Gary S. Guthart, PhD

Gary S. Guthart, PhD, is the executive chair of the Board of Directors, a role he has held since 2025. He draws from more than 30 years of medical, engineering, scientific, and management experience, including serving as Intuitive’s chief executive officer for more than 15 years.

Dr. Guthart joined Intuitive as part of the first engineering team in 1996 as a control systems analyst. He was promoted to vice president of engineering in 1999, senior vice president of product operations in 2002, and four years later, he was appointed president and chief operating officer. In 2010, Guthart was promoted to chief executive officer and appointed to the Board of Directors.

Before joining Intuitive, Guthart was part of the core team developing foundational technology for computer-enhanced surgery at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute), a renowned nonprofit scientific research organization. While at SRI, he also developed algorithms for vibration and acoustic control of large-scale systems. Guthart’s first scientific experience came early in his career in a human factors Lab at NASA, supporting a team studying human performance assessment of pilots.

Guthart is on the Board of Directors for Illumina.

Guthart received a BS in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned an MS and a PhD in engineering science from the California Institute of Technology.