This Week in Quality

Judy and Simon host a thoughtful 'This Week in Therapy' episode, with Judy reflecting on her first few weeks in a new role and the difference between building quality from scratch versus stepping into processes someone else has already shaped. The conversation explores mistakes, AI responsibility, risk versus reality, impostor syndrome, writing, MoTaCon reflections, and how asking questions can be one of the most valuable things quality professionals do. Shawn and Heleen join to discuss shift-left mandates, team context, terminology, and the relief of realising that asking questions is not a flaw but a core part of the quality role.

Simon and Demi open with MoTaCon updates, including the growing 'festival' around the conference, socials, dinners, Motography, and the reminder to show up as yourself. The episode then celebrates the newly-updated MoTaverse profile pages and how they help members showcase their learning, contributions, moments, stars, and badges without turning it into a competition. Demi shares a brilliant work story about a missing piece of legacy code, vacation-driven single points of failure, and the risks of knowledge living in one person’s head. Maneesh and Neil then join to discuss AI agents, onboarding bots, exploratory testing charters, screenshots, demo preparation, cognitive load, and the difference between using AI as a helper versus letting it replace the learning process.

Simon breaks format by taking This Week in Quality on a live tour of the MoTaverse homepage, highlighting recent moments, sessions, glossary entries, Observatory links, AI chapter growth, and the new profile page beta. The episode celebrates community members putting themselves out there: Maneesh reflects on running his first large public session, Ben explores a Claude skill for exploratory testing, Nadja contributes 'chaos-driven development' to the glossary, Judy starts a new role, and Gary reveals he has become Head of Engineering. Along the way, the conversation explores AI skills, guardrails, evals, token budgets, community stars, profile-building, and the value of showing your work in public.

Rosie and Demi co-host episode 144, opening with Demi’s week of database drama after another team dropped a table in their test environment and accidentally blocked critical test data. They reflect on recent MoTaverse activity, including crisis communication, shifting testing perspectives left, MoT London videos, redesigned profiles, and Ady moving years of writing into the MoTaverse. The conversation then widens into how people learn and contribute through moments, talks, podcasts, roundtables, Claude skills, observatory links, and community experimentation. Judy joins to share the story behind launching her new podcast, while Ady closes with updates on writing, TestUp North, moving his blog archive, and the strange creative productivity of sleepless nights.

Ben and Judy host episode 143, opening with Judy’s reflections on testing job applications, staying connected through the community, and finding joy even in a difficult job market. Ben shares his current focus on scaling quality engineering, reducing “Ben things,” and helping teams take more ownership of releases and automation. Gary joins to talk about pitching for a Head of Engineering role without “selling his soul,” while Maneesh shares practical examples of bringing AI into workflows by talking to teams and finding real problems to solve. The episode also takes a lighter detour through snacks, gaming streams, Lemmings, and the surprising testing lessons hiding in play, before closing on the need to make AI learning more accessible and less pressure-filled.

Simon and Demi host a high-energy wins episode, starting with Demi’s week of intense data testing and Simon’s reflections on recent MoTaverse milestones, including Diana’s first 10K, 45 Call for Insights, new company chapters, and fresh writing prompts for community moments. Nadja joins to share a big life and career move to Belgium, while Rosie reflects on London Community Week, changing community needs, and the idea that communities naturally evolve as people’s needs shift. Gary shares how the MoTaverse has helped him feel ready to pitch for a bigger role, and Ady rounds things off with a packed list of wins: finally hitting a 180 in darts after decades of trying, recording an accessibility podcast, shaping a cricket club vision, celebrating his wedding anniversary, and surviving a very stubborn TV box saga.

Simon kicks off this Hot Takes edition with a tour through recent MoTaverse updates, including career growth resources, motivation, quality tooling silos, AI’s impact on definitions of ready/done, and new learning tools. The main debate centres on whether relying on AI chatbots is reducing human knowledge sharing in the community, with Oleksandr and Gary adding reflections on AI, culture, silos, and evaluation. The second big hot take argues that exploratory testing is not being discussed enough, especially in a world where AI is accelerating code production and increasing the need for skilled human judgement. Demi closes with a practical example of teaching non-testers how to explore an application, after discovering that “just go press the buttons” is not enough guidance.

Simon and Judy open with updates from the MoTaverse, including the Leading with AI event, new moments from the community, Women in Testing, and a Software Testing Live session on risk. The main conversation explores the idea of grieving change in tech: the fear, sadness, frustration, and identity shifts that come with AI, shifting roles, and changing workplace cultures. Community members join to share personal reflections on writing, career breaks, AI taking away the joy of making, feeling unheard at work, and how to keep going when quality advocacy becomes exhausting. Ady closes with a passionate reminder to protect yourself, collect your wins, and "be you" rather than reshaping yourself for companies that may never fully listen.

Simon and Demi reflect on the second video-enabled episode of This Week in Quality, with plenty of live experimentation, technical glitches, and community challenges along the way. The conversation ranges from new MoTaverse content on loop engineering, test data, career growth, and models, before digging into negative testing and why the “unhappy path” is often a core part of the system’s expected behaviour. Later, Rosie and Gary open up a rich discussion around platform engineering, developer experience, tester experience, and how changing the conversations we have can change the future of quality.

This Week in Quality enters a new, cameras-on format - complete with connection glitches and live tool testing! The main theme is high value activities: how experienced quality folks identify the work that creates outsized impact (like exploratory testing, analysis review, and risk-based coaching) versus routine tasks that can be delegated. Gary and Preeti add a practical lens on human accountability - especially around PR/MR merges - while Demi lands the episode with a brilliant 'risk signal': the moment someone says “you can’t test that,” she’s all in.

Episode 137 of This Week in Quality opens with playful banter about heat, workshops vs meetings, and the reality of notification fatigue. The conversation quickly heats up with hot takes on “done is better than perfect” lightning learning, how tooling layers add complexity to testing, and why understanding the system matters before measuring it. The standout segment is Ady’s blunt argument that accessibility isn’t “extra” - choosing deadlines over inclusion is systemic discrimination - followed by practical discussion on making accessibility a business objective and creating safe forums for developers to learn. It closes with a thoughtful pivot into making space to grieve how AI is changing roles, plus a tongue-in-cheek Oasis/Blur sign-off.

