What's Next for QA Careers? | Fireside Chat with Rahul Shetty
In this fireside chat, Rahul Shetty - one of the most widely followed test automation educators - explores how AI is reshaping testing careers, which QA roles and skills are gaining relevance, and what testers should focus on learning next. He also shares how AI is being used by real testing teams, what interview panels are looking for in 2026, and how testers can stay relevant as the industry evolves. A practical conversation on the future of QA, beyond the AI hype.
Key Takeways:
✅Which QA roles are growing, which are shrinking, and what that means for you
✅The skills worth learning next, and the ones no longer worth the effort
✅How AI is actually being used in testing teams, not just in demos
✅What interview panels are asking in 2026, and what gets candidates rejected
About the speaker:
Rahul Shetty is a global QA-AI instructor, international speaker, and former Microsoft SDET with over 15 years of IT industry experience. As the founder of Rahul Shetty Academy and TechSmartHire, he has trained over 1.3 million learners across 195 countries through 30+ best-selling courses on test automation and AI.
Connect with him on linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-shetty-venkatesh/
A big shoutout to out sponsors - BrowserStack for all their support in helping do these events at such a scale.
About The Test Tribe:
The Test Tribe is the World’s Largest Software Testing Community turned EdTech Startup. Started in 2018 with a mission to give Testing Craft the glory it deserves while we co-create Smarter, prouder, and more confident Testers. We take pride in solving upskilling and growth for global Testing professionals through our unique offerings like Expert Courses, Membership, Cohorts, Offline Mixers, online Community spaces, and a lot of global Events. Our offerings enable Software Testers globally to collaborate, learn, and grow together. With around 950+ Software Testing Events like Conferences, Hackathons, Meetups, Webinars, etc., and with other Community initiatives, we have reached a global footprint of over 173K+ Testers from 130+ Countries. We intend to provide life-altering growth to every single Testing professional on the planet through community and technology.