Waters Launches AI-Powered Peak Integration Expanding its Suite of Premium AI Subscription Capabilities for Empower Software

The new capability expands Empower Software's premium subscription portfolio, following AI/ML Anomaly Detection launched in February 2025.

Rhea-AI Summary

Waters (WAT) announced AI-Powered Peak Integration, a new premium subscription capability for automating chromatography data processing within Empower Software. Customer enrollment is open for early access beginning in December 2026, with validated, compliant deployment to follow in mid-2027.

In a pilot with a large pharmaceutical customer, review of 400 chromatograms reduced manual interventions from 90 to 4, a reported 95% reduction. Separate user testing showed 50% faster review and 72% lower user-to-user variability. Models are trained on each laboratory's own data and remain unchanged until the laboratory chooses to retrain and approve a new model.

Key Figures

Manual intervention reduction: 95% Accuracy improvement: 76% greater accuracy User-to-user variability reduction: 72% +4 more

Manual intervention reduction

95%

AI-powered peak integration pilot

Accuracy improvement

76% greater accuracy

AI-Powered Peak Integration

User-to-user variability reduction

72%

Pilot testing of AI-powered peak integration

Review time reduction

50% faster review

User testing

Chromatograms reviewed

400 chromatograms

Side-by-side review in a pharmaceutical customer pilot

Early access

December 2026

Customer early access begins

Validated deployment

Mid-2027

Compliant deployment to follow early access

Key Terms

chromatography, machine learning, chromatograms, high molecular weight

4 terms

chromatography technical

"AI-Powered Peak Integration transforms chromatography data processing"

Chromatography is a laboratory method for separating the parts of a mixture so each component can be identified and measured, like sorting colored marbles or filtering different dyes from a liquid. Investors care because it proves product purity, detects impurities or contaminants, and supports regulatory approvals and consistent manufacturing; failures or delays in these tests can affect costs, launch timing and liability risk.

machine learning technical

"AI, machine learning, and automation cloud-based capabilities"

Machine learning is a set of computer programs that learn patterns from large amounts of data and improve their predictions or decisions over time, like a recipe that gets better each time it’s adjusted based on taste tests. For investors it matters because these systems can speed up analysis, spot trends or risks humans might miss, automate routine work, and potentially create competitive advantages or cost savings that affect a company’s performance.

View in glossary

chromatograms technical

"side-by-side review of 400 chromatograms"

A chromatogram is the visual record produced by a chromatography instrument that shows how different chemical components in a sample separate over time or distance; it is typically displayed as a graph of detector signal (y-axis) versus retention time or elution volume (x-axis). Each peak on the chromatogram corresponds to a component detected by the instrument, and the peak position identifies when that component eluted while the peak area or height is used to estimate its quantity; interpretation requires knowing the instrument, detection method, and reference standards because retention times and peak shapes can change with operating conditions.

high molecular weight technical

"combining high molecular weight peaks and editing baselines"

A descriptive label for a molecule whose mass is large compared with small-molecule compounds; it means the substance has a high molecular mass measured in daltons (Da) or grams per mole, often expressed in kilodaltons (kDa). Exact numeric cutoffs vary by field—what counts as “high” for a pharmaceutical small molecule (tens to hundreds of Da) differs from a polymer or a protein (thousands to millions Da), and in biologics development the term commonly denotes species like large peptides, proteins or aggregates that affect properties such as solubility, delivery, clearance and analytical testing—so the phrase is comparative rather than a single fixed value.

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• Advances Waters' strategy to bring trusted AI, ML, and automation capabilities to the 500,000 Empower™ Software users who run the world's regulated chromatography labs and support the release of over 80% of medicines globally
• AI-Powered Peak Integration transforms chromatography data processing in regulated environments, using AI to reduce manual interventions by up to 95% while delivering 76% greater accuracy and a 72% reduction in user-to-user variability
• Joins a growing portfolio of premium AI capabilities Waters is building directly into Empower Software, uniquely enabling AI, ML, and automation inside the validated environment where highly protected customer data resides, with no compromise to integrity, traceability, or compliance

MILFORD, Mass., Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) today announced AI-Powered Peak Integration, the next step in its strategy to build intelligent AI, machine learning, and automation cloud-based capabilities directly into Empower Software, the chromatography data system of record for regulated laboratories worldwide.

"Waters is using AI to help customers bring drugs to market faster and to increase the quality testing of manufactured molecules," said Tina Wu, Senior Vice President, Waters Analytical Sciences, Waters Corporation. "Our Empower Software has been the system of record for regulated chromatography for decades, holding terabytes of validated data for each customer, inside their own workflows, and under their own control. The potential behind compliant data at scale is one that no other platform can offer as we enable customers to realize the benefits of AI within their regulated workflows."