What does it really mean to write clean code? And does it even matter if nobody uses your product? This week, Demi and Simon explore the tensions between readability, legacy codebases, and shipping something that works. Rolf brings 30+ years of perspective on why clean code is a mindset, not a rulebook, and Nadja shares how the Berlin chapter is tackling the AI wave. From code smells and SonarQube to WET feet and Uncle Bob, the community delivers. Plus: the glossary hits 550 terms, Moments go live mid-episode, and someone nearly gets away with saying the A-word.Join the TWiQ Chapter for updates.

In this episode of This Week in Quality, host Simon Tomes is joined by Shawn Vernier and Ady Stokes to explore how epistemology – the philosophy of knowledge – shapes everyday testing and quality decisions. Drawing on questions from the MoTaverse community, they dig into what testers can really “know” about a system, how beliefs, assumptions, and evidence interact, and why the reliability of our information sources matters when we make risk calls. Alongside highlights from the wider community and events, the conversation connects abstract philosophical ideas with practical testing practices, encouraging listeners to rethink how they measure quality, interpret metrics, and navigate uncertainty in their work.Join the This Week in Quality Chapter today. A place to gather with quality people.

Ady kicks things off with a reminder that we don’t celebrate ourselves enough, then invites everyone to share their weekly wins. Simon highlights two fresh Call for Insights launches (with Lauren Lassie and Gary Hawkes) and bigs up Rahul’s AI Guardrails masterclass. Ady shares his own wins: progress on book models using NotebookLM as a thinking partner, upcoming talks, and - massively - three Leeds chapter events scheduled, plus a shout-out fundraiser for assistance dogs. The community jumps in with their wins: Nadja’s agentic AI hackathon, Melissa’s “small wins” mindset, Louise’s nightmare bug caught before it hit production (all users accidentally had admin permissions!), Gary’s coaching journey + influencing teams around AI usage, and Ibekwe’s focused learning on OWASP API vulnerabilities.

Co-hosts Simon and Oleksandr theme the episode around influencing without authority, inspired by Suzanne Abdurahman’s work on influence in the Software Quality Engineering Certificate and recent community conversations. They unpack what influence looks like day-to-day, why “being present” matters, and how to adapt your message to different stakeholders. The group also explores what happens when you’re right about a risk but nobody acts, why some stakeholders only “get it” after impact lands, and how to make your work visible through contributions on the Multiverse. The episode closes with advice for junior QAs on getting noticed, plus a rapid-fire discussion on the hardest stakeholders to influence.

Judy and Clare kick off “Hot Take TWIQ Day” with wins (mobile automation in the cloud!) and community joys (finding your “match” in the MoTaverse), before diving into spicy opinions: should old bugs be deleted or archived, why manual testing is still a creative superpower, and how AI changes the thinking required of quality professionals. As the conversation heats up, the group tackles whether developer AI agents actually accelerate delivery, why skepticism is a paid skill, and the uncomfortable truth that QA can advocate - but leadership controls the resources that make quality possible.

Diana drops out of the MoTaverse (and returns via incognito mode) just in time for a deep dive into MoTaCon: what it is, why the name matters, and how the lineup reflects the MoTaverse's shift from “testing-only” to a broader tech conference with quality at the core. Along the way, the hosts celebrate fresh SQEC-qualified members, explain how MoT profiles and year-round community participation shape who gets invited to contribute, and share ways to make the most of Pro membership - from attending MoTaCon (and related socials) to capturing learnings with Moments and meeting more people through challenges like the stamp sheet.

It’s a busy, energizing TWIQ: Natalia returns with fresh experiences from her new job, including tackling mobile testing, planning an accessibility audit, and levelling up her AI learning through the new AI chapter. Simon spotlights recent Call for Insights conversations, then announces the big milestone: the Software Quality Engineering Certificate is now fully live with all modules and the exam available. The chat and guests bring the community vibe, from job news and chapter celebrations to practical “how we work” topics like flaky tests, learning by pairing with developers, and using the glossary to align on what terms actually mean in different teams.

In this episode of This Week in Quality (Friday 27 March 2026), Simon Tomes is joined by Judy Mosley for a joy-fuelled tour through what’s been lighting up the MoTaverse. They kick off with a relatable tester classic: time zones and daylight-saving bugs, including a behind-the-scenes nod to MoT’s own chapter scheduling whack-a-mole.Judy highlights an Observatory gem from Patrick Peirl’s on why context matters, especially when using AI, and Simon calls out Judy’s “A Day in the MoTaverse” video as a great example of showing others how to participate. They also celebrate Jessica Mosley’s arrival in the community, and Simon invites listeners to weigh in on a big SQEC conversation starter: how do you actually calculate the cost of a bug?The pair share more community sparks, from Helene’s painfully accurate “Is it in Dev yet?” meme, to reflections on AI-generated vs human-written test cases, to the growing Ask MoTaverse Anything trend and how imposter syndrome shows up (and can be worked through) when you put yourself out there. They then pivot into the week’s biggest theme: the MoTaverse isn’t doom-scrolling, it’s joy scrolling—a place designed to leave you more hopeful, more curious, and more connected than when you arrived.Later, Neil Younger joins to announce and champion the brand-new Engineering Leadership & Engineering Management chapter, sharing why it feels like “coming home” and why quality folks absolutely can become engineering managers. They wrap with shout-outs to Software Testing Live, playful “Thursday Night Live” banter, and a reminder that being “MoTawhelmed” by great community content is a genuinely good problem to have.

