In September 2013, Art was named chief executive officer of Calico. Before that, he was chief executive officer of Genentech from July 1995 to April 2009. He currently serves as the chairman of the board of Apple, and previously served as a director of Google from 2004 to 2009.

He has authored or co-authored more than 80 scientific articles and has been named an inventor on 11 United States patents. Art was inducted into the Biotech Hall of Fame at the 2003 Biotech Meeting of chief executive officers. BusinessWeek named him one of the “Best Managers of the Year” in 2004 and 2005, and Institutional Investor named him “America’s Best CEO” in the biotech category four years in a row (2004–2007). In 2006, Princeton University awarded Art the James Madison Medal for a distinguished career in scientific research and in biotechnology. In 2008, he was elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.