Otto Hilska
| Otto Hilska | |
|---|---|
| Born | Otto Veikko Rikhard Hilska Finland |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Finnish |
| 🏫 Education | Aalto University |
| 💼 Occupation | Entrepreneur, software engineering executive, author |
| 📆 Years active | 2009–present |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Swarmia; co-founder of Flowdock; author of Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization |
| Notable work | Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization |
| Board member of | Startup Foundation, Maria 01, Junction |
Otto Veikko Rikhard Hilska is an entrepreneur, author, and software engineering executive from Finland. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Swarmia, and co-author of the book Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization.[1] Previously, he co-founded Flowdock (acquired by Rally Software, now Broadcom Inc) and served as Chief Product Officer at Finnish software organization Smartly.io.
Early life and education
Hilska studied computer science at Aalto University,[2] and contributes periodically as a guest lecturer for software engineering students.[3]
Career
Flowdock
Hilska co-founded the team chat platform Flowdock in 2009 and served as its CEO. The company was acquired by Rally Software (Now Broadcom Inc) in 2013.[4]
Smartly.io
Following the acquisition, Hilska joined Smartly.io as Chief Product Officer, where he played a key role in scaling product and engineering teams. Smartly is now one of the world's largest digital advertising platforms and an alumni of the Finnish startup scene.
Swarmia
In 2019, Hilska founded Swarmia, which offers an engineering intelligence platform aimed at improving engineering organizational effectiveness through focusing on business outcomes, developer productivity, and developer experience.
Publications
Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization[1]
In January 2024, Hilska co-authored the book Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization with Rebecca Murphey. The book offers a guide for engineering leaders to improve software delivery. It is available in various formats, including paperback and kindle.
Recognition and roles
Hilska has served as chairman & board member of Startup Foundation,[5] Board Member of Maria 01 Startup Ecosystem, and Chairman & Board Member of Junction, Europe's leading hackathon and converging point for developers, designers and entrepreneurs across the world.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hilska, Otto; Murphey, Rebecca (2024). Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization. Swarmia. ISBN 9798218321901. Search this book on
- ↑ "Serial entrepreneur Otto Hilska joins Startup Experience teaching team". Aalto Ventures Program. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
- ↑ "Building the right thing fast: Product development | Aalto-yliopisto" (in suomi). Archived from the original on 2025-01-24. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
- ↑ "Rally Software Buys Flowdock, A Real-Time Social Collaboration Hub For Developers". TechCrunch. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
- ↑ "I survived the first week of Startup Sauna – Startup Sauna". 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
- ↑ "About Junction | Our Team, Mission & Vision". www.hackjunction.com. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
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