Oliver Jessner
Oliver Jessner’s Biography
Oliver Jessner is a freelance technology and business journalist specializing in data-driven investigations, OSINT, artificial intelligence, social media, startups, and the political and economic impact of technology.
His reporting focuses on Austria, Germany, and the United States, with a particular interest in the relationship between technology, power, markets, and public discourse. He writes for outlets including Golem.de, t3n, IT-Finanzmagazin, IGN and GameStar/Tech.
A core part of his work is investigative and analytical journalism. Jessner works with large datasets, public records, social media content, technical metadata, and other open-source information to identify patterns that are difficult to see through traditional reporting alone. When existing tools are not sufficient, he develops his own scrapers, databases, and research pipelines.
His investigations and analyses cover areas such as AI-generated political content, digital propaganda, platform manipulation, social media networks, public-sector technology procurement, cybersecurity, software dependencies, and digital sovereignty.
Social media and platform dynamics are a major focus. Jessner examines how political narratives spread, how networks of accounts amplify messages, how AI-generated content is used in political communication, and how platforms influence public perception.
Before working as a journalist, Jessner spent many years as a software developer, entrepreneur, and CTO. This technical background allows him to investigate software systems and digital platforms at a deeper level and to evaluate technical claims, security risks, infrastructure decisions, and software architecture.
He also covers the business side of technology, including venture capital, startups, business models, platform economics, product strategy, and the growing dependency of European companies and governments on U.S. technology providers.
His geographic focus is strongly transatlantic. Austria and Germany often serve as the starting point for investigations into public institutions, digitalization, regulation, and political communication, while the United States is central to his coverage of Big Tech, venture capital, artificial intelligence, and global technology markets.