In episode 128 of This Week in Quality (Friday 20 March 2026), Ben Dowen and Simon Tomes catch up on conference learnings, community experiments, and a fresh way to share knowledge across the MoTaverse. Ben opens with reflections from Testing Peers Conference, including a practical workshop takeaway on Playwright agents, and Simon nudges him toward turning those learnings into a MoTaverse Moment.The conversation then pivots to the new Ask MoTaverse Anything initiative, an AMA format powered by Moments. The hosts spotlight Cassandra Lung’s AMA prompt, “Quality beyond correctness,” and use it as a springboard to discuss what correctness even means, why “it depends” is often the most honest answer, and how questions themselves are a valuable form of contribution. They highlight the benefits of separating each answer into its own Moment, creating reusable “learning blocks” that build credibility, show up on profiles, and are easier to find later.A key thread emerges around communicating impact. They call out Emily O’Connor’s question on persuading engineers and product owners to prioritize work beyond acceptance criteria, and Cassandra’s answer that focuses on real-world consequences, empathy, and user impact stories, including using impact framing both to advocate for fixes and to justify not doing low-value work.Community voices join in too. Preeti Gupta shares a real-life example of quality beyond correctness, showing how the same bug can be “correctly” described in technical terms yet still fail to land with non-technical stakeholders, and why clearer impact-focused communication changes prioritization and understanding. Gary Hawkes follows with a burst of “MoTawhelmed” energy, describing how recent conversations and conference notes have sparked a backlog of baby-step improvements, plus his motivation for starting an AMA on leadership and what he’s learned by finding his own leadership style over time.The episode wraps with a quick plug for Software Testing Live returning next week, and a final nudge to contribute to the Observatory, MoT’s bookmarking feature, now expanded with broader tech categories to help the MoTaverse evolve into a wider quality-led tech community.

In this episode of This Week in Quality (Friday 13 March 2026), Simon Tomes is joined by co-host Demi Van Malcot, and the pair kick off with an unexpected theme: demos that actually go right. Demi shares the rare joy of a full, 20-minute end-to-end demo where nothing broke, and Heleen later echoes the streak with her own successful demo, helped by a hard-won team rule: no last-minute database cleanups or changes before showcasing work.Simon and Demi also spotlight what’s new in the MoTaverse, starting with Moments, the feature that merges the old memories and memes into a richer, blog-like format with improved formatting options. They call out community Moments from International Women’s Day, including Rosie’s reflection on “brag books” and Cassandra Lung’s ideas on making achievements visible. Demi shares a standout takeaway from Into the MoTaverse with Natalia: build confidence by doing hard things, then keep doing them until your “hard thing” becomes normal. The theme ties neatly into Chris Pratt’s reminder that getting started is often the hardest part, especially when sharing publicly.When the community joins the stage, the conversation turns practical. Judy shares how, as the only QA on her team, she pushed for faster feedback loops by asking developers to run a lightweight risk-storming style check before handing work to QA. The result: fewer surprise bugs, smoother demos, and a cultural win worth celebrating publicly. Heleen and Demi add reflections on how hard it can be to be the voice of quality when you’re outnumbered, and how progress often starts with asking clearly for what you need, then reinforcing improvements with visible appreciation.The episode closes with a fresh idea from Simon: a new AMA format on the MoTaverse, reframed as Ask Multiverse Anything. The concept invites members to post an AMA as a Moment, gather questions in comments, and then publish one Moment per answer, creating a searchable trail of community knowledge and reusable learning content. As the chat debates whether quality folks are “assumption journalists” or “assumption detectives,” the group lands on a shared truth: a big part of quality work is spotting assumptions, naming them, and turning them into better conversations.

In episode 126 of This Week in Quality (Friday 6 March 2026), Ben Dowen is joined by Rosie Sherry to unpack recent professional membership changes in the MoTaverse, why they’re happening now, and what they’re meant to protect and enable. Rosie walks through what remains available on the free tier, including core MoT profiles, the Club, and chapter events, plus the ability to mark yourself as Open To (work, speak, teach, write). That “Open To” directory then becomes a useful Pro-only discovery tool for employers, event organisers, and teams looking for contributors.The discussion then digs into the bigger reasons behind the shift. Rosie shares how the MoTaverse has evolved from “not just a forum” into a platform with responsibilities, including rising spam and bad-actor behaviour, increased moderation and safety requirements, and the realities of sustaining quality with a tiny team. In a timely example, they saw a spike of “moment” spam right as the changes were about to go live. Rosie explains how these pressures shaped product decisions, including why richer formatting features were delayed, and how moving publishing capabilities behind Pro creates a protection layer and reduces “community debt” that burns out small teams.Ben adds context from the conference-review side, pointing out how much effort goes into filtering low-value promotional submissions, and why a Pro-first approach can reduce noise while enabling the team to better support contributors. Rosie also addresses concerns about exclusion, pointing to practical options like discounts by request and the scholarship fund for unemployed members. The chat contributes plenty of support too, comparing the membership ROI to courses, conferences, and even gym memberships, and highlighting how MoT helps people become better testers, leaders, and community members.The episode closes with Rosie’s long-term vision: the MoTaverse as a quality and care-led tech community, broadening beyond testing into a place that can influence how the wider industry builds better products and services. They wrap up with shout-outs to community contributors, upcoming events and chapters, and a call for companies willing to host local meetups with space and food support.

In episode 125 of This Week in Quality (Friday 27 February 2026), co-hosts Nataliia Burmei and Eamon Droko welcome the community for a wide-ranging conversation about careers, confidence, and the support systems that make tough work moments easier to navigate. Nat opens with a simple code of conduct reminder, “Be nice, be human, be supportive, be engaging, be fun,” setting the tone for a chat that mixes practical advice with plenty of warmth and humour, including confusion about a “fake Eamon” while the real one races in from a client UAT.Fresh from the first MoT London chapter event of the year, Eamon shares highlights from a packed evening at RAM Space, praising the organising team and reflecting on talks that bridged disciplines, including a standout session on testing authentication. With Nat starting a new job on Monday and reflecting on time between roles, the conversation naturally turns to job hunting and how the market is feeling in early 2026.Community members bring powerful perspectives. Maithilee shares how the job market is beginning to feel more positive than late 2025 and how staying active in the MoTaverse can make unemployment feel less isolating. Ady recounts two times he left roles without a clear next step, including the shock of having a signed contract rescinded at the start of the first COVID lockdown, and how community connections helped him recover quickly and find new opportunities. Shawn adds a “third-order connections” lens from sociology, highlighting how wider networks can surface roles you would never otherwise see. Gary celebrates a surprise shout-out from his CTO and shares a personal story about encouraging his daughter to leave a damaging work situation, which led to her landing a dream job in publishing. Preeti reflects on making the hard choice to leave a role in a tough market, and credits community learning, sessions, and one-to-one conversations for helping her rebuild strategy and confidence until offers came through. Finally, Judy offers the counterpoint of staying too long for stability, describing how it can be easy to ignore cultural warning signs until the breaking point forces a reset.Along the way, the chat keeps things human with playful threads about eggs and other everyday moments, underscoring a key message of the episode. Careers are hard, job searches are emotional, and quality people need both practical guidance and community humour to keep going.

