Dr. Loubna Bouarfa is a distinguished computer scientist and visionary entrepreneur whose pioneering work bridges artificial intelligence and healthcare innovation. Loubna Bouarfa grew up in Meknes, Morocco, before moving to the Netherlands at age 17; her precise place of birth is not explicitly confirmed in authoritative public sources. She pursued electrical engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, where she cultivated her technical expertise before embarking on doctoral research in machine learning for healthcare applications. Her academic journey led her to develop groundbreaking AI applications directly in surgical environments, creating predictive systems that could anticipate workflow and detect anomalies in real time. In 2016, she transitioned from academia to entrepreneurship, founding OKRA Technologies in Cambridge as a platform to implement her research on a commercial scale.
Dr. Bouarfa's innovative approach has transformed how pharmaceutical companies leverage artificial intelligence to optimize drug development and delivery systems. The OKRA AI engine, developed under her leadership, processes complex healthcare datasets to generate evidence-based predictions that connect pharmaceutical innovations with appropriate patient populations, fundamentally improving decision-making in life sciences. Her work has enabled some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to streamline their clinical processes and accelerate bringing the right drug to the right patient at speed. This integration of machine learning in real-world healthcare environments has established a new paradigm for how data-driven insights can enhance medical outcomes beyond traditional clinical trial settings.
Beyond her entrepreneurial success, Dr. Bouarfa has profoundly shaped the ethical and practical frameworks for artificial intelligence implementation across global healthcare systems. She served as a key member of the European Union High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, contributing significantly to the development of ethical guidelines that now inform European AI policy. Recognized with multiple prestigious awards including being named an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 and a Forbes Top 50 Woman in Tech, she continues to expand her influence through advisory roles with the United Nations and as a thought leader in academic circles. Following OKRA's strategic evolution, she has established The Stealth Studio at Cambridge's Maxwell Centre, creating a dedicated space where science, systems, and purpose converge to cultivate the next generation of technology leaders.
