Bob DeSantis

Bob DeSantis is Executive Vice President & Chief Product Officer at Intuitive. He leads the global teams that develop and manufacture the company’s three robotic platforms—multiport, single port, and endoluminal—all novel platforms that are designed to help enable better outcomes for patient populations around the world. He is also responsible for global operations, program management, technical services, user experience, and product management.

Mr. DeSantis joined Intuitive in 2013 as Vice President, Instruments & Accessories New Product Introduction. His role was later expanded to include leading the product development, marketing, engineering, and operations teams for the instruments, accessories, and endoscope portfolios. DeSantis has also played a key role in the expansion and scaling of Intuitive’s global manufacturing operations. Most recently, he was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Instruments, Accessories, and Endoscopes, leading the global teams that design, manufacture, and market the company’s robust portfolio of products.

DeSantis started his career at U.S. Surgical where he was part of the research team that developed laparoscopic technologies that enabled the first wave of minimally invasive surgery. Later as part of Covidien, he served as VP of R&D for Surgical Devices leading the mechanical and energy devices organizations. He also led the group that developed and first commercialized single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS).

DeSantis earned a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York, Buffalo. He also holds a Certificate in Innovation Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.