Quality Blether

I talk to four amazing people who took the big step of significantly changing careers to become QEs. If you're looking for inspiration, these four are inspirational! https://uk.generation.org/ https://www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/award-winning-software-development-bootcamp-continues-to-encourage-underrepresented-workers-to-join-tech-industry https://www.scotlandis.com/blog/scotl...

Hard hitting hot takes from a highly experienced and very flamboyant Quality Engineer and Quality Coach - Callum Akehurst-Ryan. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cakehurstryan/ https://cakehurstryan.com/2026/05/05/an-example-abstract-for-conference-talks/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolasedgwick/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizaf/ https://testingpeerscon.com/ -----------------------------------------...

Season 4 is coming and will be here soon, but in the meantime here's a wee taster. This is a conversation I had with Suman Bala, at Peerscon 2026 in March. Suman is a dynamic force of Quality engineering and recognised as an influence in the Software Testing industry. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumanbala/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Clare Sudbery is CI/CD coach, technical leadership coach, author (both technical and fiction), musician and a champion of Trunk Based Development. She is also a wonderful person to chat with. Clare's LinkedIn Making Tech Better Podcast Emily Bache Clare's TBD book The Nature of Software Development: Keep It Simple, Make It Valuable, Build It Piece by Piece by Ron Jefferies Manchester Tech Festival...

Soren's LinkedIn EuroSTAR Conference Link Book Recommendation 1984 by George Orwell Perfect Software And Other Illusions About Testing by Gerald Weinberg People Mentioned Michael Bolton Paul Gerrard James Lynsay Mark Harman ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the podcast of The Scottish Testing Group. This is intende...

Andy's Book Taming Your Dragon by Dr Andrew Richard Brown Andrew's Website & YouTube channel https://behaviouralsoftwareclub.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYRn0sModVcd1Y6SkbHMtKw Book Recommendations Business Dynamics : Systems Thinking And Modeling For The Complex World Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts...

Ady's website & profiles https://www.thebigtesttheory.com/ https://www.ministryoftesting.com/p/AdyStokes https://www.linkedin.com/in/a11yadystokes/ A11y Resources https://webaim.org/ https://www.deque.com/ Books Agile Testing - Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory Humans vs Computers - Gojko Adzic Agile Accessibility Handbook - Dylan Barrell Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman -----------------...

Anna McMillan is an Award Winning Test Manager, the Head of the Quality Engineering Practice for 2i and generally renowned as a force of nature. Anna's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-mcmillan/ Anna's Article Anna's 2025 Predictions Article Anna's Book Recommendations Software Testing with Generative AI by Mark Winteringham Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Great...

In June 2024 I attended the EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference in Stockholm. It's the biggest and longest-running software testing conference in Europe. attracting renowned speakers and delegates from around the world, as well as enthusiastic first-timers and learners. I grabbed the opportunity to have conversations with as many of these amazing, inspirational people as possible. This episode is...

Anne-Marie Charrett is a very experienced tester, a sort-after presenter on the conference circuit, a trainer, a EuroSTAR Testing Excellence Award Winner, and quite possibly the Queen of Quality Coaching. In this wide-ranging conversation, we cover many topics within Quality and testing, motorcycles, and even the definition of Quality itself. Anne-Marie's Website https://www.annemariecharrett.com/...

Mark Stringer is applying his Agile principles to writing his new book "Delivering the Impossible". It encompasses Philosophy, Psychology, Improvisational Comedy, and 20 years experience of THOSE problem projects that many of us have endured. It contains much that is of interest and use to anyone involved in projects of any sort, especially to those of us in Quality & Testing. Mark's Book Deli...

The Post Office Horizon Scandal has recently hit the headlines in a big way, but this is something that has been rumbling on since 1999. James Christies with his background in accountancy, Internal & External Audit, and Testing is in a particularly good position to understand it. As a result James' blog, which he has been writing for over a decade, has become a go-to source of insight into the...

