Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

Shipping high-quality software quickly is challenging. QA professionals are facing pressure to test more, faster in a world where GenAI is pushing delivery – all while trying to cut costs. For years, manual testing and traditional automation tools like Selenium have been the standard. But both come with challenges. Manual testing alone can be slow and prone to errors, while Selenium and similar tools require coding expertise, need constant script maintenance, and are easily broken by UI changes.

Advances in large language models (LLMs) and their widespread accessibility have transformed both what software can do and how we build it. The use of LLMs has quickly evolved from simple single-turn interactions to AI agents that reason, use tools, manage state, and operate autonomously.

Delivering value now with data integration, the right data platform, and generative and agentic AI.

We keep hearing the phrase AI testing used in very different ways, often in the same meeting.

As AI continues to rise in importance across all industries, the cost of implementation, readily available access to cloud computing, and practical business use cases make AI-powered offerings a competitive advantage for product managers, engineering, and data leaders. However, AI isn’t without its fair share of risks and challenges.

TL;DR: DreamFactory 7.4+ includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets you connect any LLM—ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or custom AI agents—to your enterprise databases through governed, role-based APIs. Setup takes minutes: create an MCP service in the admin console, copy the OAuth credentials, and point your AI application to the generated endpoint.

For today’s CTOs and CIOs, the pressure to deliver actionable data insights within your products has never been higher. However, a critical dilemma often stalls your progress toward the business intelligence tools you need for the task: Should your engineering team build a bespoke analytics engine from scratch, or should you integrate a professional embedded solution?

Agentic AI is moving quickly from experiments to real work. In 2026, it shows up inside the workflows that drive outcomes: decisions, operations, and accountability. In the season 7 premiere of the Data Chief podcast, host Cindi Howson sat down with three leaders who work at the intersection of AI ambition and enterprise execution: Paul Baier (GAI Insights), Jennifer Belissent (Snowflake), and Rory Blundell (Gravitee).

You’re in the cockpit of a small plane, cruising a few thousand feet in the air. Then, out of nowhere, the airspeed dips and an alarm rings out. The nose drops, and you're in a full-out stall by the time instinct kicks in. You pull back on the yoke, trying to steady the plane, stop the descent and patch things up midair. But that’s exactly the move that seals your fate, sending you into a deeper spiral.