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Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

webrtc experts - Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

WebRTC’s ecosystem is driven by engineers and leaders who contribute cutting-edge code, steer industry standards, and shape the future of real-time communications.

Below is a curated list of the 18 best currently active WebRTC experts globally. These individuals have been selected for their open-source contributions, leadership in real-time communication startups (while still coding), influential blogging or speaking on WebRTC, impactful roles at major tech companies, and even accolades in programming competitions – all weighed equally.

  1. Tsahi Levent-Levi
  2. Philipp Hancke
  3. Nils Ohlmeier
  4. Chad Hart
  5. Harald Alvestrand
  6. Jan-Ivar Bruaroey
  7. Dan Jenkins
  8. Lorenzo Miniero
  9. Saúl Ibarra Corretgé
  10. Emil Ivov
  11. Sean DuBois
  12. Peter Thatcher
  13. Justin Uberti
  14. Sergio Garcia Murillo
  15. Iñaki Baz Castillo
  16. Arin Sime
  17. Youenn Fablet
  18. Varun Singh

Now, let’s delve deeper into each developer’s work, impact, and public presence.

Tsahi Levent-Levi

YouTube Video

Nationality: Israeli

Tsahi is an independent WebRTC consultant and industry analyst, known as the author of the popular blog BlogGeek.me which has educated a generation of WebRTC developers.

He co-founded testRTC (a WebRTC testing and monitoring startup) and led it through a successful acquisition. Tsahi also co-organizes the annual Kranky Geek WebRTC event, where he curates talks from top engineers in the field. With 15+ years in VoIP/RTC, he’s a go-to expert for companies looking to solve real-time communication challenges. Through countless blog posts, webinars, and training sessions, Tsahi has become a key influencer in the WebRTC community – translating complex technology into business insights for decision-makers.

Philipp Hancke

Nationality: German

Philipp (aka “Fippo”) is a WebRTC engineer’s engineer – known for his deep dives into browser behavior and relentless debugging of real-world issues. He has worked with &yet, TokBox, and later Mozilla and Meta on WebRTC projects, often focusing on interoperability and standards compliance.

Philipp was a major contributor to adapter.js, the library that smooths out differences between browser WebRTC implementations, and he’s authored numerous tools/snippets for examining WebRTC internals. Currently a WebRTC engineer at Meta (Facebook), he helps improve the performance of large-scale communications. Philipp is also co-author on webrtcHacks, where his “blackbox” posts reverse-engineer how apps like Google Meet or Hangouts use WebRTC. He’s an active participant in the W3C WebRTC WG and has identified/spec’d solutions for issues like ICE server nomination and simulcast glitches.

Nils Ohlmeier

Nationality: German

Nils is a seasoned WebRTC engineer who has contributed at multiple major organizations. He was the WebRTC Tech Lead at Mozilla, where he implemented features like Trickle ICE and improved Firefox’s peer connection performance. After Mozilla, Nils joined 8×8 to work on the Jitsi team, continuing his open-source WebRTC work in a new environment.

At Jitsi, he tackled challenges of scaling video bridges and refining data channel reliability. Nils has also been involved in the IETF, particularly in the RMCAT working group for WebRTC congestion control. In 2022, he took his expertise to Miro, a collaborative whiteboard app, to embed real-time communications in new contexts. Throughout his career, Nils has been an advocate for interoperability – he even worked on Skype’s interoperability in the early 2010s. He often shares knowledge via personal blogs and enjoys mentoring newcomers to WebRTC. With experience at a browser vendor, a CPaaS, and an app platform, Nils brings a 360-degree perspective on building reliable, quality WebRTC experiences.

Chad Hart

Chad Hart - Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

Nationality: American

Chad is a real-time communications product leader and the editor of webrtcHacks, a widely respected blog for WebRTC developers. He currently serves as an Engineering Director at RingCentral, focusing on their video communications products.

Chad has been a key WebRTC evangelist: he consults on go-to-market strategies for RTC startups and co-founded the WebRTC Boston meetup and Kranky Geek events. An early contributor to WebRTC trend analyses, he publishes research on GitHub trends and WebRTC project popularity, helping the community understand where the technology is heading. Chad’s influential voice (through blogging, the WebRTC Live webinar series, and conference talks) bridges the gap between WebRTC’s technical possibilities and real-world use cases in CPaaS, AI, and beyond.