In episode 124 of This Week in Quality, host Ady Stokes kicks off with a birthday celebration for co-host Demi Van Malcot, a quick time-warp reflection on how fast the show has grown, and a week packed with community energy. Demi shares a bumpy “birthday week in quality” that includes a test data crisis, a perfectly-timed article on cognitive load, and the buzz of the Epic Test Quest launch party. Ad highlights the momentum around WIZZO, an AI helper embedded in Slack that’s being shaped by the testing community through real feedback and iteration.The conversation quickly turns into a lively and honest debate about AI guardrails and the growing sense of “enough already.” Demi talks about struggling to concentrate on audio content, laughing at MoT wordplay, and eyeing chapter meetups as a “meetup tourist.” Ady shares his own packed week, including a Call for Insights conversation with Simon about making “thinking in testing” more visible and an aspirational goal of writing a book, alongside ongoing work on the Software Quality Engineering Certificate and shout-outs to community contributions showing up in newsletters.From there, the episode leans hard into the AI dilemma. Ad raises the growing public conversation about AI in high-stakes domains like healthcare and online safety, asking what responsibility belongs to platforms versus users. Judy joins with a candid “big sAIgh,” pushing back on pressure to adopt AI tools that require constant supervision and verification, and questioning what “genuine” even means when AI-generated content floods professional spaces. Her rant lands so well it becomes a running theme, affectionately labelled “rainbow vomit,” complete with new community emoji energy.The stage fills with real-world stories. Christine celebrates Epic Test Quest’s graduation and launch, shares what it took to ship while wrangling AI hallucinations during refactors, and invites the community deeper into building tools by testers for testers. Chris Pratt reflects on how in-person MoT London events became an inflection point for his confidence and involvement, and shares a sponsor update plus a reminder to unregister if you can’t attend so people on the waitlist can join. Shawn adds a skeptical perspective on AI adoption, pointing out the risk of using AI to fill roles nobody in the organisation can properly validate, and reframing the dream as AI reducing burnout rather than replacing human empathy. Nadja shares a behind-the-scenes view from an AI-driven project where she’s effectively “the guardrail,” putting processes and checks in place after months without a tester and watching developers finally prioritise quality thinking.Across the episode, the group returns to a few sharp ideas: AI might make us more efficient but not more effective, quality folks are often the ones forced to provide the guardrails, and the industry is inventing new vocabulary to describe what’s happening, from hallucinations to confabulation. The result is a funny, messy, and very real community conversation about how to keep standards high when the tools are moving faster than our ability to trust them.

In this Friday 13th episode of This Week in Quality, first-time co-hosts Oleksandr Romanov and Claire Norman lean into the date’s reputation and explore the superstitions that quietly shape how teams test, release, and demo software. Claire opens with a collaboration win, bringing designers and engineers closer together and proving that small invitations can unlock earlier, better involvement. The hosts then share MoT updates, including new Call for Insights conversations with Simon and the newly announced 2026 MoT Ambassadors, before inviting the community to unpack the rituals and “bad luck” rules we all recognise.The chat lights up with classic beliefs and their origins, from why Friday the 13th became notorious to the evergreen “don’t ship on a Friday” rule. Oleksandr adds a familiar developer-flavoured superstition, “it works on my machine,” and the group discusses how missing information, pattern-seeking, and bias can harden one-off incidents into lasting process rules. They also ask the bigger question: which superstitions are actually useful heuristics, and which ones deserve a gentle challenge with data?Community voices bring the theme to life. Ady shares a packed week, including recording SQU(e)C content on accessibility and navigating the emotional rollercoaster of briefly being “404 not found” on the ambassador list, plus a reminder that bugs love to disappear the moment you screen share. Gary describes how a Friday release disaster led to a long-lived quality gate checklist, even after the original causes were fixed, while Demi recounts the familiar pain of “cursed demos” where last-minute deploys and restarts sabotage confidence right when it matters most. Then we hear a high-stakes story involving mismatched builds across customer and merchant apps, payment gateway panic, and the hard lesson that transformed their release and sign-off process.The episode wraps by reframing superstition as psychology. Claire highlights how our bias toward assuming the worst can be useful for testing, but also stressful if left unchecked, and how learning about biases can help teams stay grounded. The result is a lively, relatable conversation that turns Friday 13th energy into practical reflections on risk, rituals, and building calmer release habits.

