Trials.ai by ZS

AI-Powered Clinical Study Design

health AIdigital healthmedtechbiotech

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StageAcquired (formerly Seed)

Raised$1.3M - $2.88M (various reports)

Founded2016

Employees4

LocationPrinceton, NJ

Business modelB2B

About

Trials.ai by ZS provides AI-powered clinical study design software for life sciences companies, pharmaceutical sponsors, CROs, and research institutions. The platform uses advanced agentic AI technology to digitize, automate, and add intelligence to trial creation through products including Smart Designer, Franklin AI Optimization Advisor, and the Clinical Studies Ontology. Founded in San Diego and acquired by ZS in 2023, the company is now headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

Product

Value proposition: Advanced agentic AI technology that digitizes, automates, and adds intelligence to trial creation to increase efficiency, shorten timelines, and improve outcomes
Target customers: life sciences companies, pharmaceutical sponsors, CROs, research institutions

Founders

Tom Walpole
Kim Padilla Walpole

Products

Clinical Studies OntologyBanzai PipelineFranklin (AI Optimization Advisor)Smart DesignerLibrary Manager

Key features

Clinical study automationAI-powered recommendationsontology-driven designdocument digitization and data ingestionstructured study data graphhistorical trial reasoning for design insightsend-to-end study design support

Technologies

NLPNERLLMssemantic ontologydynamic data graph

Integrations

EHRs / platforms / systems it integrates with

Care settings

clinical research environmentssponsor organizationspharma/biotech companiesresearch sites

Certifications

FDA status not specifiedSOC 2/HITRUST not specified

Partnerships

ZS Associates (parent company)ZS life sciences customers

Traction metrics

900+ dedicated product team members100+ life science companies served40+ years life sciences expertise

Competitors

traditional clinical trial design toolsother AI-assisted trial design platforms

Investors

EvoNexusDreamit VenturesTeal Ventures10X CapitalAmplify.LACONNECT (San Diego)ZS AssociatesTCA Venture Group

News

Kim Walpole · 2026-07-04T15:23:58.000Z
AI-based Clinical Trials Market Research Report 2025: · 2025-03-13T11:36:41.000Z
Kindling's First Cohort Concludes with Impressive Final Presentations · 2024-12-02T21:47:01.000Z
EvoNexus, Healthcare Cos. Team Up to Accelerate Startups - San Diego Business Journal · 2024-08-29T12:00:27.000Z
10 Companies Rebuilding Clinical Trials in Real Time and Rewriting How Trials Work | BioBuzz · 2026-03-23T11:10:00.000Z
IDC MarketScape: ZS named a Leader in life sciences R&D AI in clinical trials · 2025-12-16T13:00:00.000Z