Carol Reiley Speaking Fee: $30,000 to $50,000

Carol Reiley was born in Flint, Michigan in 1982 and raised in a Mandarin-speaking household in Vancouver, Washington. Her early curiosity led her to build a humane mousetrap at age eight and launch her first small business at ten. She earned a B.S. in computer engineering at Santa Clara University, where she began researching underwater robotics, and went on to earn an M.S. from Johns Hopkins in computer science focused on haptics and surgical robotic systems. After leaving her Ph.D. studies at Johns Hopkins and Stanford’s AI Lab in favor of entrepreneurial pursuits, Carol joined Intuitive Surgical and contributed to the Da Vinci surgical robot. She later worked on space robotics at Lockheed Martin and industrial AI at GE. In 2015, she co-founded Drive.ai—which raised over $77 million and expanded from a small team to over 200 employees—with the goal of humanizing autonomous vehicles. Drive.ai was later acquired, marking a milestone in both her career and the self-driving car industry. Always eager to blend technology and creativity, Carol co-founded deepmusic.ai in 2020 alongside Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn. As CEO, she leads an initiative that explores AI-driven music composition and performance. Her role as creative advisor with the San Francisco Symphony and board member at Harman Kardon further underscores her dedication to integrating AI into the arts. Alongside her technical and entrepreneurial achievements, Carol has been a vocal advocate for diversity in STEM. She co-founded student chapters for the ACM and SWE at Santa Clara and served on Johns Hopkins' Women’s Graduate Organization and diversity board. She’s earned numerous accolades, including Forbes’ Top 50 Women in Tech, Inc. Magazine’s Most Innovative Women Entrepreneurs, and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Science Pioneer Award at the United Nations. Carol also embraces community and creativity beyond her corporate roles. She has published a children's book, “Making a Splash,” featuring growth mindset themes, and continues to mentor through initiatives like All Raise and AI2 Incubator. With more than eight patents, a dozen academic papers, and experience in modeling and fashion campaigns, she blends technical rigor with a creative spirit. Her journey reflects a commitment to responsible innovation, ethical AI, and empowering the next generation.