Edition 29

Name: Windi Indra Muziasari
Position: Founder & CEO
Affiliation: Resistomap Oy
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Pronouns: She/Her   

Please briefly describe your current role in your position.
I am leading strategy, partnerships, and commercialisation of an environmental AMR biosecurity platform bridging advanced molecular science with real-world water and food systems.

What is your terminal and/or current position in academia? 
Postdoc

How did you hear about your current position? Was it a career option that you were aware about during your educational process?
I became aware of the possibility of being a researcher entrepreneur while I was organising a Master’s-PhD level course on the commercialisation of biotechnology innovations during my postdoctoral period at the University of Helsinki (2016-2018). Through teaching and interacting with academic mentors, industry experts, and innovation professionals, I realised that entrepreneurship could be a viable career path alongside academic research, something that I would not even have dreamed of during my earlier education.

How did you end up working at your current affiliation?
After developing the initial business canvas for Resistomap in 2017, I began exploring how my research background could be translated into a real-world impact. I discussed the concept with my current co-founder and CTO, who had experience in Finland’s startup ecosystem, and together we decided to pursue company formation.
We joined several pre-incubator programs to refine the business model and better understand how to build a science-based company. In June 2018, we incorporated Resistomap while I was still working as a postdoctoral researcher. During this period, my focus was on transforming the business concept into a functioning laboratory workflow and validated production process.
After my postdoctoral contract ended in December 2018, I transitioned to working full-time at Resistomap. Since then, I have continued in my role as CEO, leading the company at the intersection of microbial ecology, environmental dimensions of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), technology development, and environmental biosecurity.

How long have you been working at your current affiliation?           
7+ years

What type of position is your current job?
Hybrid

Is your role more a managerial or individual contributor role?        
Manager

What are the defined roles of your position?
As the CEO of Resistomap, my role is to provide strategic direction for the company and ensure that our scientific vision is translated into a reliable, scalable service. This includes defining the company’s mission, leading technology development together with the R&D team, building partnerships, reporting to shareholders, securing funding from investors or from non-dilutive funding (grants, loans), and representing the company to customers, stakeholders, and the wider scientific and innovation communities.

What are your day-to-day tasks that you perform in your position? 
My daily work is highly varied. It includes online and in-person meetings with customers and partners, overseeing scientific and technological development, coordinating with the team, preparing funding and project proposals, making strategic decisions related to business development and maintaining the communication with investors, shareholders and board directors. I also spend time communicating our work to industry, government, and other non-academic audiences, ensuring alignment with long-term environmental and public health impact. My role often requires international travel to present Resistomap’s work or to contribute as a technology expert in environmental antimicrobial resistance monitoring.

What do you like best about your job?          
What I enjoy most is working closely with customers and stakeholders and seeing how our work can support real-world decision-making. There is a strong sense of fulfilment in gradually realising Resistomap’s vision and mission, transforming microbial ecology research into practical solutions to tackle antimicrobial resistance at the environmental level.

What do you dislike about your job? 
The most challenging aspects are managing organisational structures and finances, as well as navigating the “game” of business, which can sometimes feel far removed from scientific values. These parts of the role require skills and mindsets that are rarely taught in academic training and took time to learn through experience.

If your job is outside of academia, what is similar and what is different about your current job and your terminal position in academia?
Resistomap is strongly rooted in my PhD and postdoctoral research, particularly in terms of scientific thinking, experimental design, and data interpretation...these aspects remain very similar. The main difference is scale and responsibility: instead of focusing on a single research project, I now work across multiple dimensions, balancing science with business, impact, and long-term sustainability.

How did your microbial ecology (or academic) education prepare you for your current position?
My training in microbial ecology was fundamental to my current role. It shaped how Resistomap approaches antimicrobial resistance by explicitly integrating environmental dimensions, which remains a uniqueness of the company. The ability to think critically, handle complex datasets, and understand microbial processes in real ecosystems directly informs our technology and services.         

What skills do you wish you learned during your educational process that would better prepare you for your current role (e.g. machine learning, management skills, etc.)?        
I wish I had received more training in finance, budgeting, and understanding economic value creation. While scientific skills are essential, running a company also requires financial literacy and the ability to translate scientific value into economic and societal impact.

Do you have any recommendations and/or tips for early career microbial ecologists looking for jobs similar to yours?            
Entrepreneurship is a skill that can be learned, just like experimental methods or data analysis. I strongly encourage early-career researchers to expose themselves to entrepreneurial, startup, and innovation ecosystems...through courses, incubators, or interdisciplinary collaborations. Practical experience and continuous learning are essential, and it is never too early to start exploring these opportunities alongside academic training.