Wu continued, "Our customers want the greater speed, accuracy, and productivity that AI brings, without giving up control of their data or the compliant audit trail behind it. That is why it is a central pillar of how we are advancing Empower Software as AI transforms the laboratory. Every one of these premium subscription-based capabilities reaches our large and growing installed base, so each release makes Empower Software more valuable to the laboratories already running it. We have a full pipeline of capabilities ahead as we deliver on our strategy to advance Empower Software into the connected, intelligent platform on which regulated science runs."

Enabling Unique AI Capabilities Customers Can Use Beyond Research in a Deliberate Strategy Developed in Deep Partnership with Pharma

Waters is collaborating with several large pharmaceutical customers and academic institutions to create autonomous, AI-enabled research, development and QA/QC capabilities that follow the molecule, from discovery to release. This builds on two abilities unique to Waters: 1) supporting research workflows and then subsequently moving them directly into compliant settings on a single platform, and 2) enabling AI inside that compliant environment, so customers realize the benefits of AI without giving up control of their data or the compliant audit trail behind it.

The same approach is advancing in biologics, where Waters is applying AI, automation, and analytical instrumentation to bioanalytical characterization, bringing large molecule workflows more closely toward the compliant foundation customers already expect for small molecules.

Turning Decades of Compliant Data into an AI Advantage for Customers

Designed for high-throughput, compliant applications, where consistency and audit traceability are key, Waters Empower AI capabilities drive significant efficiency and productivity gains by reducing manual effort and variability in pharmaceutical late-stage development and manufacturing QC applications, while improving accuracy of results. Because the capabilities are being built directly into Empower Software, they operate inside the validated environment where highly protected customer data already resides, bringing AI and ML directly to the data, with no compromise to integrity, traceability, or compliance.

Using AI to Automate One of the Most Manual Steps in Chromatography

Manual peak integration is the largest source of variability in chromatographic results and one of the most time-consuming steps in data review. Waters' AI/ML-powered peak integration automates this step in Empower Software using artificial intelligence and machine learning trained on each laboratory's own data, removing noise peaks, combining high molecular weight peaks and editing baselines, with explainable outputs that allow analysts to review results quickly and with confidence. Version-controlled, no-drift models maintain consistent performance until the laboratory chooses to retrain and approve a new model.

In a pilot with a large pharmaceutical customer, side-by-side review of 400 chromatograms reduced manual interventions from 90 under current practice to 4 with AI/ML-powered peak integration, a 95% reduction.¹ User testing also showed 50% faster review and 72% lower user-to-user variability, reducing analyst bias and supporting data integrity.²

AI-Powered Peak Integration is a new premium tier capability available to customers on subscription. Waters is enrolling customers now for early access beginning in December 2026, with validated, compliant deployment to follow in mid-2027.

Building on AI-Powered Anomaly Detection, Launched in 2025

Peak integration is the latest step in Waters' strategy to make Empower Software the connected, intelligent platform on which regulated science runs. The first was AI/ML Anomaly Detection, launched in Empower Software in February 2025, which uses machine learning to compare target results across chromatography data, surface deviations for review, and explain the attributes contributing to each anomaly.

About Waters Corporation:

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) is a global leader in life sciences and diagnostics, dedicated to accelerating the benefits of pioneering science through analytical technologies, informatics, and service. With a focus on regulated, high-volume testing environments, our innovative portfolio harnesses deep scientific expertise across chemistry, physics, and biology. We collaborate with customers around the world to advance the release of effective, high-quality medicines, ensure the safety of food and water, and drive better patient outcomes by detecting diseases earlier, managing routine infections, and combating antibiotic resistance. Through a shared culture of relentless innovation, our passionate team of ~15,000 colleagues turn scientific challenges into breakthroughs that improve lives worldwide. For more information, please visit www.waters.com/about.

Waters and Empower are trademarks of Waters Corporation or its affiliates.

References:

1. Waters internal pilot study with a global pharmaceutical partner, 2025. Data on file, Waters Corporation.
2. Waters Immerse Research Lab customer evaluation, 2026. Data on file, Waters Corporation.

Contact:

Molly Gluck
Director, Product and Thought Leadership Communications
Waters Corporation
+1.508.498.9732
pr@waters.com

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SOURCE Waters Corporation

FAQ

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When will Waters offer AI-Powered Peak Integration for Empower Software?

Early access begins in December 2026, with validated, compliant deployment to follow in mid-2027. Waters is enrolling customers now for the new premium subscription capability.