Rana el Kaliouby
Rana el Kaliouby is a computer scientist and entrepreneur in emotion AI who co-founded the MIT Media Lab spin-off Affectiva with Rosalind Picard in 2009 and later became its CEO; after Smart Eye acquired Affectiva in 2021 she turned to investing and launched Blue Tulip Ventures.
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Key facts
1998Graduates First in Her Class from the American University in Cairo
El Kaliouby grew up in Kuwait and Cairo.[1]
In 1998 she earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the American University in Cairo, receiving its President’s Cup for graduating top of her class.[2]
2000Master’s Degree in Computer Science from AUC
In 2000 she earned a master’s in computer science at AUC, having also minored in business administration and electronics as an undergraduate.[3]
2005Completes Her PhD Dissertation at the University of Cambridge
In March 2005 she submitted her PhD dissertation to the University of Cambridge as a member of Newnham College; it was published in July 2005 as the technical report Mind-reading machines: automated inference of complex mental states.[4]
2009Co-Founds Affectiva with Rosalind Picard
In 2009 she co-founded the emotion AI company Affectiva with MIT Media Lab professor Rosalind Picard; the company first hired a male CEO, and she served as chief technology officer for seven years.[5]
Affectiva was spun out of the MIT Media Lab in 2009.[6]
2010Autism-Focused Research at the MIT Media Lab
In 2010 she was a research scientist in the MIT Media Lab’s Affective Computing Research Group, integrating a system that detects interest, confusion and focus into iSET, a toolkit that helps people on the autism spectrum improve their communication. She was then married to Wael Amin, founder of ITWorx, and the mother of two.[3]
2012Named to MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35
In August 2012, aged 34, she was named to MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 list, representing Affectiva, for technologies that help computers recognize facial expressions.[7]
2015Receives the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award
She received SmithsonianSmithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is a museum, education and research institution created by the U.S. Congress in 1846 with the bequest of the English scientist James Smithson. Based in Washington, D.C., it runs museums such as the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History, as well as the National Zoo.Open the full entry magazine’s 2015 American Ingenuity Award for Technology.[8]
October 2015Becomes AUC’s Youngest Trustee
In October 2015 she, then Affectiva’s chief strategy and science officer, was named to AUC’s Board of Trustees as its youngest member, calling it a “huge honor and big responsibility.”[2]
c. 2016: Becomes CEO of Affectiva
Around 2016 she asked her boss about becoming co-CEO, and he ultimately suggested she become CEO; she recalled that when the company launched she “didn’t have the guts” to take the CEO role.[5]
April 21, 2020Publishes the Memoir Girl Decoded
On April 21, 2020, Crown Currency published her memoir Girl Decoded, written with Carol Colman.[9]
May 25, 2021Smart Eye Agrees to Acquire Affectiva
On May 25, 2021, Smart Eye announced it would acquire all of Affectiva for $73.5 million, paying $67.5 million in 2,354,668 new shares and $6 million in cash; el Kaliouby was to become Smart Eye’s deputy CEO.[10]
Smart Eye is a publicly traded Swedish supplier of driver monitoring systems to a dozen automakers; Affectiva then employed 100 people at offices in Boston and Cairo.[11]
Early 2022Launches a $12 Million Fund with Rob May
In early 2022 she launched a $12 million fund with fellow entrepreneur Rob May, which invested in 40 AI startups.[12]
September 21, 2022Appears on the Lex Fridman Podcast
On September 21, 2022, she appeared on episode 322 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, introduced as founder of Affectiva and deputy CEO of Smart Eye; topics included her childhood, women in the Middle East, Rosalind Picard, emotion AI, self-driving cars and robotics.[13]
2023Named an Eisenhower Fellow
She is a 2023 Eisenhower Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and serves as a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science and Milton Academy.[14]
2024Leaves Smart Eye and Launches Blue Tulip Ventures
In 2024 she stepped down as Smart Eye’s deputy CEO, remaining an adviser, to invest full time, launching Blue Tulip Ventures with Gabi Zijderveld, former chief marketing officer of Affectiva and Smart Eye, to back human-centric AI.[12]
As of October 2026: Investor and Podcast Host
She is co-founder and managing partner of Blue Tulip Ventures, hosts the Pioneers of AI podcast, and is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School and co-chair of the Fortune Brainstorm AI conferences.[15]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Affectiva: Official website: https://affectiva.com (opens in a new window)[13]
Smart Eye: Official website: https://smarteye.se (opens in a new window)[13]
X: Public account: https://x.com/kaliouby (opens in a new window)[13]
Sources
- Rana el Kaliouby | Penguin Random House (opens in a new window)
- Alumna Rana el Kaliouby AUC’s Newest, Youngest Trustee (opens in a new window)
- Ctrl + Feelings (opens in a new window)
- Department of Computer Science and Technology – Technical reports: UCAM-CL-TR-636 (opens in a new window)
- How Rana el Kaliouby Found the Courage to Become CEO of the Company She Founded (opens in a new window)
- Smart Eye Acquires Affectiva to Solidify Stronghold on Interior Sensing Market (opens in a new window)
- Rana el Kaliouby | MIT Technology Review (opens in a new window)
- Rana el Kaliouby (opens in a new window)
- Girl Decoded by Rana el Kaliouby, Carol Colman: 9781984824783 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books (opens in a new window)
- Smart Eye enters into an agreement to acquire Affectiva and intends to raise equity in a directed share issue (opens in a new window)
- Emotion-detection software startup Affectiva acquired for $73.5M (opens in a new window)
- Rana el Kaliouby, Blue Tulip Ventures | Boston Tech Leaders - The Boston Globe (opens in a new window)
- #322 – Rana el Kaliouby: Emotion AI, Social Robots, and Self-Driving Cars | Lex Fridman Podcast (opens in a new window)
- Dr. Rana el Kaliouby Profile Page | XPRIZE Foundation (opens in a new window)
- Dr. Rana el Kaliouby (opens in a new window)