• Biography
• What Do I Want?
• Philosophy
  • About My Business
  • About the Future
• Experience
• Education
• Toolbox
• GitHub Stats

Otto is a seasoned IT engineer and architect with over 15 years of international experience. He has spent the last years focused on artificial intelligence, including machine learning, expert systems, and human-computer interaction. Alongside developing technical solutions, Otto has a keen interest in processes and technology management, as well as ethics and legislation in the domain of artificial intelligence.

Currently, Otto operates at the intersection of academia, defense, and enterprise. He serves as a Technical Expert for NATO DIANA, a Researcher at the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA), and is pursuing a PhD at TalTech focusing on application architectures for neuro-symbolic AI. His aim is to showcase Estonian AI and robotics solutions on a global platform.

• I want to create.
• I want to develop intelligent technology.
• I want to keep growing and learning while encouraging others to do the same.

Notice, think, reinvent. Overcoming fear becomes possible through facing it, in whatever the situation. I believe we all should start by taking notes. After understanding the often simple core of our challenge, we can seek out perspective for fresh ideas. Sometimes, following a new approach might be necessary to continue on our path towards greatness.

Here, have some magical courage to take your first step! ╰(｡^◇^｡)⊃—☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

As an avid Artificial Intelligence researcher at TalTech and the Estonian Information System Authority, I am investigating how to digitalize the thing we hold dearest - our humanity. Sounds scary? Good that you are here reading this. I am your best bet for preventing Skynet from taking over.

On a more serious note, though. I think about thinking and how we express ourselves as humans. Furthermore, I ponder how a machine would express itself so that it becomes familiar to us. Let's separate the problem into roughly two:

• gaining new knowledge about the ever-changing world around it in real-time;
• and using that knowledge under the right circumstances to take action in that ever-changing world in real-time.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, I have figured out and built a way for the machine to share its opinion and take action based on its knowledge. Whoop, so that's one of the tasks done already!

Understanding what we do not understand yet is not that simple. Think of the question - what is love? Even Haddaway has been asking the very question since 1994. The amount of recent cultural references and cover music indicates that the question is still relevant. After a heartbreak or two, you might have a vague idea about love. Now try explaining this idea to a banana.*

I am betting we can come up with a clear answer soon. Not only will we be able to describe love but also other most profound topics about being human. And that is when the fun starts. Have you ever dreamed of having a personal assistant like Samanta from Her or J.A.R.V.I.S from Ironman who understands you for you? Yeah, it could be something like that, only for real.

2025 - current

• Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet (NCSC-EE), Artificial Intelligence Researcher
• Researching AI applications for national cybersecurity and digital infrastructure.
• Focusing on secure AI adoption in the public sector and evaluating high-impact technological threats.

2025 - current

• NATO DIANA, Technical Expert
• Serving as a technical evaluator and mentor for the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic.
• Domain focus: Artificial Intelligence, Sensing & Surveillance, Critical Infrastructure, and Dual-Use technologies.

2024 - current

• TalTech - Tallinn University of Technology, Early Stage Researcher (PhD)
• Researching application architectures for Neuro-symbolic AI Systems.
• Investigating how to combine neural networks with symbolic logic to create explainable and reliable AI agents.

2024 - current

• Enterprise Estonia (EIS), Technical Expert
• Expert evaluator for the Applied Research Program (RUP), assessing high-risk, high-reward deep tech R&D projects.

2017 - current

• Artifig, Founder | Solutions Architect | Evangelist | Mentor
• Developing an AI consulting business around innovation for enterprises and statups.
• Designing and building AI technical solutions for clients based on their business needs.
• Sharing my experience with the public to inspire and give courage for facing fears.

2024 - 2025

• Hakkab Looma, Technical Advisor
• Supporting the core team with designing and implementing a strategy to learn the collective hopes and dreams of Estonians for a better tomorrow.

2023 - 2024

• Science and Business Park Tehnopol, Head of Artificial Intelligence
• Spearheaded the development and implementation of a forward-thinking AI strategy, fostering a culture of innovation and establishing Tehnopol as a hub of AI expertise in Estonia.
• Engaged with startups and enterprises, providing mentorship and guidance in leveraging AI technologies to solve complex business challenges.
• Note: Continuing as a Mentor (2022 - present) for AI Accelerator and Ready2Scale programs.

2022 - 2024

• AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE), Head of AI
• Kickstarted an EC-backed European Digital Innovation Hub to enable knowledge transfer between academia and enteprises in Estonia.
• Set up and led a 'test-before-invest' service to help scientists test and validate novel solutions in the private sector.
• Note: Continuing as a Mentor (2022 - present) for deep-tech initiatives.

2021 - 2025

• uku.ai, Founder
• Helping companies and clients discover the power of logical reasoning and explainable AI.

