Case Study: Ginkgo Bioworks achieves stronger technical leadership at scale with AceUp

Empowering High-Potential Employees to Keep Growing

Ginkgo Bioworks, a biotech company focused on engineering organisms for sustainable products, needed a scalable way to develop technical leadership and soft skills across a workforce of highly skilled subject-matter experts. Dr. Samantha Sutton, Head of People, sought a solution beyond traditional management training and evaluated coaching platforms — ultimately selecting AceUp to deliver one-on-one coaching across cohorts.

AceUp provided high-caliber, hands-on coaches embedded with Ginkgo cohorts, delivering personalized coaching and regular check-ins that helped participants become more well-rounded leaders and gain new perspectives on growth areas. As a result, Ginkgo committed to a year-long AceUp program, doubling the number of team members enrolled for 2020 and adding structured elements like coaching ambition projects and manager–coach meetings to measure and scale impact.

Ginkgo Bioworks

Samantha Sutton

Head of People