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Rana Kaliouby
Founder of Affectiva and Deputy CEO at Smart Eye • Author of Girl Decoded • Angel Investor • LinkedIn Top Voice 2020 • YPO • YGL at World Economic Forum • All Raise • Humanizing Technology • Computer Science PhD
Who is Rana el Kaliouby, Ph.D.?
Rana el Kaliouby, Ph.D. is a prominent figure in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). She is the Deputy CEO at Smart Eye12, a company that develops AI-powered eye tracking and driver monitoring systems.
Career Highlights
- Co-founder and former CEO of Affectiva, a pioneering company in AI emotion recognition4
- Founding member of Change.org5
- VP of AI Experience at Airbnb5
- Co-founder of Sentient, Viv Labs, and GamePlanner.AI5
Education and Accolades
- Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge1
- Named one of the "World's Top 50 Innovators" by MIT Technology Review4
- Recipient of the Anita Borg Institute's Women of Vision Award4
Current Focus
El Kaliouby is currently transitioning out of her full-time role at Smart Eye to focus on her next adventure, while continuing to support the company.2 She is passionate about humanizing technology and ensuring AI is developed with a human-first approach.35
Highlights
Move over, cat and mouse! In St. Petersburg, Florida, two robots named Tom & Jerry are building the future of beautiful and environmentally conscious furniture. They're the tech heart of Haddy, a 3D-printing furniture manufacturer that is re-imagining the future of manufacturing with #AI, sensors and robotics. Proud to be an early investor!
I first met CEO John B. Rogers, Jr. while at Affectiva when he was running his previous company in the autonomous vehicles space. We got re-introduced by Prof. Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School and I loved his vision for Haddy and commitment to the circular economy.
Their concept is super cool: Envision it, Prototype it, Produce it, Recycle it. AI, sensors, robotics - all harnessed to create beautiful, sustainable pieces at an industrial scale. Every piece is traceable and crafted from renewable materials.
Haddy is an example of a company that is using AI, sensors and robotics to build sustainable products - one of the investment themes we are doubling down on at Blue Tulip Ventures.
Oh, and did I mention they have furniture with built-in pet hideaways, thanks to Coexiste? I bet our cat Claudie would love that!
Earlier today, I found myself unexpectedly grounded at the airport for 10 hours. Even though the staff cited a technical issue with the plane, I couldn’t help but wonder if this delay is due to the massive Microsoft outage caused by the CrowdStrike software glitch. It was a reminder of how deeply intertwined #technology is with every aspect of our lives. From airlines to hospitals, businesses of all sizes now rely on digital infrastructure to function.
This incident is not just an inconvenience; it exposed the vulnerabilities of over-reliance on a few tech giants. When a major platform stumbles, the ripple effects are felt across industries and continents. There is a calling for a reevaluation of how we structure our digital services, advocating for diversification to prevent such widespread disruptions in the future.
We need to do the same with #AI! Huge risks in an AI-driven world if AI is mostly built and controlled by a few big players.
Interestingly, this incident underscores a key takeaway from my Eisenhower Fellowships tour: While approaches to Responsible AI (RAI) vary globally—with the EU championing regulation and governance, and India emphasizing data governance and privacy—the core principle of #ResponsibleAI should be the underlining driver for all tech companies.
The road to recovery from this outage might lead us to a more resilient and sustainable tech future.
This incident highlights the need for not only responsible AI but also responsible tech infrastructure – infrastructure that prioritizes both reliability and security.