In this episode of This Week in Quality, Simon welcomes a returning legend to the virtual stage as Deanna comes back from maternity leave and dives straight into everything that’s evolved across the MoTaverse. Together they turn the chat into a rapid-fire “what changed while Deanna was away?” tour, calling out highlights like Into the MoTaverse, My Reports, company pages, thank-you stars and badges, membership updates, SQU(e)C, and the growing momentum behind chapters as the next evolution of local meetups.The conversation then zooms in on why chapters matter and what becomes possible when in-person events connect directly to MoT profiles, memories, recordings, and the star system. Chris Pratt, a new organiser for MoT London, shares behind-the-scenes insights on stepping into a fresh organising team, raising the bar after a strong year, and what to expect at the next London event. He previews talks that reframe everyday testing work, including one on authentication that treats login as an adversarial system and another on how quality assurance is evolving into quality engineering, plus a call for potential event sponsors to support food and drinks.Deanna also invites Mat on stage to reflect on community moments he’s enjoyed, including the MoT Christmas quiz, and to share the real-world grind of job hunting in 2026. Mat talks candidly about being asked for “commercial experience” with specific tools, using that pressure as fuel to keep learning, and leaning on the community for momentum. Building on that, Simon encourages professional members to book recorded one-to-one insight conversations that can be published back into the MoTaverse, and hints at future ambassador-led conversations as the programme grows.Later, Ady Stokes shares an energising update from the Leads chapter, describing an “I Am Remarkable” workshop focused on self-promotion without the cringe. The session helps people push past imposter syndrome, recognise their achievements, and practise saying them out loud. Sean Ye joins from Ottawa with a practical quality win of his own, containerising APIs for on-demand sandbox environments to enable automated integration and regression testing, and using AI tools to navigate dense AWS documentation more effectively.The episode wraps with a wave of excitement about how fast the platform is evolving, how following and activity feeds help you stay connected, and why showing up, online and in-person, keeps the MoTaverse moving.#ThisWeekInQuality#MoTaverse#Chapters#Community#CareerGrowth#QualityEngineering

In episode 121 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Simon Holmes and Judy Mosley settle in (coffee vs. missing tea!) and zoom in on how the community is shaping the year ahead through goals, risk thinking, and career growth moments worth celebrating. They highlight the #MyGoals memory-post challenge on ministryoftesting.com (and the Goal Setter badge), reflecting on how different people approach goal-setting and why “showing up” each day can matter more than the end result.Simon shares updates from the MoTaverse, including the latest releases in the Software Quality Engineering Certificate (SQUEC), especially a set of short, practical audio perspectives on quality culture. A standout theme is framing quality in terms of risks people actually care about, and making consequences visible beyond test cases and requirements. Judy connects this to a real-world “bug surfaced at the worst possible moment” story, fuel for MoT’s Bugs in the Wild learning collection, and the group explores Cassandra Lung’s powerful idea of mapping “circles of consequences” to help teams (and leaders) feel the real impact of “low priority” issues.The conversation then opens up to the community on stage. Helene shares the pain of repeatedly flagging an issue that only becomes urgent when a deadline hits, and the challenge of being trusted while also being overloaded. Cassandra expands on building buy-in through human impact, “nightmare scenarios,” and deliberate risk decisions, plus a very relatable dose of consumer-side quality frustration while moving apartments. Daria Zion celebrates her first MoT article going live, Five practical ways to use AI as a partner in quality engineering, and shares how she’s improving interview feedback and hiring workflows. Ujjwal Kumar Singh talks performance reviews, experimenting with Playwright tooling, and proposing a move from test reports to a quality narrative, while Simon flags new My Reports features in MyMoT for tracking course progress and community activity. Finally, Demi Van Malcott closes the episode with a brilliant win: an official promotion to Quality Manager, and a reminder that growth often starts by taking on the work before you feel ready.#ThisWeekInQuality#MyGoals#QualityCulture#Risk#QualityNarrative#CareerGrowth#MoTaverse

In episode 120 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Eamon Droko and Simon Tomes focus on the power of sharing as a learning strategy, in Eamon’s first time co-hosting the show. They kick off with a look at Eamon’s new Into the MoTaverse episode, touching on themes of showing up, bias and inclusivity in hiring, and the value of talking openly about your day-to-day work. Simon reflects on how speaking and writing in public helps you notice your own progress, and they both champion memory posts on ministryoftesting.com as small, frequent reflections that build a visible learning journey and strengthen your profile.The conversation then turns to what’s new inside the MoTaverse, especially the launch of chapters as the next evolution of local meetups. Eamon shares his new role as a co-organiser of MoT London, while Simon explains how chapters connect to the MoT star system, making activity a proxy for learning and career growth. Community member Neil Taylor joins the stage to compare old-school one-and-done training courses with MoT’s ongoing community-supported learning, and to explore how long-term testers can move towards quality engineering by identifying and closing gaps over time.Later, Ayesha Saeed shares her excitement about becoming Accessibility Guild lead at her consultancy, where an accessibility lab and an expanding team are raising awareness across roles, experimenting with AI tools to support audit work, and helping people experience assistive technologies first-hand. Gary Hawkes celebrates completing the A tester’s role in continuous quality course and talks about using memory posts as micro-blogs, pushing for a legacy automation refactor, and the frustrations of accessibility losing priority once contracts change. Throughout, the group returns to a simple idea: start small, find one ally, share one thing you’ve learned, and let the community carry that learning further than you could alone.#ThisWeekInQuality#Sharing#Accessibility#QualityCommunity#MoTaverse

In episode 119 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Demi Van Malcot and Simon Tomes explore the theme of goals and how sharing them in public can spark motivation, support and community. The episode begins with a busy week in quality updates and a look at the Ministry of Testing goals challenge, where people post goals on ministryoftesting.com, tag them with my-goals and earn badges for goal setter, goal netter and goal getter. The chat joins in as Demi and Simon introduce the idea of goal thievery, encouraging listeners to steal useful goals from others and make them their own.A highlight of the session is a game of Whose goal is that, where real goals from the collection are read aloud and the live audience guesses the author. This brings up goals about getting back on conference stages, contributing more to This Week in Quality and Lean Coffee, writing for MoT and making better use of profiles and memberships. The group also normalise small goals, weekly goals and what Simon calls goal riffing, removing the pressure to set a perfect year-long plan.Later, community member Ady Stokes joins to share his ambition to make thinking in testing more visible, intentional and teachable, a long-term effort that may grow into a book supported by articles and workshops. Rosie Sherry, CEO of Ministry of Testing, talks about establishing the MoTaverse as a member driven organisation and offering community as a service, including a new Into the MoTaverse podcast. Demi reflects on her own journey from joining a session to co-hosting and speaking at MoT events, reinforcing the message that you do not need to do goals alone. Sharing helps others support you and lets the community lift you up.#ThisWeekInQuality#Goals#GoalThief#QualityCommunity#MoTaverse

