Mr. Kitano is president and CEO of Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., president of The Systems Biology Institute, professor at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, director of the Laboratory for Disease Systems Modeling at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Kanagawa, and corporate executive at Sony Corporation. He is also a Founding President of the Robocup Federation.

He received The Computers and Thought Award from the International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence in 1993, Prix Ars Electronica in 2000, the Design Award 2001 from Japan Inter-Design Forum, and Nature’s 2009 Japan Mid-career Award for Creative Mentoring in Science. He was also invited as an artist for Biennale di Venezia 2000 and Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2001.