#083 They Said It Was Impossible. Annie Lu Built It Anyway.

Built For This Podcast, with Carly Pepin

September 21, 2026 by

Carly Pepin

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In this episode of Built For This, Carly Pepin sits down with Annie Lu, co-founder and CEO of Laminar, to explore how she and her brother David are bringing AI into one of the world's most critical industries: manufacturing.

As third-generation manufacturers, Annie and David grew up around factory floors and saw both the expertise required to keep them running and the opportunity to make those processes more efficient. That experience eventually led them to build Laminar and pursue a bold vision for self-driving factories powered by real-time data and process-aware AI.

Annie shares what happened when established industry experts told them their idea was impossible, and how returning to first principles helped them challenge assumptions that had existed for decades.

Carly and Annie also explore why successful technology needs to be built around the people actually using it, why AI's next frontier extends beyond screens and into the physical world, and how being different from the established players became one of Laminar's greatest advantages.

Key Takeaways

"Impossible" Can Sometimes Mean "We've Never Done It That Way"

When experts told Annie and David their vision wouldn't work, they didn't ignore their experience. Instead, they went back to first principles and questioned why it was considered impossible, allowing them to challenge long-held assumptions and test a different approach on real factory floors.

Build Technology Around the People Who Actually Use It

Laminar's technology has been heavily shaped by listening to plant operators and understanding the realities of production environments. For Annie, great technology isn't about what looks impressive on a screen. It has to solve problems for the people doing the work.

What Makes You Different Can Become Your Advantage

Rather than trying to look like established manufacturing technology companies, Annie and David leaned into their unique combination of manufacturing experience, science, engineering, AI, and customer empathy. That difference gave them a new way to approach longstanding industry problems.

About Annie Lu

Annie Lu is the co-founder and CEO of Laminar, where she is using Process-Aware AI to help redefine the future of CPG manufacturing through self-driving processes designed to improve productivity and sustainability.

Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and BizJournal BostInno 25 Under 25, Annie co-founded Laminar with her brother, David Lu. As AI transforms industries around the world, her focus is making sure manufacturing isn't left behind.

Memorable Quotes
"What makes us different is also our asset."
"We build for problems that we can empathize with."
"When people have the explainability, it fosters trust because they know why something works."

Annie Lu