Harald Alvestrand

Nationality: Norwegian

Harald is a Google engineer and one of the key figures behind WebRTC’s standardization. He has chaired the W3C WebRTC Working Group and acted as Google’s “standards coordinator” for the WebRTC project.

With a career dating back to Internet standards of the 1980s, Harald brought a wealth of experience to WebRTC, ensuring that the APIs and protocols were designed for the open web. He co-edited many of the core specs and shepherded them to completion. At Google, Harald also helps implement and optimize WebRTC in Chrome, often focusing on things like congestion control, codec integration, and accessibility of real-time comms. He’s known for his thoughtful posts on discuss-webrtc and his meticulous attention to privacy and security. In recognition of his contributions, Harald received the 2013 ACM SIGCOMM Award for WebRTC. He remains a guiding force making sure WebRTC technology serves everyone on the Internet.

Jan-Ivar Bruaroey

Nationality: Norwegian

Jan-Ivar is a principal engineer at Mozilla and a co-chair of the W3C WebRTC Working Group. He has been a driving force behind WebRTC in Firefox since the beginning, implementing features like persistent permissions, advanced getUserMedia constraints, and the adapter.js shims to keep Firefox compatible.

Jan-Ivar also spearheads Firefox’s “Advancing WebRTC” initiative, regularly blogging about new WebRTC APIs and how they’re exposed to web developers. His dual role as spec editor and browser implementer means he often writes the spec text and the code – ensuring that tricky aspects like identity, simulcast, or legacy interop are done right. In 2019, he was appointed a co-chair of the WebRTC WG, joining Harald and (the late) Bernard to drive the standards to completion. Jan-Ivar’s commitment to open standards and privacy is evident in everything he does, from pushing for encrypted media by default to making sure developers have the tools to use new WebRTC features easily. He’s a fixture on WebRTC panels and hackathons, where his dry humor and depth of knowledge are equally appreciated.

Dan Jenkins

Dan Jenkins - Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

Nationality: British

Dan is the founder and CEO of Nimble Ape Ltd., a UK-based real-time communications development consultancy, and the organizer of CommCon, Europe’s only residential WebRTC and open media conference.

A software developer by trade, Dan was one of the first Google Developer Experts in WebRTC, recognized for his community contributions. He has built numerous WebRTC applications and open-source tools – and more recently launched Everycast Labs (formerly Broadcaster VC) to bridge broadcast streaming with WebRTC technology. Dan actively codes in his projects (spanning WebRTC APIs, SFU integrations, and even IoT communications) and shares his decade-plus experience through talks and live coding demos. His work empowering developers (and his love of LEGO) illustrates a passion for making complex WebRTC tech accessible and fun for the broader dev community.

Lorenzo Miniero

Nationality: Italian

Lorenzo is the co-founder and chairman of Meetecho, the company behind the popular Janus WebRTC Server. He is the original author of Janus, an open-source SFU that has become a cornerstone for many WebRTC deployments. With a Ph.D. in multimedia conferencing, Lorenzo has been blending academic rigor with practical engineering since he and his colleagues spun Meetecho out of university.

He remains deeply involved in Janus’s development – from implementing advanced features like simulcasting and end-to-end encryption to guiding its global community of contributors. Lorenzo is also an active participant in IETF/W3C standards (especially around media transport and gateway interoperability) and frequently presents at events like FOSDEM and the dedicated JanusCon. He’s widely respected as a humble innovator whose work on Janus has enabled developers worldwide to build scalable WebRTC services.

Saúl Ibarra Corretgé

Nationality: Spanish

Saúl is a principal software engineer at 8×8 and a core contributor to the Jitsi open-source project. He has been involved in Jitsi’s development for over a decade, from the early SIP days through the WebRTC transition and the explosive growth during the pandemic. Saúl’s work spans the full stack: he has worked on the Jitsi Videobridge SFU, the mobile SDKs, and the jitsi-meet frontend, ensuring a seamless experience across platforms.

He is an open-source enthusiast and “Real Time Communications pundit”, as evidenced by his frequent speaking at conferences and his community support on the Jitsi forums. During 2020, Saúl was instrumental in helping Jitsi scale to meet huge demand, and he has shared lessons learned about scaling WebRTC in various talks. Known by his handle @saghul, he’s also active on GitHub – not just in Jitsi, but contributing fixes to upstream projects like React Native WebRTC. Saúl’s passion for open, self-hostable communication tools has made him a respected leader in the WebRTC open-source community.

