Catch up with Karita Sall, VP Global Communications at Veriff

From Veriff's early days to a global leader in identity verification. What drew you to a company building trust online?

We live in a world of the internet where it's tough to know what's real and what isn't. It gets challenging year by year, and especially having two teenage sons at home, I see that they're growing up in an era where it's even more difficult. So, it's important that we know who the people are on the other side of the screen. I believe that Veriff, with its product, is solving a real-life problem. It's not just a superficial solution; it's actually making the world a better place. In that sense, the mission is why I joined the company.

Also, it's crucial for me to be part of a team that inspires me. Ever since I joined Veriff almost six years ago, we’ve been able to attract great talent that matches the company’s growth stage. It’s something that the founders have done well throughout the company’s journey. Looking at Kaarel, Veriff’s Founder and CEO, he has such a drive and passion for building the company, pushing us constantly to get better - this is the type of leader I really value. What’s great to see is that even after building the company for almost 10 years now, he hasn't lost that drive - he enjoys what he's doing. I believe as long as you enjoy your work and feel like you're contributing to something meaningful, Veriff is a great place to be.

Veriff has evolved into a trusted name in identity verification. What events have shaped its mission and brand?

Veriff started out in Estonia, and initially, the product was primarily aimed at helping local companies with identity verification, be it banks, marketplaces, or other businesses. Another use case was to make it easier for e-residents to start a business in Estonia without the need to show up in Estonia. Over the years, Veriff’s solution and product use cases have evolved tremendously. The company has also expanded geographically: initially in Estonia, then the Baltics, then Europe, and now being truly global, with most customers and volume coming from the US, new markets like Latin America, and beyond.

Interestingly, the core mission—making the internet a safer place—has remained unchanged from day one, even from when we were a small startup to now that we are a much larger scale-up. The core values that were there at the beginning are still present. At the end of the day, I don't think the fundamental purpose has changed much, but the company itself has evolved a lot, and obviously, so has the product. Initially built for a handful of use cases, now basically any online service, including financial services, dating, mobility or marketplaces, can use our products.

How is Veriff uniquely positioned in the competitive IDV market?

Honestly, I believe we have the best product. When it comes to catching sophisticated fraud and being accurate with decisions, this has been at the core of the product from the early days. While "AI-powered" is a big buzzword now, AI has been native to our product from the early days. This definitely gave us a significant head start in how we developed our product, including Identity Verification, KYC, Biometric Authentication and Fraud Mitigation. 

It's definitely the accuracy and our ability to scale quickly. Because our customer base is global, if you start in the US but want to expand to other markets, thanks to our product capabilities, you can easily grow your business in any new market and still get a fast and accurate service. I think that's one key differentiator. Also, looking back, we were one of the first to use a video-first approach - instead of pulling just a few data points from static images, we analyze thousands of signals from a live video session. This also contributes to making the product more accurate than others in the market.

You've been part of Veriff's most significant milestones, creating headlines in top-tier media. Yet, you need to keep the PR ball rolling at all times. How do you craft stories that gain traction?

Obviously, every PR person would always like to write about funding rounds, IPOs, or groundbreaking product innovations. However, these don't happen every day. The most important thing is to be consistent and keep the momentum going because there are always stories within the business; you just need to dig them out and connect the dots. At all times, there’s something happening with the product, and we have brilliant talent within the company.

So, I believe in building stories around the talent we have, the product we offer, but also, importantly, not only us talking about Veriff and its solution, but also bringing in our customers to tell their stories and how we've helped solve their pain points. This is obviously always tricky given the business we're in, but having a happy customer explain their experience definitely helps. By putting these little building blocks together, you get a good base for your rolling communications plan. Just be consistent and maintain momentum.

Let’s recall one campaign where the demo of Veriff’s product Age Estimation made waves on social media. What made it so popular?

Well, we live in an era where people's attention spans are getting shorter, and you need gamification in what you see. I think that campaign was a great way of combining these two things: a genuine product innovation – people wanted to see if the AI was accurate enough to estimate their age – and turning it into a game. People tried to make different faces, wear a hat, change their pose, take photos at various times of the day with varying lighting, and see how the AI performed.

It was infotainment at its best—real tech, real fun. As the results were entertaining, people wanted to share how accurate (or inaccurate) the results were. Once shared, it becomes viral and leads to a successful ad campaign. The fact that we didn't claim 100% accuracy but encouraged people to test it out and have fun with it was also a factor.

If you had to choose a piece of content that perfectly captures Veriff's values and addresses the question, “Is Veriff safe?”, which would you highlight and why?

When it comes to safety, people are most sensitive about data protection. So, for me as a consumer, I'd like to have a better understanding of what happens with my data when I share it with companies like Veriff. I believe some visual content that clearly explains my rights, where my data is used, where it's held, why it's captured, for what purpose it's used, and when it's deleted, would be ideal. Then I feel that I am in control. 

Having a better understanding of this process would make me feel safer about the product and would demonstrate that Veriff is following its mission and living its values by showing that its products are safe.

Veriff partners with Bolt, Monese, and SuperAwesome. What makes a partnership the right fit to support Veriff’s mission of a safer internet?

Obviously, companies that care about their users' safety and security are the partners we’d like to be working with. If we share that common value – the desire to ensure our product is safe and data is secure – that's what makes it an exciting partnership.

Of course, if it's a global brand that everyone uses daily, that's always a plus. But even if it's a smaller player that shares the same values as we do when it comes to safety, these are the best partners to have, and these are the stories we'd like to share.

Onto the culture and fun bits. What's the most valuable advice you would give someone just starting their career at Veriff?

For someone just starting their career at Veriff, I know they've gone through quite a meticulous interview process, so it's not easy to earn a place here. My advice would be to keep asking lots of questions. We have a really great, supportive team who can help you onboard, and it's your job to be curious and find out more.

Secondly, build relationships with our people. We are in the people business and the trust business, and we have such great talent who can support you along the way. So - ask questions and build relationships – those are the two key pieces of advice I'd give.

What’s a lesser-known moment at Veriff that made you laugh, smile, or think, “This is why I love working here”?

As a communication person, I have noticed that whenever there's a critical situation or a crisis, it usually happens on a Friday evening, interfering with your weekend plans. But even in those difficult moments, I never feel alone -  I can always turn to a team member and they help me get through the tough spot. We truly have each other's backs. And I know that next time, if I need someone else's help, they'll be there for me, and in the same way, I’ll be there for them. So, it's the people - that’s why I love working here. 

Imagine Veriff CEO Kaarel Kotkas’ journey from aspiring doctor to tech unicorn founder. What’s the perfect documentary title, and who would play him?

That’s a tough one! I’d go with something playful like "From Blood to Code" or "From Scalpel to Startup". As for the lead actor, I would go with Joe Alwyn as Kaarel. He’s got the quiet charisma and intellect that fit Kaarel’s journey.