Chiara Petrioli

Chiara Petrioli is Co-Founder and CEO of WSense, a deep-tech company spin-off of La Sapienza University of Rome which has pioneered and is leading the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) revolution.
Backed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and European large funds, WSense now employs more than 65 people across Italy, Norway, the UK, France, and the UAE, and is a leader in subsea networks, in-situ monitoring systems, and the standardization of wireless networks for defense and energy.Under Petrioli’s leadership, WSense has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as the world’s most innovative company in Big Data collection and management for the monitoring and protection of marine ecosystems.

A Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at La Sapienza, she leads the SENSES laboratory and has held several leadership roles, including Deputy Rector with responsibility for entrepreneurship incubation. She served on the Board of the European Innovation Council (EIC), the body established by the EC to support breakthrough innovation and technology transfer across Europe.

Since 2024, she is leading InnovUp, the association representing Italy’s innovation ecosystem.
Among the most cited researchers worldwide, Petrioli is an IEEE Fellow for her contributions to wireless and underwater networks. Her frontier technologies have been featured by CNN, National Geographic, and BBC, and have earned her a place in the “Top 2% World Scientists” list by Stanford University, along with numerous awards for innovation.