Emil Ivov

Emil Ivov - Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

Nationality: Bulgarian

Emil is the founder and project lead of Jitsi, one of the first open-source WebRTC video conferencing platforms. He started Jitsi (originally SIP Communicator) in 2003 and guided its evolution to the WebRTC era – including the creation of Jitsi Meet and the Jitsi Videobridge SFU.

Today, Emil is Vice President of Product for Video Platform at 8×8, Inc., where he continues to oversee Jitsi’s development and its integration into 8×8’s cloud services. He has been an active contributor to WebRTC and VoIP standards and remains a thought leader on topics like privacy and security in WebRTC. From mentoring Jitsi’s global community to engaging with WebRTC working groups, Emil exemplifies tech leadership – a startup founder who still codes and a product visionary who never lost his engineering roots.

Sean DuBois

I want WebRTC to be as easy as using a socket – that’s the dream behind Pion.

Nationality: American

Sean is the creator of Pion, the popular Go-based WebRTC implementation that has expanded WebRTC’s reach beyond the browser. He started Pion as a personal open-source project, and it quickly gained thousands of GitHub stars and a vibrant community by providing WebRTC in server, gaming, and IoT environments.

Sean’s mantra of “WebRTC everywhere” led him to build out Pion’s modular libraries and even a Go-based SFU. In 2023, Sean joined OpenAI as a real-time communications developer, where he applied WebRTC to power live audio interactions for AI services. Despite this big-stage role, he remains active in Pion’s development – mentoring contributors, merging pull requests, and adding cutting-edge features. Sean frequently appears on podcasts, Q&A blogs, and conferences, enthusiastically sharing knowledge. His work democratizes WebRTC, enabling developers in any language or platform to leverage real-time media.

Peter Thatcher

Nationality: American

Peter is a pioneering WebRTC engineer who co-authored the original WebRTC 1.0 specification and implementation at Google. As an early contributor on Google’s WebRTC team, he helped design the core PeerConnection API and was instrumental in projects like ORTC, which influenced the final WebRTC standard.

After Google, Peter continued pushing real-time video tech at Facebook and later joined Signal, where he works on secure peer-to-peer communication. Across these roles, he’s maintained a focus on improving media quality and flexibility – for example, enabling simulcast, SVC codecs, and low-latency streaming in large services. Peter has also been active in the IETF, contributing to drafts on A/V1 video and new RTP extensions. With over a decade in the field, he’s known as an architect who can also get down in the trenches of C++ and JavaScript. Many in the WebRTC community consider Peter one of the “founding fathers” of WebRTC for his early and ongoing contributions to how browsers and servers handle real-time media.

Justin Uberti

Justin Uberti 1 - Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

Nationality: American

Justin is widely recognized as the co-creator of WebRTC – he led the original WebRTC project at Google along with a small team, turning a nascent idea into a world-changing standard. Prior to WebRTC, Justin built the Google Talk client and was already an expert in voice/video over IP.

During WebRTC’s early days, he frequently demonstrated its potential and guided its integration into Chrome. Justin later became the Chief Engineer of Google Duo, using his WebRTC expertise to deliver a globally-scalable, mobile-optimized video calling app. In 2021, he took on a new challenge as Head of Streaming Technology at Clubhouse, where he’s applying real-time audio at massive scale for social conversations. Throughout, Justin has remained an active community member – speaking at Google I/O, ORTC workshops, and blogging about topics like congestion control and codec choices. He even won a WebRTC “Lifetime Achievement” Award. If WebRTC had a Hall of Fame, Justin would be a first-ballot inductee for his foundational work and continued impact on real-time communications.

Sergio Garcia Murillo

Nationality: Spanish

Sergio is the Chief Architect of Real-Time Streaming at Dolby.io, where he focuses on ultra-low-latency live streaming using WebRTC. Before Dolby, he had a long history of building media servers: he created the Medooze MCU/SFU and contributed significantly to licode and other open SFUs. Sergio also worked on WebRTC at TokBox and then at Twilio, following Twilio’s acquisition of the SFU tech his team developed.

In the standards realm, he’s co-author of the WHIP and WHEP protocols that simplify WebRTC streaming for broadcasters, reflecting his commitment to open standards for live streaming. An active blogger and webrtcHacks contributor, Sergio has written about multiparty architectures and SFU load testing, sharing his deep knowledge of how to squeeze performance from WebRTC servers. Whether it’s optimizing simulcast layering or integrating AV1 SVC, he’s constantly pushing what WebRTC media servers can do. Sergio’s code and guidance underpin many large-scale WebRTC deployments (from interactive broadcast platforms to real-time monitoring systems), making him a behind-the-scenes hero of the ecosystem.

