Daphne Koller

Daphne Koller has built two distinct careers at the frontier of applied computer science: one establishing the theoretical foundations of probabilistic machine learning, and a second applying those methods to transform how new medicines are discovered. Born in Jerusalem in 1968 to an academic family, she completed a bachelor's and master's degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before earning a PhD in computer science from Stanford University in 1993 under Joseph Halpern.

After postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley, Koller joined the Stanford faculty in 1995, where she spent close to two decades as a professor of computer science. Her research on probabilistic graphical models, formalised in the field-defining 2009 textbook she co-authored with Nir Friedman, gave machine learning practitioners rigorous tools for reasoning under uncertainty and shaped how a generation of researchers approached statistical AI.

In 2012 Koller co-founded Coursera with fellow Stanford computer scientist Andrew Ng, helping pioneer the massive open online course model that brought university-calibre education to millions worldwide and made her one of the most visible figures in AI-driven education. She left Coursera in 2016 to become chief computing officer at Calico, Alphabet's life-extension research venture.

In 2018 Koller founded insitro, a company applying machine learning to genomic and phenotypic data to identify disease targets and speed drug discovery, combining automated wet-lab experimentation with computational modelling at scale. As founder and chief executive, she has raised substantial venture funding and forged pharmaceutical partnerships positioning insitro among the most closely watched companies at the intersection of AI and biology.

Recognised with a MacArthur 'genius grant' in 2004 and repeatedly named among Time's 100 most influential people, Koller's career embodies the trajectory of applied machine learning itself: from foundational theory, through mass-market education technology, to today's push to reshape drug discovery with AI.