Kari Kakkonen is not only very influential in the field of Testing, but he is also very passionate about spreading the word about its importance and the fact that it can also be fun. In this episode Kari talks about how & why he wrote his children's book Dragons Out, all the other support material he has for teaching software testing, his involvement in TMMi, & iSTQB, the other books he ha...

The IT Industry pundits in the media for the last couple of decades have been talking about the rise and fall and rise again of Testing Centres of Excellence, but they never really went away. If you know what you are doing you can successfully implement and manage a good Test Centre of Excellence, and Jackie McDougal has done it, several times. Jackie's Webinar - STG - How to make a Testing Centre...

The news is full of the big IT companies making redundancies, so we thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this episode to Job Hunting. My guest is Matt Drinkwater who has been recruiting Quality & Testing professionals for over 17 years. He also set up one of the early face-to-face networking events, Birmingham Testers Meetup and now runs the excellent QE Babble on LinkedIn. Join us for...

Andrew Brown has a First in Physics & Maths, a PhD in Semiconductors, and an MBA, but he's better known for presenting on Psychology in the IT industry, especially in Testing, Technical Debt, and Systems Modelling of projects. We had problems with Andrew's internet connection, so the audio drops out a couple of times. Thank you for bearing with us. Andrew's Website & YouTube channel https:...

I chat with Nicola Martin. Nicola is the Head of Quality Engineering at the AI company Adarga and the Chair of the BCS Special Interest group in software testing. She's involved in BCS Women, on the BCS Council and BCS Pride. She's also been the UK delegate to the UN Commission for The Status of Women.  Nicola has been nominated in the UK Tech 50, she was longlisted for Influential Women in T...

Emna Ayadi is a Testing Consultant, trainer, and Quality Coach. She is also one of the most in-demand conference speakers in the Testing world. I talk to her about Quality Coaching, her love of games and her passion for helping people improve. Emna's Blog https://emnaayadi.wordpress.com/blog/ Books The World of Visual Facilitation: Unlock Your Power to Connect People & Ideas by  Jeroen Bl...

I chat with David Crowe, an up-and-coming voice in the arena of Agility, about Mushrooms, Philosophy, History, Diversity & Inclusion, Pirates, Agility, Quality Value, and much, much more. Books Mentioned A Thousand Plateaus by Gilles Deleuze ,  Felix Guattari   Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters by  Richard Rumelt Process Metaphysics: An Introduction t...

I chat with Paul Gerrard, the author, long-term software engineering influencer and general Testing thought-leader, about Engineering, Professionalism, Bluetooth Toothbrushes, Chartered Engineer status for Testers, community, how testers use mental modeling, systems thinking, and many more things. Paul's Book Recommendations The Tester's Pocket Book by Paul Gerrard The Art of Software Testing by G...

In this episode Sowmya Ramesh, from the Scottish Testing Group, talks to Janet Gregory about her life in software, her books, Agile Testing, and her latest book QPAM - Quality Process Assessment Model. Janet's Books Agile Testing Condensed: A Brief Introduction by Janet Gregory & Lisa Crispin More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole Team by Janet Gregory & Lisa Crispin Agile Tes...

In this episode I talk to Simon Prior, the Head of QA for the airline easyJet. We discuss many topics including quality engineering, neurodiversity, leadership, universities and books, but not football. Simon's Book Recommendations Leading Quality: How Great Leaders Deliver High Quality Software and Accelerate Growth by Ronald Cummings - John & Owais Peer  Explore It!: Redu...

The Scottish Testing Group are proud and pleased to present a brand new podcast. In each episode we will talk to a key figure in the software quality industry about themselves and their thoughts on the whole field. Those guests will include QA Directors, Award-winning testers, Authors, renowned Quality Gurus, researchers into new technologies, Agilists, futurists, thinkers, do-ers, old hands, and...