Upon Rosa’s appointment, current CEO Gary Guthart intends to become the executive chair of Intuitive’s board of directors. With that appointment, Craig Barratt, the current board chair, becomes lead independent director.
Guthart plans to work closely with Rosa to support the transition and intends to remain with the surgical robotics leader in a senior advisory capacity.
“Dave’s appointment as CEO is the culmination of the board’s thoughtful succession planning, reflecting his instrumental role in establishing our strategy, guiding the development of our product pipeline, and expanding the company’s global footprint,” said Barratt. “We are confident he’s the right leader to drive the company’s next chapter of growth.
“On behalf of Intuitive’s board, we thank Gary for his leadership of our company,” he continued. “We are fortunate that he will continue to play an important role as our next executive chair.”
Guthart spent the last 15 years as Intuitive’s CEO, calling it “an honor and a privilege” to serve in the corner office. As CEO, he oversaw the launches of several new products to strengthen Intuitive’s hold on the surgical robotics space. (For more on the wide world of surgical robotics, see our special report on the space.)
“Together, we’ve developed products and services that have made a positive difference for care teams and millions of their patients,” said Guthart.
Guthart leaves a legacy at the surgical robotics giant
Prior to his time at Intuitive, Guthart was on the core team developing foundational technology for computer-enhanced surgery at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute). There, he also developed algorithms for vibration and acoustic control of large-scale systems.
Early in his career, Guthart garnered scientific experience in a human factors lab at NASA.
[From the archives: How a teenage Gary Guthart, Intuitive Surgical’s CEO, got his start at NASA]
After becoming Intuitive’s CEO, he has overseen continued dominance in the soft tissue robotics space. During his tenure, the company’s market capitalization has grown more than 20-fold, to more than $200 billion from roughly $10 billion in 2010.
Most recently, the company launched its da Vinci 5 surgical robot under his stewardship, bringing the latest-generation of the platform to market. The platform joined Intuitive’s existing da Vinci robotic surgical system portfolio. That includes the multiport X and Xi systems and the single-port SP. There is also Ion, Intuitive’s robotic-assisted platform for minimally invasive biopsy in the lung.
Over the nearly 30 years of Intuitive’s existence, surgeons have performed nearly 17 million da Vinci procedures. Nearly 90,000 surgeons received training to use the company’s systems.
Medtech pay analysis: Intuitive Surgical discloses pay for execs and median workers while urging votes against shareholder proposals
More about Dave Rosa, the next Intuitive CEO
Rosa first joined Intuitive as its ninth employee in March 1996, with his tenure now more than 29 years long. Since then, his roles include leadership positions across engineering, clinical and product development, marketing, regulatory and quality affairs and the commercial organization.
Over nearly three decades, Rosa’s achievements include founding the company’s first clinical engineering and endoluminal groups. He also led the development and commercialization of the da Vinci SP robotic system and Ion robotic bronchoscopy system.
“Having worked closely with Dave for decades, I am confident that his patients-first focus and deep capability in guiding Intuitive’s strategy, our designs, our product and service quality, and our operational excellence make him uniquely qualified to lead our business forward,” said Guthart.
Rosa became EVP and chief business officer in 2019, then moved to chief strategy and growth officer three years later. He became Intuitive’s president in 2023 and joined the board of directors last year.
[From the archives: Intuitive’s Dave Rosa offers advice for perseverance and surgical robotics]
“We are at an exciting time with a significant opportunity to advance the work that customers care most about — the Quintuple Aim — improving patient outcomes, enhancing patient and care team experience, expanding patient access to care, and ultimately lowering the total cost to treat,” said Rosa. I look forward to building on this work alongside the entire Intuitive team to deliver on these goals and drive value for all our stakeholders.”
Guthart was the keynote interview at our DeviceTalks West show in 2018:
