Surgical robotics technology promises more precise, automated, flexible medical care that does not require physical co-presence. Yet this exact promise also produces new dependencies between the medical device industry, physicians, and institutions, and entails challenges to doctors’ professional expertise and to doctor-patient relationships. Therefore, the adoption and use of surgical robotics has the potential to produce better medical care, but may also lead to social disruptions and uncertainties that damage the quality of care. Our objective, as sociologists, is to find out how and when surgical robotics is adopted, and what social conditions and arrangements enable successful adoption. We also seek to understand the similarities and differences between automation in medicine and in other domains of expert work. By investigating these differences, and sociocultural patterns in the adoption and use of surgical robotics in the Israel-U.S. context and beyond, we aim to better understand the transnational and local social determinants of robotics adoption, as well as the potential consequences of adoption for hospitals, health practitioners, and patients.