In episode 118 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Ben Dowen and Simon Tomes are joined by community members Gary Hawkes, Maithilee Chunduri and Richard Adams for the first live session of 2026. Recorded on Friday 9 January, the episode opens with New Year energy, MoT goals, badges and “fill up your MoT profile” prompts, plus a reminder about the MoT Ambassadors programme and all the ways people can get involved in events this year.From there, the conversation quickly anchors on a powerful article about AI, testing and getting “back to basics.” The group explore over reliance on AI, shallow understanding and blind spots when tools drive the work instead of human analysis, collaboration and shared understanding. Simon and Ben keep returning to essentials like critical thinking, systems thinking, communication and risk focus, picking up key lines from the article such as “AI is most valuable once humans have already done the thinking” and “AI helps us move faster, but humans still decide where to run and why.”Across the episode, the panel share real examples of using AI in practice. Ben talks through his Playwright work, using AI powered tooling to add data-test-ids, only to catch a subtle but important mistake later during testing. Richard describes using AI agents with Jira, root cause analysis and Confluence to surface risky areas and guide exploratory testing, highlighting how useful context makes AI genuinely helpful. Gary walks through how his team tried AI coding tools, what happened when the initial push was “faster and cheaper,” and how developers themselves became more cautious and selective over time. Maithilee shares how AI is now a core part of how she learns, stressing the need for clear goals, good prompts and not taking outputs at face value.Threaded through it all are themes of accountability, risk appetite and the AI quality human loop. The group discuss exploratory testing supported by AI, where tools help with ideas, heuristics and note taking, but humans still own the charters, decisions and debriefs. They return several times to the idea that AI is a tool, not a solution for quality work, and that testers add value when they question, validate and refuse to outsource judgement. By the end of the hour, one message is clear. AI might run fast, but meaningful quality still depends on people who ask good questions, understand context and are willing to stay accountable for the outcomes.#ThisWeekInQuality#AIandTesting#ExploratoryTesting#HumanInTheLoop#QualityEngineering

In this special end-of-year recording, This Year in Quality, co-hosts Rosie Sherry and Simon Tomes do something a bit different.This end-of-year special is live. It’s community-powered. It’s a quiz. The rules are simple. Wrong answers only.Instead of a polished wrap-up or a neat reflection on the year, Rosie and Simon invite the community to join in and have a bit of fun. Together, they look back on the year through questions, numbers, stats, mascots, stars, badges, meetups, glossary terms, rebrands, and all the small moments that made 2025 what it was.There are name changes, silly answers, serious pride in what the community has built, and the occasional bug with the platform along the way. Because of course there is.The episode celebrates what This Year in Quality has become. A space for shared learning, curiosity, experimentation, and showing up as a community. It’s light-hearted, messy, and very on-brand. A reminder that quality is not just about certainty and correctness, but about people thinking together.A fitting way to wrap up the year and look ahead to what comes next.#ThisYearInQuality#SoftwareTesting#QualityEngineering#TestingCommunity#MinistryOfTesting#TestingPodcast#QualityCulture

In episode 116 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Ben Dowen and Demi Van Malcot are joined by Ady Stokes and Judy Mosley for a story-driven conversation about trust, systems, and what happens when reality and “what the computer says” don’t line up. Billed as the penultimate episode of the year, the discussion opens with end-of-year reflections before quickly diving into everyday quality problems.The episode centres on real-world examples where systems get it wrong. Parcels delivered to the wrong house because the scanner says so, cars confidently reporting incorrect speed limits, and checklists that are followed perfectly while the actual problem sits right in front of you. Ady shares a classic server-room story about power cables and blind checklist following, while Demi reflects on teaching computers through explicit instructions and how easily assumptions creep in when context is missing.As the conversation develops, the group explore trust in data, AI, and automation. Judy raises questions about people relying on confident but incorrect answers, relationships with chatbots, and how easily we accept what tools tell us without validation. Ben repeatedly brings the discussion back to first principles, sense-making, and the risks of outsourcing thinking to systems that cannot see the wider situation.Across the episode, the theme is clear. Quality breaks down when we stop questioning, stop validating, and defer to tools simply because they sound certain. Quality shows up when people notice mismatches, challenge assumptions, and ask, “does this actually make sense?” even when the system insists it does.#ThisWeekInQuality#TrustAndQuality#DataQuality#FirstPrinciples#QualityThinking

In episode 115 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Nataliia Burmei and Simon Tomes are joined by Clare Norman and Gary Hawkes for a conversation full of “fizzy minds” and quality problems. The group start by reflecting on end-of-year pressures, learning goals for 2026 and the launch of the new Thanks button in the MoTverse before turning toward the main topic: quality coaching and how people understand it in their day-to-day work.The discussion centres on situational quality coaching and the idea that there is no cookie-cutter coaching template. Clare talks about working with teams based on their ability and motivation, and how bridge building across roles helps people care about quality when competing priorities make it hard. Gary shares stories from his organisation, where shrinking teams have made shared ownership essential. He describes whole-team exploratory sessions, giving product managers prompts to think about quality and helping developers “zoom out” instead of getting stuck in the weeds of Jira tickets.Across the episode, the group return to a simple message: you don’t need “quality coach” in your job title to coach. As soon as you step out of your bubble, ask better questions, help teams see the bigger picture or create space for quality conversations, you are already doing the work. It’s about encouraging learning, care and collaboration so teams can tackle their quality problems together.#QualityCoaching#QualityEngineering#TeamCollaboration#ContinuousImprovement#QualityAsCare

