Massi Joe E Kiani

The Pulse Whisperer

Joe Kianis Tech That Saved Millions of Lives (and Rattled Apple)

Joe Kiani, born in Shiraz, Iran, in 1964, arrived in the U.S. at age nine, spoke virtually no English, but by fifteen was already high-schooling ahead of the curve. Picking up both bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from San Diego State by 22, Kiani was not your average freshman. 

In 1989, after identifying flaws in pulse oximetry while consulting at medical-device firms, he launched Masimo in a humble garage. His breakthrough? Signal Extraction Technology (SET), which cracked the motion and lowperfusion problem, slashing false alarms by up to 95 percent and saving countless premature infants from blindness. 

What started as a scrappy startup eventually became a NASDAQ-listed powerhouse with over 8,000 employees and monitoring hardware used on more than 200 million patients annually. His intellectual property empire? Over 500 patents (issued and pending), more than enough to wallpaper a small office. 

Kiani didnt just invent devices; he championed patient safety, founding the Masimo Foundation in 2010 and the Patient Safety Movement in 2012, with a bold goal: zero preventable hospital deaths by 2030. 

He also testified before Congress, sometimes sounding more like a tech ethicist than a CEO.

In 2021, President Biden tapped him for the Presidential Science & Technology Council, proof that his garage-to-glory story earned him more than just business clout. 

Kiani now serves as CEO of Willow Laboratories, a health-tech company focused on metabolic wellness and diabetes management tools.