Iñaki Baz Castillo

Nationality: Spanish

Iñaki is the co-founder and lead developer of mediasoup, a popular open-source WebRTC SFU known for its high performance and developer-friendly Node.js and C++ API. A passionate open-source advocate, Iñaki started mediasoup in 2015 with the goal of creating a cutting-edge WebRTC media server that could be easily integrated into applications.

Today, mediasoup powers many large-scale video platforms and recently introduced a Rust implementation for even greater efficiency. Iñaki has a long history in real-time comms – before WebRTC, he was active in the SIP world, contributing to projects like Kamailio and JsSIP. He is a frequent presence on community forums and has participated in standards discussions around SDP interoperability and simulcast. Through blog posts and conference talks, he’s demystified how SFUs work and how to scale them. Iñaki’s work on mediasoup has lowered the barrier for developers to deploy their own WebRTC infrastructure without relying on closed vendors, embodying the open-source spirit of WebRTC.

Arin Sime

Arin Sime - Top 18 WebRTC Experts for Real-Time Apps

Nationality: American

Arin is the co-founder and CEO of WebRTC.ventures, a software development agency that has built countless custom WebRTC applications for clients around the world. An engineer-turned-entrepreneur, Arin started the company in 2011 and embraced WebRTC early after its 2012 release, pivoting to focus exclusively on real-time video/voice solutions.

His team has since delivered WebRTC apps in telehealth, education, live events, and more – experiences that Arin channels into thought leadership. He hosts the monthly WebRTC Live webinar series, interviewing industry experts and showcasing new technologies. Arin also speaks frequently at conferences like TADSummit and Enterprise Connect, often covering topics like WebRTC app architecture, media server selection, and DevOps for WebRTC. He’s a big proponent of “best practices” and agile development in RTC – emphasizing testing, monitoring, and user experience. By running a services business, Arin has a front-row view of WebRTC’s practical challenges, and he shares those insights via the WebRTC.ventures blog and training workshops.

Youenn Fablet

Nationality: French

Youenn is a software engineer at Apple and the driving force behind WebRTC in Safari. He led the implementation when Apple announced WebRTC support in Safari 11 – a most requested feature finally delivered. Since then, Youenn has continually brought Safari up to parity, adding MediaStream recording, screen sharing, and VP8/VP9/HEVC codec support, among others.

He’s active in the W3C WebRTC Working Group, often proposing and editing extensions: for example, he co-authored the mDNS ICE candidates spec to enhance privacy. Youenn also contributes to related APIs like WebCodecs, WebTransport, and Media Capture in WebKit, ensuring these new capabilities integrate well with WebRTC. Developers recognize Youenn from his detailed posts on the WebKit blog and his appearances at WWDC and other conferences, where he explains Safari’s WebRTC improvements. Thanks to his work, Safari – once the laggard – now fully participates in the WebRTC ecosystem, allowing FaceTime-quality experiences on the open web. Youenn’s dedication has been crucial in making WebRTC truly cross-platform.

Varun Singh

Nationality: Indian

Varun is the founder of Callstats.io, a trailblazing WebRTC analytics platform that set the standard for monitoring call quality. He started Callstats in 2013 to help developers gather live metrics and diagnostics from WebRTC sessions. Under Varun’s leadership, Callstats.io’s analytics SDK was integrated by countless services to track QoE, and the company was eventually acquired.

Varun has been an active contributor to WebRTC’s statistics API in the W3C and IETF, ensuring that developers have the right metrics. After Callstats, Varun has taken on roles such as Head of Video Quality at Daily.co, where he continues to push the envelope in optimizing large-scale WebRTC deployments. He’s also an evangelist for WebRTC in developer communities – frequently presenting findings on network behavior, SFU vs. P2P scaling, and how to use analytics to improve RTC apps. Varun’s mix of academic rigor and entrepreneurial execution makes him a unique authority on the “science” of WebRTC performance.

Wrap Up

These legends represent exceptional talent, making them extremely challenging to headhunt. However, there are thousands of other highly skilled IT professionals available to hire with our help. Contact us, and we will be happy to discuss your hiring needs.

Note: We’ve dedicated significant time and effort to creating and verifying this curated list of top talent. However, if you believe a correction or addition is needed, feel free to reach out. We’ll gladly review and update the page.

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