In episode 114 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Ben Dowen and Simon Tomes are joined by Dan Caseley and Maithilee Chunduri for a focused and practical conversation about the realities of mobile testing. The group begin by reflecting on recent discussions in the community before shifting into the core theme of the episode: how mobile testing has become both simpler and more complex at the same time.Dan brings experience from years of mobile work and talks through the shift from physical device cupboards to cloud device farms, the limitations of both, and why testing on “all the things” is neither practical nor necessary. Maithilee adds insight from distributed teams, where reproducing issues across locations, devices and settings becomes a real challenge. Their stories highlight how mobile testing often stretches further than teams expect.The conversation explores why teams increasingly build and run apps locally, how analytics guide device choices, and why API-level checks remain essential. The group also dig into the constraints of mobile releases, the difficulty of rollbacks, and the need to balance depth, breadth and pragmatism when planning mobile test coverage.Across the episode, the discussion stays grounded in day-to-day practice. It encourages listeners to rethink their approach to mobile testing, make risk-based decisions, and accept that chasing every device permutation isn’t the path to quality. Instead, thoughtful choices and clear collaboration help teams move faster with confidence.#MobileTesting#QualityEngineering#RiskBasedTesting#ModernTesting#DistributedTeams

In episode 113 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Simon Tomes and Ben Dowen are joined on stage by Callum Akehurst-Ryan for a thoughtful and humorous exploration of what “good enough” really means in software quality. The trio begin with a story about a restaurant refusing to serve a dish that didn’t meet its own standards, which sparks a wider discussion about transparency, honesty, and the courage to say no.That story leads into a deeper look at quality thinking traps. Simon, Ben, and Callum unpack why teams often chase perfection when bronze-level quality is all that’s needed, how ego can get in the way of good decisions, and why pragmatism is an essential quality enabler. They reflect on Cloudflare’s recent outage report as an example of human-centred communication done well, and connect it to the importance of clarity, ownership and care in engineering teams.Callum brings insight into the broader impact of quality beyond end users, highlighting how marketing, support and engineering teams all experience quality in different ways. The group talk about outcomes over output, how to avoid over-engineering, and why narratives are more powerful than reports when influencing culture. The conversation also touches on the risks of “gold-plated” delivery, the curse of knowledge, and how testers can move from tragedy takers to narrative givers.Throughout the episode, the discussion stays grounded in real situations from day-to-day work. It encourages listeners to reflect on their own expectations, question how they set quality bars, and consider where saying “this is good enough” is the most responsible choice.It’s a warm, honest session that invites the community to rethink what quality looks like in practice and to embrace care, clarity and healthy pragmatism in their work.#QualityCulture#QualityNarrative#GoodEnough#Pragmatism#Transparency#QualityEngineering#HumanFactors#QualityMindset

In episode 112 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Judy Mosley and Ben Dowen welcome Scott Kenyon and Ady Stokes to the stage for an honest and energetic conversation about the meaning of quality engineering in today’s teams. The group explore how the term is used across companies, why definitions vary so widely, and what happens when people bring different expectations to the same role.The discussion begins with a light detour into biscuits and snacks, which quickly becomes a reflection on how familiar words can mean very different things in different contexts. This leads into the main theme of the episode. The panel talk about the blurred vision of quality engineering, the mix of strategy and execution in the work, and the confusion caused when companies use the title to describe very different jobs.Scott shares a moment that sparked his own existential crisis about test leadership and identity. Ady adds perspective on the difference between testing the product and influencing the systems that build it. Judy and Ben help surface the real tension many testers and quality engineers face when role titles shift or expectations grow without support.Throughout the episode the conversation stays grounded in lived experience. The panel explore the rise of tool focused job descriptions, the pressure to fit automation heavy roles, and the growing need for curiosity, resilience, collaboration, and clear communication. They also highlight ongoing work on the new Software Quality Engineering Certificate and invite the community to share audio stories about their day to day work.It is a warm, thoughtful session that encourages listeners to look beyond titles and focus on purpose, clarity, and the real impact of their work.

In episode 111 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Ben Dowen and Simon Tomes welcome Christine Pinto and Jesper Ottosen to the stage for a lively conversation about the role of quality feedback in modern software teams. The group explore how testers and quality advocates can influence product direction early, not just through testing artefacts, but through meaningful conversations, shared understanding, and timely insights.The panel discuss why testing artefacts such as test cases and plans can become outdated, heavy to maintain, and sometimes disconnected from the real value testers bring. Instead of collecting documents for the sake of documentation, they focus on the usefulness of feedback loops, learning through collaboration, and asking the right questions at the right time. Christine and Jesper share stories from their own experience where feedback changed decisions, shaped better outcomes, and reduced waste.Throughout the episode, Ben and Simon spark discussion with a quick quiz on leadership ideas from recent Leading with Quality conversations. The guests reflect on shifting perceptions of testing, influencing teams without authority, and supporting quality as a shared responsibility. It is an energetic, thoughtful session that encourages listeners to prioritise learning, alignment, and improvement over artefacts that no longer serve a purpose.

In episode 110 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Simon Tomes and Demi Van Malcot host a spooky Halloween special filled with ghostly bug stories from across the MoTaverse. The episode opens with a chilling introduction from the “digital graveyard” before diving into community tales of fright and fun. From “Wrong branch deployed to production on a Friday” to “It worked on my machine,” testers share their creepiest and most relatable quality nightmares.On stage, Judy Mosley tells of a haunting MUI upgrade that removed all her test IDs and broke dozens of checks. Gary Hawkes recalls a true testing horror from a police system project gone wrong, filled with catastrophic bugs and painful lessons. Ady Stokes brings comic relief with The Rise of the Zombie Emails, a flood of thousands of messages he could not stop. Heleen Van Grootven reminds everyone why you never test in production, after one mistake triggered 100,000 phone calls at once.Between scares, laughter, and community wisdom, Simon and Demi celebrate how testers turn mistakes into learning moments. Episode 110 shows that even in testing’s darkest corners, curiosity, collaboration, and a sense of humour keep the MoT community alive and well.

