Developers Who Test

In this episode of Developers Who Test, host Chris Harbert sits down with Nikolai Grabner, a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead at Enigma Solutions, to talk about what it actually takes to build and test AI systems that are ready for production. Nikolai opens by demystifying retrieval augmented generation (RAG), using the analogy of a knowledgeable judge who consults a specialist library...

In this episode of Developers Who Test, host Chris Harbert sits down with Nathen Harvey, who leads the DORA team at Google Cloud. Nathen has co-authored multiple reports on software delivery performance and was a contributor and editor for 97 Things Every Cloud Engineer Should Know. The conversation starts with what people get wrong about DORA. Nathen explains that the famous four (now five) softw...

In this episode, Chris Harbert sits down with Jitendra Boddapati, a lead quality engineer with over 10 years of experience specializing in API testing, ETL, big data QA, and accessibility testing across healthcare, banking, and retail domains. Jitendra shares his journey from college graduate to leading complex ETL projects, including how he taught himself SQL under pressure to deliver a challengi...

In this episode, Chris Harbert sits down with Vitaly Sharovatov, a seasoned developer and engineering manager with over 22 years of experience. Vitaly serves as a developer advocate at Qase, a test case management platform, and has written extensively about AI, testing methodology, and the economics of software quality. The conversation tackles a question every quality advocate faces: how do you c...

In this episode of Developers Who Test, host Chris Harbert sits down with Angel Williams, Senior SDET at CHG Healthcare, one of the largest healthcare staffing companies in the US. Angel's journey into software quality is unlike any other—she started as a percussionist trying to make it on Broadway before discovering a knack for debugging deployment scripts during IT contract work. The convers...

Martijn Goossens is Director of Advisory Services at Cerios, a Dutch QA company with approximately 450 employees. Martijn has about 20 years of experience helping teams improve their quality and implement test automation. He is a regular speaker at developer and software quality conferences. In this episode, Chris talks with Martijn Goossens about developer experience, productivity metrics, and wh...

In this episode of Developers Who Test, we meet Ashish Ghosh, Quality Assurance Architect at ING Bank. Ashish shares his journey from manual testing to leading ING's Quality Center of Excellence, emphasizing the critical shift from tool-centric approaches to fostering analytical and customer-focused mindsets. From pivotal moments that transformed ING's approach to quality to the broader implicatio...

In this episode of the Developers Who Test podcast, we meet Dave Monk, a software tester at Apple, and learn about his journey into software testing, the importance of QA, and the challenges faced in the industry. The episode explores the courage required to build quality software, the need for consumers to demand better products, and the evolving role of testers in an AI-driven world. ⁠Dave Monk...

In this episode of the Developers Who Test podcast, Chris Harbert interviews Gabe Smith, a software quality assurance engineer at Teal Drones. They discuss Gabe's journey into quality assurance, the differences between developer and tester mindsets, and the unique challenges of testing physical devices like drones. Gabe shares insights on hardware failures, the importance of data analysis, and cre...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Evan Niedojadlo, an engineering manager and product operations at Peddle, about his journey from test engineering to site reliability engineering. They discuss the role of site reliability engineering, the differences between big and small companies in terms of site reliability engineering, and how to test infrastructure. They also explore the reasons for...

In this episode, Christine Fletcher shares her journey from being a nurse to becoming a developer and then an SDET. She talks about her burnout in nursing and her desire to do something she's passionate about. Christine started learning HTML and CSS to build a website and eventually went through a bootcamp to become a UI/UX developer. She later transitioned into a QA lead role, where she focus...

In this episode, Adam Sandman, CEO of Inflectra, discusses the importance of risk in business and software development. He explains that while revenue and expenses can be predicted and controlled, risk is often unexpected and disruptive. He emphasizes the need for businesses to understand and measure the impact and probability of risks and take measures to protect against them. Adam also highlight...

In this episode, Chris Interviews Lisa Crispin, co-author of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams. Lisa advocates for a holistic testing approach and highlights the need for collaboration and diverse perspectives in testing. She also discusses the benefits of pair programming and ensemble programming in improving code quality and preventing bugs ⁠Developers Who Test Podcast...

Scott Moore, VP of Engineering at Decision Lens, discusses the evolution of testing and test automation, the benefits of using Cucumber, and the role of test automation in the development process. He shares his experience transitioning from manual testing to test automation and explains how Cucumber has improved the maintainability and readability of their tests. Scott also highlights the importan...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Rik Marselis, a thought leader in the software testing industry and principal quality consultant at Sogeti Labs. Rick shares his journey into software testing, starting with his experience testing COBOL programs and his involvement in testing for the Y2K bug. They discuss the importance of foresight in software quality and the challenges of balancing agile...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Matt Watson, the founder and CEO of FullScale , about the role of test automation in startups. Matt shares his experience of running a successful company without a dedicated QA team and emphasizes the importance of testing based on the context and importance of the software being developed. They discuss the evolution of automated QA tools, advancements in...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Ben Bischoff, a test automation engineer for Travago and the author of Writing API Tests with Karate. Ben shares his journey into test automation, starting as a developer and transitioning into test automation. He discusses the similarities between writing code for tests and writing code for applications, emphasizing the importance of testing the tests the...

James Sansbury, Director of Product for Tugboat QA , shares his journey into the QA space and the challenges of implementing automated testing. He emphasizes the importance of a testing culture and the need to think about testing in the early phases of a project. He also discusses the best placement of automated testing in the pipeline and the importance of making engineering decisions based on th...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Natalia Petrovskaia, a QA engineering manager at Customer Times, about her journey into software testing and her transition into test management. Natalia shares her experience of finding fulfillment in influencing software quality and business decisions as a tester. She also discusses the importance of work-life balance and the need for rest even when you...

In this episode of the Developers Who Test podcast, host Chris Harbert interviews James Walker, co-founder of Curiosity Software . They discuss various topics related to test automation, including test data management, test modeling, and the importance of collaboration between developers and business users. James emphasizes the need for realistic test data and the challenges of replicating product...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Igor Dorovskikh, founder and CEO of Engenious , about the challenges of mobile testing. Igor shares his career journey in mobile testing and highlights the importance of specialization in iOS and Android testing. He emphasizes the need for an analytics-driven approach to determine the testing approach and device segmentation. Igor also discusses the benefi...

Anton Angelov, founder and CTO of Automate the Planet, shares his journey and insights on test automation and software development. He emphasizes the importance of passion and individuality in testing, as well as the overlapping skills between developers and testers. Anton also discusses the significance of mentorship and maximizing learning opportunities in early career stages. He provides advice...

In this episode, host Chris Harbert interviews Mark Farrell, a Senior QA Consultant at Deloitte, about his experience with test automation and his exploration of generative AI. They discuss how Mark got started in test automation and the impact of AI on jobs in the industry. Mark shares insights into his work with generative AI, including the challenges of prompt engineering and the use of differe...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Andrew Knight, the Automation Panda, Principal Architect at Cycle Labs. They discuss the importance of testing in software development, different types of testing, test automation, and the challenges in testing. The conversation provides insights into the role of testing in ensuring software quality and the strategies for effective testing, as well as prov...

In this episode, Chris Harbert interviews Steve Upton, a principal QA consultant for ThoughtWorks, about his journey into software testing and his role as a QA consultant. They discuss the importance of shared responsibility for quality and the need for everyone in the team to participate in testing. Steve emphasizes the value of taking ownership and driving change, as well as the importance of ex...