About CVAT | Leading Open-Source Data Annotation Platform

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Built by Computer Vision Engineers and Open Source Contributors

CVAT began as an internal tool at Intel in 2017 to help computer vision engineers efficiently label training data. At the time, annotation was a bottleneck, and the available tools were closed, limited, or not scalable. The team built CVAT on top of VATIC, an open-source video annotation tool from Irvine, California, to automate and accelerate labeling for Intel’s internal projects.

2017

In 2018, they later released the project as open source on GitHub, calling it CVAT (Computer Vision Annotation Tool), and it quickly grew into one of the most widely adopted annotation tools worldwide, helping both researchers and companies prepare datasets for autonomous driving, robotics, and other computer vision domains.

2018

In 2022, CVAT spun out into an independent company, CVAT.ai. The mission remained the same: to transform raw, unstructured visual data into high-quality datasets that enable AI to solve real human problems and drive digital transformation.

2022

Today, CVAT powers annotation workflows for hundreds of thousands of teams worldwide. It has been downloaded millions of times, forked thousands of times, and contributed to by a global open-source community.

Now

Our Mission

High-quality labeled data is the heartbeat of every AI system. Our mission is to make that foundation better, faster, and more collaborative by transforming raw and unstructured visual data into high-quality datasets that enable AI to solve real human problems and drive digital transformation.

Our Values

Customer Focus

We listen carefully and act quickly. Our goal is to provide an excellent experience for our customers through clear communication, reliable delivery, and innovation.

Results

We set ambitious goals and take responsibility for achieving them. We solve problems, focus on outcomes, and strive for perfect execution in everything we do.

Innovation

We embrace curiosity and informed risk-taking. Every idea matters, and every success or mistake helps us move forward and create something better.

Discipline

We keep our word and take pride in doing things right. Integrity, attention to detail, and safety guide every project we plan and execute.

Quality

We aim for excellence, not just in what we build, but in how we build it. We learn, adapt, and continuously improve to deliver products that stand the test of time.

Environment
& Culture

We value diversity, openness, and teamwork. We respect each other, celebrate our achievements, and share knowledge so that we can grow together.

Meet the team

Nikita Manovich

Co-founder & CEO

Nikita is the original architect and lead developer of CVAT. He built the core engineering team from the ground up and fostered a global open-source community around the project. Today, he leads the company’s vision and execution as CEO.

Boris Sekachev

Co-founder & CTO

Boris was the lead frontend developer for CVAT during its time at Intel. As the primary contributor to the platform, he brings a strong product vision shaped by a deep belief in Data-Centric AI. He now oversees CVAT’s product and technical strategy as CTO.