Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

Playwright is revolutionizing end-to-end testing for modern web applications with its robust cross-browser support and versatile programming language compatibility. In this session, Debbie O'Brien dives into Advanced Playwright Techniques for Flawless Testing, uncovering hidden gems and advanced features to elevate your testing game. From setting up tests efficiently and leveraging test annotations to mastering API mocking, this talk is packed with practical insights for enhancing test reliability and coverage.

In today's fast-evolving world, staying relevant as a test leader requires adaptability, continuous innovation, and a forward-thinking mindset. Drawing on over 42 years of experience, Rob Sabourin delivers an engaging talk on Staying Relevant in Test Leadership, offering invaluable advice for both new and seasoned test leaders. Discover how to embrace change, foster innovation on every project, and adapt strategies for team and individual growth.

Leadership in agile is not about control; it’s about enabling teams to thrive in a collaborative, innovative, and adaptable environment. In this inspiring session, Nishi Grover Garg draws on her hands-on experience to share valuable lessons in agile leadership. From managing shifting priorities to fostering a self-organizing culture, learn how to empower teams to deliver continuous value while achieving sustainable growth. Attendees will gain actionable leadership strategies to motivate and guide agile teams towards high-impact results.

In the digital age, your GitHub profile can serve as an impressive and dynamic CV, showcasing your work and skills to potential employers. But what if your commit history isn’t vibrant, or your projects aren’t open source? In this insightful talk, Nicolas Fränkel shares practical strategies to transform your GitHub profile into an always up-to-date entry point for recruiters, even if your contributions are sparse or private. Learn how customization and automation, using tools like GitHub Actions, can keep your profile fresh and professional without constant manual effort.

In the rapidly evolving age of AI, vector databases have become the backbone of modern systems, revolutionizing the way high-dimensional data is managed and queried. In this insightful session, Toni Ramchandani explores why QA professionals must adapt their skills and approaches to meet the unique demands of vector databases. Traditional testing methods fall short in addressing challenges like similarity search, vector indexing, and performance optimization.

In this session, Jon Hagar explores how AI is reshaping software engineering and testing, emphasizing the vital role of prompt engineering in staying relevant and effective. From traditional software testing to using AI for testing AI systems, and even enhancing test tools and support environments, prompt engineering is emerging as a critical skill. Jon will dive into what prompt engineering entails, its applications in testing, and the key actions testers can take to adapt to this evolving landscape.

In a world of rapid technological evolution, QA leaders must not only adapt but also lead the way in embracing emerging trends like AI and automation. In this session, David Ingraham explores how the future of QA leadership is being shaped by these advancements and what it takes to stay competitive in the ever-changing landscape of software testing. He highlights the critical technical and leadership skills needed to navigate the next 12–18 months successfully.

Code review is a critical stage in the test automation lifecycle, yet many teams struggle with inconsistencies in their processes. In this session, Mesut Durukal shares his experience leading a team where reviewers had differing approaches—some overly strict, others too lenient—leading to inefficiencies and frustration. Using real-world examples, both good and bad, Mesut will illustrate how his team tackled these challenges and created a balanced, impactful code review process.

In this session, Gomathi Ramalingam sheds light on the critical role of exploratory testing in navigating the complexities of blockchain systems. With its intricate architecture and high-stakes environment, blockchain demands a testing approach that goes beyond traditional methods. Gomathi will discuss the benefits of exploratory testing, specific techniques tailored for blockchain, and why organizations in the blockchain space must prioritize this approach to ensure robust and secure systems.

In this session, Ashwini Lalit delves into how Quality Engineering teams can leverage a data-driven approach to Value Stream Mapping (VSM) to achieve quality excellence. Traditional workflows often mask inefficiencies and bottlenecks behind agile ceremonies and feel-good optics, making it challenging to gauge the true readiness of release deliverables. By combining VSM with agile principles and DevOps tools, Ashwini demonstrates how to visualize workflows holistically, streamline production releases, and transition from reactive to proactive quality processes.

In an era increasingly driven by artificial intelligence, ensuring ethical development and testing practices is more crucial than ever. In this thought-provoking session, Gaurav Khurana will explore the core principles of Responsible AI, including transparency, accountability, fairness, and privacy. These principles act as a foundation for building trust, mitigating algorithmic biases, and ensuring responsible data usage, ultimately fostering an AI ecosystem that prioritizes human welfare and respects privacy rights.

In this session, Gil Zilberfeld highlights a critical challenge in test automation—the creation of "Frankenstein tests." These tests combine programming languages, frameworks, and domain-specific languages into a mishmash that is difficult to read, interpret, and maintain. While this approach may seem functional initially, it often leads to complex, fragile tests that become a burden as projects evolve. Gil emphasizes the importance of addressing this issue to prevent the "monster" of unmanageable tests from overwhelming your testing strategy.

In this session, Harish Pandalangatt will explore the fundamentals of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and their pivotal role in centralizing and unifying customer data from various sources. He will emphasize the importance of testing these platforms to ensure that data is accurately captured, processed, and used to drive personalized marketing strategies and business insights. The session will also introduce Tealium, a leading CDP platform, showcasing how it streamlines customer data management and enhances marketing effectiveness.

In this session, James Massa, Senior Executive Director of Software Engineering and Architecture at JPMorgan Chase, dives into the critical elements of mastering LLM (Large Language Model) chatbot testing. As AI-driven chatbots take center stage in user interactions, even the slightest flaw in testing can result in significant, high-profile failures. James will guide you through the cutting-edge techniques used to rigorously test these advanced systems, ensuring optimal performance while helping you avoid common pitfalls that could derail your chatbot’s success.

In this session, Ajay Balamurgadas addresses a common challenge in test automation: the over-prioritization of UI testing at the expense of API testing. While many teams understand the importance of APIs, they often focus on UI automation, resulting in fragile, hard-to-maintain test suites. This approach leads to wasted resources and diminishing returns, as UI tests become increasingly difficult to manage as the product evolves. Ajay explains how this cycle is reinforced by ineffective metrics that measure the quantity of tests rather than their impact, keeping teams "busy being busy" without driving real value.