📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"If you cannot measure what you change, it's really hard to lead the change." - Jani Grönman

In this episode, I talk with Jani Grönman about KPIs for quality. We ask what to measure, and why. Jani shares pairs that keep teams honest. Test pass rate with escaped defects or flaky tests. Mean time to recovery with reopen rate. Lead time to production with customer impact. One team, one number. Keep it to three or four KPIs, own them, and act. We talk about agency at work and product sense. Your tests are not a scoreboard. They are a feedback loop. Bring product and engineering together, do root cause analysis. I left inspired to pick fewer numbers, tell stories, and ship with care.

Jani works as a Managing Partner at Hidden Trail, his mission being turning quality from a cost into competitive advantage.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"When you have to make hard decisions for the right decisions, do it." - Laveena Ramchandani

In this episode, I talk with Laveena Ramchandani about thought leadership in testing and the changing role of testers. Laveena sees testers as engineers who lead by example, ask smart questions, and break silos. She coaches teams to share knowledge, speak up, and aim for team goals, not vanity KPIs. We touch hard calls too, like stepping in or reshaping a team when delivery slips. On AI, we agree to use the tools, then add human sense and the feel of quality, like accessibility and emotion. Testing stays very human.

Laveena Ramchandani is a seasoned Test Manager at easyJet with over a decade of hands-on experience in quality assurance, data science testing and digital transformation. She holds a degree in Business Computing from Queen Mary University of London and has built her career bridging the technical and business worlds. As a passionate advocate for inclusive and accessible digital products, Laveena has spoken internationally on topics such as accessibility, AI and data science in testing and scalable automation. She’s also a blogger, trainer and community leader who enjoys demystifying complex testing science and helping new testers find their voice. When she’s not testing code or delivering workshops, you’ll find her diving into the latest data models, tooling, or exploring how teams can build high-quality products that truly meet user needs.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"I'm allowed to say that they are badly designed because I've designed them." - Pekka Klärck

In this episode, I talk with Pekka Klärck about Robot Framework. We start with 2004, his thesis roots, and Nokia Networks turning a prototype into an open source project in 2008. He explains the core idea: a generic engine with reusable libraries, human readable tests, and one set of reports. Best fit in mixed tech stacks. We revisit milestones like the move to plain text, a new parser, and a thriving ecosystem. Pekka previews secret variables in 7.4, a modern user guide, markdown docs, and a cleaner namespace with backward compatibility. He even tests Robot Framework with Robot Framework.

Pekka Klärck is the inventor and lead developer of Robot Framework. He started the project in 2005 as part of his master’s thesis at Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) and has been steering its development ever since.

Pekka is known not only for his technical expertise but also for his dedication to fostering an open-source community. He actively collaborates with contributors worldwide and regularly shares his insights at conferences and events.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"If you only rely on very slow UI tests, you can do parallel testing all you want, but it's never going to be as fast without a test environment spinning up then all the unit tests that you could have written and run in that same time." - Martijn Goossens

In this episode, I talk with Martijn Goossens about DevEx, DORA, and how we put the Q into developer experience. We walk through the four DORA metrics and where testers make real impact with CI, smart coverage, and fast feedback. Martijn shares a simple fix that unlocked speed: give each team a test environment. We explore coaching with small experiments, clear metrics, and regular check ins. Start with the State of DevOps report. Map your QA work to these metrics. Speak value, stay visible, and grow with your team and community.

Martijn Goossens has over 20 years of experience in the QA field. He started as an Agile QA automation engineer and has fulfilled various QA leadership roles for the past 8 years. Martijn is ISTQB and TMAP certified and is a frequent participant in QA meetups and conferences. In recent years he found the international conference stages where he is keen to share his experiences from the trenches.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"This year was between dystopia and utopia." - Florian Fieber

In this episode, I talk with Florian Fieber about what 2025 taught testers and how to get ready for 2026. AI boosts productivity, it does not replace us. The sweet spot is generation of artifacts like test ideas, cases, scripts, and data. Accessibility grew due to the EU AI act, yet many underestimate the work. A plugin is not enough. You need manual checks and early design. For 2026 we expect agentic AI and a pilot role for testers. AI literacy becomes company wide.

Florian Fieber is a senior consultant, product strategist, and recognized expert in software quality assurance with more than 20 years of experience in the field. His work at TestSolutions focuses on test strategy, test process assessment and improvement, and the design of scalable QA operating models across the entire software lifecycle. He is responsible for strategic product management and portfolio development for testing services, as well as for internal upskilling and knowledge management in software testing.

With a background in media informatics and information systems, Florian started his career as a software developer and research assistant before moving into quality assurance. He has co-founded several consulting and training companies and has supported organizations across industries in establishing effective and sustainable testing practices. Since 2022, he has served as President of the German Testing Board, contributing actively to the advancement of professional standards and education in software testing.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"Anytime we get to some team, we get to some group of people, we become a part of that informal network and that also influences our behavior." - Yuliia Pieskova

In this episode, I talk with Yuliia Pieskova about informal networks in software teams. We explore how spontaneous ties lift trust, speed, and quality in remote and hybrid setups. Formal charts set limits, people move work through friends. Yuliia shares stories from startups, hackathons, and product discovery where cross team groups watch users, swap ideas, then return with shared context. Remote work exposes old cracks yet levels locations and opens doors for new links.

