Danielle C. Tarraf

Danielle C. Tarraf joined Flagship Pioneering in 2024 as Senior Principal, where she is responsible for originating and growing new companies by leveraging artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

Before joining Flagship, Danielle worked at McKinsey, where she co-led the GenAI for private investors service line in North America, helping private equity and infrastructure investors position for disruptive technological trends around AI. As a venture investor, Danielle focused on Seed-Series D startups in technology, software, digital infrastructure & data centers, and healthcare. While at the RAND Corporation, she led a congressionally mandated assessment of the Department of Defense’s posture in Artificial Intelligence as well as various strategy studies around autonomy and emerging technologies. Danielle started her career in academia as an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University, following her postdoctoral work in the Division of Control and Dynamical Systems at Caltech. Her academic research focused on the intersection of control theory, computer science, and reinforcement learning.

Danielle has been an invited speaker at global forums including Chatham House, the Pacific Council on International Policy, and the Doha Forum. She has authored or co-authored 49 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 1 edited volume, 11 strategy & policy reports, and 1 editorial piece. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including an NSF CAREER award, an AFOSR Young Investigator Award, and a RAND Silver Medal Award for Mission + Impact.

Danielle holds a Ph.D. and S.M. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, where her doctoral work focused on control theory. She received her BE in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut.