INX International Ink, a major global inks and coatings manufacturer, has announced a strategic collaboration with chemistry AI company Albert Invent to overhaul its research and development operations and accelerate AI-driven innovation in formulation discovery.

 

The partnership will see INX deploy Albert Invent’s operating system across its global R&D network, aiming to capture experimental knowledge, unify scientific workflows, and establish a robust data foundation for AI-enabled discovery.

 

INX—one of the industry’s most diverse R&D organizations with expertise spanning solvent-based, water-based, energy-curable and metal decorating ink systems—selected Albert Invent after evaluating multiple technology providers. The company cited gaps in data harmonization across its R&D groups and the need for a clearer pathway to AI-powered innovation as key reasons for the transition.

 

“Digital transformation in R&D isn’t just about implementing software. It’s about changing how knowledge flows across an entire organization,” said Mark Hill, senior vice president of R&D at INX. “The team at Albert are partners we can count on, working closely with our scientists to understand our workflows and implement a system that reflects how our teams actually innovate.”

 

A central element of the collaboration is deep operational integration between both companies, including a large-scale migration of INX’s historical R&D data into Albert’s platform. This is designed to preserve institutional knowledge while enabling future AI models to learn from decades of experimental work.

 

“Modern materials innovation will increasingly depend on turning experimental knowledge into intelligence,” said Nick Talken, CEO of Albert Invent. “By building an AI-ready R&D infrastructure, INX has taken a huge leap forward when it comes to setting industry standards for innovation. We’re thrilled to be working closely with their team to build an internal environment where discovery can essentially accelerate with every experiment.”

 

The collaboration will focus on several key capabilities, including unified experimental data capture across R&D teams, AI-powered tools for experiment design and performance prediction, automated regulatory support such as Safety Data Sheet (SDS) generation, enterprise-grade data security, and streamlined workflows linking commercial requests to research teams.

 

“The team at Albert comes from deep industry expertise and fundamentally understands the nuances of our business,” said INX CEO Bryce Kristo. “We are extremely excited to partner with them on our digital transformation journey as we integrate some of the best emerging technology and AI capabilities the industry has to offer.”

 

The move signals a broader shift in the materials and coatings industry toward AI-native R&D systems designed to shorten development cycles and improve innovation efficiency through data-driven science.