed as the CEO of Illumina Inc. in September 2023, following the dramatic exit of Francis deSouza. Thaysen, an outsider to the genomics community, brought a fresh perspective to the company, having held multiple roles in his career, including positions in start-ups, management consulting, cancer diagnostics, and companies like Agilent Technologies.

Over the last year and a half, there have been significant changes at Illumina and for Thaysen personally. On April 23, 2025, Thaysen participated in the "The State of Multiomics and NGS" virtual summit, where he joined GEN deputy editor in chief, Julianna LeMieux, PhD, in the first keynote talk.

During the summit, Thaysen will discuss these changes and his vision for the future in detail. In a fireside chat, he will delve into the challenges faced by Illumina and the strategies he plans to implement to drive the company forward.

The virtual summit, which is available to watch free on demand at bit.ly/OMICS25, features talks from other prominent figures in the industry, including Joseph M. Beechem, PhD, from Bruker, Melanie Janczyk from Scale Biosciences, Robert Meltzer, PhD, from Illumina, Clare Paterson, PhD, from Standard BioTools, and Kian Sadeghi from Sampled. The summit also includes sponsored talks with several other speakers.

Thaysen's appointment as CEO of Illumina generated a lot of initial buzz. His career, which includes experience in making small sensors using MEMs technology, has prepared him well for the challenges of leading a genomics company. Prior to joining Illumina, Thaysen had a career that included building a start-up company, a management consulting role, and positions at Dako and Agilent Technologies.

As the CEO of Illumina for at least 18 months as of the second quarter of 2025, Thaysen has already made a significant impact on the company. The "The State of Multiomics and NGS" virtual summit is an excellent opportunity for the industry to hear Thaysen's vision for Illumina's future and how he plans to continue driving innovation in the field of genomics.