2022 - current

• Tartu Science Park, Artificial Intelligence Mentor
• Supporting startups and enterprises by sharing my experience for building complex software solutions.
• Supporting startups and enterprises with business model validation.

2021 - 2022

• Utrecht University / ASReview, Research Engineer
• Worked closely with the Open Science community to design and deliver relevant software for researchers across the globe.
• Built a RIS file integration implementation and started the global movement to clarify the citation file formatting standards.
• Contributed to ASReview, an Open Source project for helping researchers by automating the systematic review process, written mostly in Python and NodeJS.

2020 - 2021

• #fuelish, Founder | Developer | Designer
• As a solo enterpreneur, came up with apparel designs to reach the global market using Photoshop.
• Built an automated hands-off Shopify platform for generating passive income using Liquid.
• Had fun with challenging people to be courageous.

2019 - 2021

• toot.ai, Founder | Developer
• Built a team and designed an explainable AI assistant to handle knowledge in its current subjective context.
• Developed a knowledge representation and reasoning platform using mostly OWL, Neo4j, Python and NodeJS.
• Defined research questions to solve the problem of knowledge acquisition in novel scenarios.

2017 - 2020

• Sentia, Innovator | Cloud Engineer
• Worked closely together with many different clients to bring their classical infrastructure to the cloud.
• Designed and developed highly available scalable solutions, mostly AWS and on-prem.
• Encouraged company-wide liberation and started movements for innovating internal processes and technology.

2015 - 2017

• Parliament of Estonia, Chief Specialist | Developer
• Worked together with the public and many governmental organisations to define the standard for Open Data APIs in Estonia.
• Developed many tools and solutions for bringing Open Government initiatives forward within the Parliament of Estonia.
• Focused on innovating internal processes using ITIL.

2013 - 2017

• Mousiq, Founder | Developer | Musician
• Built a team and designed a new way of doing business in the music industry.
• Developed a social platform to enable artists in taking back control over their creation.
• Learned my first lessons from the business side of doing things and how investments work.

2013 - 2015

• Ekspress Grupp, Site Reliability Engineer
• Focused on the maintenance and upkeep of web services for the largest media corporation in the Baltics.
• I did CCNA level networking for a combination of hardware from HP and Cisco.
• As the person with the driver's license, I got to take the lead in the data centers.

2024 - current

• TalTech - Tallinn University of Technology, PhD, Information Technology
• Topic: Application Architectures for Neuro-Symbolic AI Systems.
• Researching the integration of symbolic reasoning with machine learning for robust AI agents.

2019 - 2024

• Utrecht University, Artificial Intelligence, MSc
• Worked with many different people on many different projects using many different tools. For example, we won the third prize in the first ever AI Eurovision Song Contest in 2020.
• Contributed to making the school life better as a member of Student Consultation Board for Department of Information and Computing Sciences (SODI).
• Contributed to improving the AI program for our students as a member of the AI Education Advisory Committee (OAC AI).
• Courses: Advanced Machine learning, AI for Game Technology, Data Mining, Dilemmas of the Scientist, ICT Entrepreneurship, Intelligent Agents, Logics for Safe AI, Methods in AI Research, Multimedia Discourse Interaction, Multi-Agent Learning, Multi-Agent Systems, Philosophy of AI, Primate Social Behaviour, Sound and Music Technology

2010 - 2017

• Estonian IT College, IT Systems Administration, Diploma of Professional Higher Education
• Worked on my technical fundamentals from all perspectives - from data to development to processes, even governance.
• Lifted many spirits by playing bass guitar in the school band.
• Shared my joy for technology with the youth of Estonia. I travelled the country, giving lectures on many topics to students of all ages.
• Courses: Basics of Telecommunication, Business Communication and Communication, Business English for IT Specialists, CISCO: Basics of WAN’s, Understanding WAN Protocols, CISCO: Configuring Switches and Understanding VLANs, Computer Graphics Theory, Data Security and Cryptology, Database Administration, Database Integration and Optimisation, Digital Audio and Video Processing, Enterprise Economics, Enterprise Internship, Foundations of Software Testing, Information System Projects and Administration, Introduction to Informatics, Introduction to Information Processing, Introduction to Programming in Java Computers, IT Systems Support and Arrangement in Enterprises, Linux Administration, Logic and Algorithms Theory / Discrete Mathematics, Macroeconomics, Maintenance of Windows Workstations, Mathematical Analvsis, Network Administration, Routers, Network Applications I: Client-Server Systems Database Basics, Operating System Administration, Philosophy, Physics, Pre-Sessional Course in Mathematics, Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics, Psychology, Scripting Languages, Social, Ethical and Professional Issues in IT, Software Protection, Study Setup and Introduction to Speciality, Telecommunications Networks, Windows Server Administration