PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Carol Reiley

Also known as Carol E. Reiley

Carol Reiley is an AI roboticist whose work spans surgical robotics, self-driving cars, and music. She studied haptics and computer vision at Johns Hopkins and Santa Clara, then developed force-feedback arms for surgical robots. She co-founded Drive.ai, a deep-learning-powered self-driving car company that Apple acquired in 2019. Her robots appeared in the San Francisco Symphony’s 2024 Press Play program, and she produced a 2025 music piece conducted by her own heartbeats. As of October 2026, she leads the nonprofit DeepMusic.ai.

Now at
DeepMusic.ai
Works
18
Citations
1,320
h-index
9
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2012

    Haptics for surgical robots

    At Johns Hopkins and Santa Clara, she studies haptics and computer vision/AI. By 2012, she develops precise force-feedback arms at Johns Hopkins for remotely tying surgical knots.

  2. 2012

    At Intuitive Surgical

    In 2012, she works at Intuitive Surgical, makers of the da Vinci Surgical System.

  3. 2015

    Co-founding Drive.ai

    In 2015, she co-founds Drive.ai, a self-driving car startup, and serves as its president.

  4. 2018

    Top Women Founders lists

    In 2018, she appears on Forbes, Inc. and Quartz’s Top Women Founders in Tech and AI lists.

  5. 2019

    Apple acquires Drive.ai

    Apple acquires Drive.ai in 2019, a deep-learning-powered self-driving car company.

  6. 2024

    Robots at Press Play

    In 2024, she curates the San Francisco Symphony’s Press Play program, which features her robot creations.

  7. 2025

    Music guided by heartbeats

    At the OpenAI Forum’s 2025 Music is Math event, she produces Richard Reed Perry’s Music for Heart and Breath, a piece conducted by her own heartbeats.

  8. As of October 2026

    Leading DeepMusic.ai

    As of October 2026, she leads the nonprofit DeepMusic.ai.

Career

  1. NowDeepMusic.ai
  2. From 2015Drive.aiCo-founder and President
  3. 2012–2013Intuitive Surgical

Education

  1. Johns Hopkins University
  2. Santa Clara University

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Augmented Reality During Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy: Toward Real-Time 3D-CT to Stereoscopic Video Registration2009 · Urology · 283 citationsWith Gregory Hager
  2. Review of methods for objective surgical skill evaluation2010 · Surgical Endoscopy · 249 citationsWith Gregory Hager
  3. Effects of visual force feedback on robot-assisted surgical task performance2008 · Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery · 228 citations
  4. Task versus Subtask Surgical Skill Evaluation of Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgery2009 · Lecture notes in computer science · 131 citationsWith Gregory Hager
  5. Data-Derived Models for Segmentation with Application to Surgical Assessment and Training2009 · Lecture notes in computer science · 103 citationsWith Gregory Hager and Sanjeev Khudanpur

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Johns Hopkins University. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  2. Stanford University trained or employed 26 of the 108 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Johns Hopkins University. Stanford University trained or employed 26 of the 108 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Johns Hopkins University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes Johns Hopkins University. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Carol Reiley yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Music is Math: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Sound, Science, and Creativity forum.openai.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Meet Carol Reiley makezine.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Apple acquires self-driving startup Drive.ai on the brink of closure techcrunch.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Carol Reiley · DLD Speaker dldnews.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. At a Robotics Concert, AI Might Have Stood for ‘Almost Involved’ classicalvoiceamerica.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. DLD Munich 26: These visionary minds redesign the future burda.com. Checked 19 October 2026.