Ott Kaukver

Core technology, QA & Security

Ott Kaukver leads Skype’s worldwide engineering activities along with Core Technology and QA. Ott is responsible for core platform development; he runs colorful teams of highly-skilled professionals that include PhD researchers, web developers and hardcore C++ programmers.

Ott joined Skype as Technical Operations Manager in May 2004 when the company employed just 30 people worldwide. Within a month, Skype released its first paid offering and Ott began building a proper support organization around the engineering team. When he moved to his current position in late 2005, the Technical Operations team had grown to 75 people.

Ott joined Skype from Helmes, a Tallinn-based software development and IT-consulting company, where he helped turn a small loss-making group of programmers into a profitable 30-person team. Previously, Ott was instrumental in launching Xxl.ee, Estonia’s first internet portal, and has served as the Baltic IT manager for the retail research company Profindex.

Ott is a graduate of the Estonian Business School, with a degree in International Business Administration. Based in Tallinn, his passions include photography, cycling, triathlons and good food.