# Josef Trauner

> Josef Trauner is a Linz-based software entrepreneur, co-founder and former CEO of Usersnap, and current co-founder and CPO of OtterlyAI. His work spans visual bug reporting, customer feedback, SaaS product development and AI search visibility. Usersnap joined saas.group in September 2023; OtterlyAI launched its initial monitoring product in October 2024.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CPO at OtterlyAI
- **Organizations:** Usersnap, OtterlyAI, JTec - Josef Trauner Technologies, Sundown Ventures GmbH
- **From:** Perg, Austria
- **Education:** EDV und Organisation (computing and organisation), HTBLA Perg, Computer science; degree title not specified in public profile, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Master’s in computer science, Johannes Kepler University Linz
- **Known for:** Co-founded Usersnap and helped develop it from visual bug reporting into a customer feedback platform., Led Usersnap as CEO when it was acquired by saas.group in September 2023., Listed as a national champion in hexapod programming in a 2016 startup event brochure.

## Career timeline

- **2006-2016** — Software development at JTec - Josef Trauner Technologies.
- **2012** — Usersnap’s early prototype originated while Trauner was subcontracting for a telecommunications company.
- **2013** — Co-founded Usersnap with Florian and Gregor Dorfbauer; the early product was called Erroreporter.
- **2015** — Usersnap added a customer-requested dashboard.
- **2016** — Usersnap moved from Perg to Linz; Trauner was listed as CPO in a startup event brochure.
- **2017** — Usersnap participated in Salesforce Accelerate; Trauner led development stand-ups as CPO.
- **2023** — Usersnap was acquired by saas.group on September 5; Trauner was CEO and co-founder.
- **2024** — Left Usersnap in mid-2024 and co-founded OtterlyAI with Thomas Peham and Klaus-M. Schremser. Initial product launched in October.
- **2026** — Current OtterlyAI co-founder and CPO; gave a practitioner seminar on AI search at Vienna University of Economics and Business.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Usersnap and helped develop it from visual bug reporting into a customer feedback platform.
- Led Usersnap as CEO when it was acquired by saas.group in September 2023.
- Listed as a national champion in hexapod programming in a 2016 startup event brochure.
- Co-founded OtterlyAI, which reports 40,000 marketing professionals using its platform as of August 2026.
- OtterlyAI received 2025 Gartner Cool Vendor recognition for AI in Marketing and won Best AI Search Software Solution at the European Search Awards 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Vienna University of Economics and Business published an October 13 account of his recent seminar on AI search, localization, prompt research and citation tracking.
- **2026-08** — OtterlyAI reports 40,000 marketing professionals using its platform as of August 2026.
- **2026-05** — OtterlyAI announced its European Search Awards win for Best AI Search Software Solution; Trauner publicly credited the team.

## Links

- Website: https://www.joseftrauner.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseftrauner/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/josef-trauner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-14