From Skype to Starship: Ahti Heinla on Autonomous Delivery

Jan de Vries · 2026-04-23

This week on the EU-Startups Podcast, we sat down with Ahti Heinla, the Co-Founder, CEO, and CTO of Starship Technologies. You might know him as one of the original engineers behind Skype. Now, he's building the world's most advanced autonomous delivery company. In this episode, Ahti opens up about his journey from a young programmer in Estonia to leading a team that's changing how goods move through cities. He shares the lessons he carried from Skype into Starship, explains why last-mile delivery became his obsession, and explores how autonomous robots are reshaping urban logistics. We also get into the human side of automation. What happens to jobs? How do delivery workers fit in? And what about sustainability and regulation? Ahti tackles all of it with honesty and vision. ### The Early Spark: Programming in Estonia Ahti didn't start with grand ambitions. He just loved programming. As a kid in Estonia, he taught himself to code because it felt like solving puzzles. That curiosity never left him. It shaped his entire approach to building technology: start small, iterate fast, and never stop learning. "Programming taught me patience," Ahti shares. "You don't build a complex system in a day. You break it down, fix one piece at a time, and eventually, it works." That mindset became the foundation for everything he built later.  ### Skype's Hidden Lessons Before Starship, there was Skype. Ahti was one of the core engineers who helped create the platform that changed global communication. But the real value wasn't just the technology. It was the culture. "At Skype, we learned that simplicity wins," he says. "People don't want complicated tools. They want something that just works. That lesson stuck with me." When he started Starship, Ahti applied the same principle. The robots look simple, almost cute. But behind that simplicity lies years of engineering. The goal was never to build a flashy robot. It was to build one that could navigate sidewalks, avoid pedestrians, and deliver packages reliably. ### Why Last-Mile Delivery? You might wonder: why robots? Why delivery? For Ahti, the answer was clear. Last-mile delivery is one of the most inefficient parts of logistics. Trucks drive through congested cities, burning fuel and wasting time. Delivery workers face low pay and high pressure. It's a broken system. "I saw a problem that was big enough to matter but small enough to solve," Ahti explains. "Autonomous delivery isn't about replacing humans. It's about making the system smarter." Starship's robots handle the final leg of delivery. They're electric, quiet, and efficient. They don't replace delivery drivers. Instead, they take over the tedious, repetitive trips that eat up time and resources. Drivers can focus on higher-value tasks, like handling complex deliveries or customer interactions. ### The Human Side of Automation Let's be honest. Automation scares people. When robots show up, people worry about their jobs. Ahti doesn't shy away from that conversation. "Every major technological shift has created new opportunities," he says. "The key is to focus on the transition, not the disruption." He points out that delivery workers are already stretched thin. The pandemic pushed demand through the roof. Robots can help ease that pressure. Instead of a driver making ten short trips per day, a robot handles five of them. The driver can take on more complex routes or spend time building relationships with customers. It's not about replacement. It's about reshaping the role. ### Regulation and Innovation: A Delicate Balance Deploying robots in public spaces isn't easy. Cities have rules about sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian safety. Ahti acknowledges the challenge. "Regulation can slow things down, but it's necessary," he says. "We work closely with cities to ensure our robots are safe and respectful of public spaces." Starship's robots are designed to be unobtrusive. They move at walking speed, yield to pedestrians, and avoid crowded areas. The company has learned that trust is earned slowly. One accident could set the industry back years. ### A Vision for Future Cities What does the future look like? Ahti imagines cities where autonomous delivery is as normal as mail. Robots glide through neighborhoods, delivering groceries, takeout, and packages. Traffic congestion decreases. Emissions drop. People get more time back in their day. "It's not science fiction," he says. "It's happening right now. We're just at the beginning." This episode of the EU-Startups Podcast is brought to you by Vanta. The trust management platform helps more than 12,000 companies, including Nando's, Allica Bank, and Granola, start and scale their security programs while building trust with buyers. It saves security teams time and improves program visibility by automating over 35 compliance frameworks, such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001, as well as GRC workflows like risk management. Click here to learn more. - Ahti's early start in programming shaped his long-term approach to building technology. - Key lessons from Skype directly influenced how he built and scaled Starship. - Last-mile delivery stood out as a high-impact, unsolved problem worth tackling. - Autonomous delivery is reshaping jobs, not simply replacing them. - The balance between innovation and regulation is critical when deploying robots in public spaces. - Ahti envisions future cities where autonomous delivery is seamlessly integrated into daily life.