Niamh Donnelly

Niamh Donnelly, co-founder and Chief Robotics Officer of Akara, the company building robots to tackle one of healthcare’s toughest challenges: understaffed hospitals.

Hospitals lose hours every day to delays, slow room turnover, and infection-control bottlenecks. That can mean cancelled surgeries, longer waitlists, and burned-out staff. Niamh’s work focuses on these invisible problems.

Born in Dublin, Donnelly studied mechanical engineering at Dublin City University, learning how complex systems are designed. Wanting to go beyond hardware, she then earned a master’s in AI at University College Dublin.

That combination led her into robotics research at Trinity College Dublin, where she worked on Stevie, a robot that could support elderly residents in care homes - it was featured on the cover of Time magazine.

In 2022, Donnelly co-founded Akara to take those ideas from the lab into real hospitals. As Chief Robotics Officer, she leads the tech behind tools like Violet, an autonomous robot that uses UV light to disinfect rooms faster and help reduce infections.

Akara has also developed a ceiling-mounted AI sensor that uses thermal data to track what’s happening in operating rooms - helping hospitals spot delays. The sensor was recently named one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions.

What I love about Niamh’s work is how quietly powerful it is - solving real problems in places where time, care, and lives truly matter.

Last updated: January 2026