Yuliia Pieskova is the co-founder of Alpha Affinity, a data startup, as well as a Certified Agile and Organizational Coach and consultant with over 13 years of IT experience in operational and leadership roles. She has successfully guided startups through scaling journeys, building distributed international product teams from the ground up, and has collaborated with corporations like SimCorp and SAP on complex transformations and change management initiatives. As a contributor to Agile Alliance and a keynote speaker, Yuliia drives forward-thinking discussions on Agile practices, remote work, and emerging technologies. She also designs and delivers AI workshops and training sessions, empowering leaders and coaches with practical tools to seamlessly integrate AI into their workflows.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"Those testers will take our job who are using AI from those who don't use AI." - Tibor Csöndes

In this episode, I talk with Tibor Csöndes about how testing grew up and where it goes next. We recorded live at HUSTEF in Budapest, a conference he helped shape. Tibor shares telco roots where automation was normal. Tools change, thinking stays. He sees AI as a third wave after CATG and model based testing. Helpful, not a job thief. Use it, or the testers who do will take your seat. ISTQB gave us a common language across industries. Learn the basics, automation, AI, and the human stuff like clear messages and critical thinking.

Tibor Csöndes is a highly skilled Hungarian engineer and manager specializing in telecommunication and software testing. He's a veteran at Ericsson Hungary Ltd., R&D, having started his career there in 1997.

He currently works as a Line Manager (since 2009), handling people management and leading various engineering teams in areas like Component Development and MTAS&CSCF. Before his managerial role, he was a Test Architect and Senior Specialist, contributing to the TTCN-3 standardization within ETSI.

Tibor holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). He remains active in academia as an Honorary Associate Professor at BME, where he supervises students and researches using optimization methods to solve complex testing problems. He's a prominent figure in the industry as the President of the Hungarian Testing Board (ISTQB member board) since 2018. Critically, he is the Head of Organization for the well-known HUSTEF conference, a major identified event in the European software testing community.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"In the remote work, if your calendar is free, I can push a meeting inside of it." - Michał Buczko

In this episode, I talk with Michał Buczko about leading remote teams, trust, and AI. We spoke about clear calendars for open help sessions, regular updates to management by email, and the art of celebrating wins without bragging. We also spoke about sharing failures. That builds trust and can unlock help. Treat AI like a tool on your belt. Use it to amplify testers and developers, not to replace them. Stay critical and ask tech people first.

Michał Buczko is a Senior Quality Management Leader with 20+ years of experience in building and transforming quality organizations. He has a proven track record of developing quality strategies, leading cross-functional teams, and implementing enterprise-wide quality management systems. He spends his free time as a compound archer, explores AI-orchestrated software development, and is building BowSmith.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"I'm tool agnostic. I don't care what the tool is." - Péter Földházi

In this episode, I talk with Péter Földházi about test automation that solves real problems, not shiny tools. Péter brings two decades in quality and helped write the ISTQB automation syllabi. We ask why to automate, where it fits, and how the test pyramid guides choices across unit, API, and UI. I like how the simple pyramid makes choices visible. He shares a gaming case with 5,000 defects and a velocity drop. Strategy first, then tools, six month steps, and clear value.

Péter was first involved with QA as a beta tester of DOTA in 2006. Since joining EPAM in 2012, he moved towards test automation, and is currently working in the USA as a Quality Architect. He is leading Game Testing Consulting and GenAI Adoption programs in the Americas.

Péter has authored two ISTQB syllabi: Test Automation Engineering & Test Automation Strategy. He also invented two test automation methodologies: the Flow Model Pattern and the Tri-Layer Testing Architecture, the latter published as a white paper by the PNSQC. Péter has been one of the review board members of the HUSTEF since 2015.

Péter is a regular keynote and tutorial speaker on conferences such as STARWEST, STAREAST, and SauceCon. He used to be a guest lecturer at 3 Budapest based universities: Óbuda, Pázmány and the ELTE. Brewing beer and planting chilis are some of his hobbies.

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📘 Free e-book: The 7 success factors of software testing. 25 years of project experience in one 33-page workbook, now also in English 👉 Get it for free

"Performance testing is not the same as load testing." - Leandro Melendez

In this episode, I talk with Leandro Melendez about how performance testing changed in the last 20 years. Live at HUSTEF, we swap stories from bare metal and heavy browser scripts to APIs, cloud, and Kubernetes. Leandro draws a clear line between performance and load testing. Do not run Black Friday tests every sprint. Watch production, use canaries, and learn from real users. He pushes observability first. Build dashboards, instrument early, and think about cost.

Leandro is helping everyone to ramp up on their observability, QA and performance practices.

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