In episode 109 of This Week in Quality, co-hosts Simon Tomes and Nataliia Burmei guide another happy Friday gathering packed with stories, ideas, and reflections from across the MoTaverse.The episode opens with Nataliia exploring new mobile testing tools, connecting MCP servers to AI agents, and tackling team conversations about shared ownership of testing. Simon shares updates to Ministry of Testing profiles, including new filtering features, GitHub links, and the growing importance of stars, badges, and community recognition.On stage, Scott Kenyon sparks a debate with his question, “Is AI removing curiosity and creativity from testers?” This leads to a thoughtful conversation about critical thinking, collaboration, and human judgment. Neil Taylor joins to share lessons from moving API work from Postman to Bruno and reflects on communication wins across development and support teams. Nadja Schulz celebrates hosting her first MoT Berlin Meetup and stepping onto the public speaking stage. Christine Pinto talks about using MCP servers, cloud code, and Playwright automation in real projects. Gary Hawkes reflects on sharing his MoTacon insights at work and championing continuous quality. Maithilee Chunduri closes by connecting two decades of learning and reminding us that while technology evolves, curiosity remains the same.From AI debates and first-time talks to stars, profiles, and community spirit, “Curiosity Killed the Chat” shows how the community keeps questioning, learning, and celebrating quality together.

In episode 108 of This Week in Quality, host Simon Tomes flies solo for a lively Friday session full of news, bugs, and community updates. The show opens with a real inbox mystery when some attendees receive four reminder emails for the same event. Simon then shares announcements about Professional Membership now including in-person events, new course completion badges, and highlights from MoTaCon 2025, including Rahul Parwal’s photo collection and new talks going live.On stage, Stan Desyatnikov joins for the first time to reflect on balancing manual and automated testing in a long-term project. Ady Stokes shares a simple badge completion tip and updates on the Software Quality Engineering Certificate, while Eamon Droko talks about learning accessibility testing and becoming a conduit for community knowledge. Ben Dowen introduces Service Level Objectives (SLOs) as a practical way to define and measure quality.To close, Judy Mosley expands on her new article “Quality Insight: How to Ignite Quality Conversations,” exploring how listening and curiosity help teams connect around quality. From bug reports and badges to principles and people, this episode celebrates how the Ministry of Testing community keeps quality at the heart of everything they do.

In episode 107, the very first under the new name This Week in Quality, co-hosts Demi Van Malcot and Simon Tomes “test in production” as the show moves to a brand-new hosting platform for the first time. They celebrate the rebrand from This Week in Testing to This Week in Quality, exploring what the shift means for the community and why it reflects the growing focus on quality as a whole-system mindset.Joining them on stage, Eamon Droko, Heleen Van Grootven, Ben Dowen, Ady Stokes, and Nataliia Burmei share their post-MoTaCon reflections, from crafting tables and karaoke moments to first-time talks, community stars, and the power of connection. Together, they test out the new Wistia platform live, find a few bugs along the way, and prove that quality is as much about learning, experimenting, and laughing together as it is about software.

In episode 106 of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Simon Tomes and Ben Dowen look ahead to TestBash Brighton with slide-writing crunch, laptop tips for workshops, and the new Leading with Quality notebook. They also celebrate the buzz of MoT meetups and remind listeners how stepping on stage, even for a 99-second talk, can grow confidence and connection. Joining them on stage, Maithi Chun shares her motivation and learning journey, Ady Stokes brings stories from Test Up North and the roots of accessibility, and Iziren John Chima sparks a lively discussion on taking lead roles without manager pay. Together, they mix career advice, community laughs, and practical tips that show why quality people gather.

In episode 105 of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Nataliia Burmei and Oleksandr Romanov contrast the reality of quality conversations with the hype of AI.Oleksandr shares upcoming MoT events in Valencia, Leeds, and Brighton, while Natalia reflects on the joy of in-person meetups and community memories. Their weeks in testing highlight the value of visualization: from earning the Software Testing Essentials Certificate to using diagrams and AI tools to clarify complex systems.On stage, Ben Dowen introduces the capture–review–update cycle for building shared understanding. Preeti Gupta brings energy from the London MoT Meetup, while Christine Pinto talks quality coaching, preparing conference talks, and excitement for TestBash Brighton.The conversation loops back to AI: the hype around tools like v0 and the steady reminder that while tools evolve, human collaboration, critical thinking, and communication remain at the heart of testing.Together, they explore how testers balance new tools with timeless skills, proving again that quality conversations are very real, even when the AI buzz feels less so.#AIInTesting#QualityCoaching#Visualization#DiagramsAndModels#CommunityMeetups#TestBashBrighton#MoTEvents#Collaboration#CriticalThinking

In episode 104 of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Demi Van Malcot and Simon Tomes embrace the chaos of testing life with the support of the MoTaverse.Demi shares a week filled with laptop migrations, budget cuts, and the upcoming loss of a quality manager. This sparks up conversations about how testers can step up, share responsibility, and keep quality work from falling through the cracks. Simon highlights fresh community content, from Rahul Parwal’s Advanced Prompting for Testers course to Ady Stokes’ new article on testing mindsets.On stage, Eamon Droko talks about the highs and lows of his first month in a new role, leaning on the community to break through a rut. Ady expands on the 11 mindsets behind “I Think, Therefore I Test” and floats ideas for games, talks, and more ways to explore them. Gary Hawkes shares lessons from influencing product direction and reflects on team resilience when leaders leave.From Worldwide Tester Day celebrations to TestBash prep, this episode shows how community support turns uncertainty into opportunity, and how the MoTaverse has your back when work gets messy.#TestingCommunity#QualityEngineering#TestLeadership#ThisWeekInTesting

In episode 103 of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Ben Dowen and Judy Mosley throw “Everyone’s invited to the QA Party!” Judy shares solo-QA tactics like a fun QA Slack channel and “Today is…” prompts that spark team chatter. Ben talks about getting developers into exploratory testing and his first look at Mac desktop automation.Guests Nataliia Burmei and Yudit Sharabi add real-world lessons. Nataliia contrasts fast delivery feedback with slow-burn strategy work. Yudit explains “testing without testers” at a startup, from process upgrades to whole-company QA parties. The group swaps tips on starting quality conversations and using AI to reduce draining tasks and improve code reviews.#TestingCommunity#QualityEngineering#TestAutomation#ThisWeekInTesting

In episode 102 of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Simon Tomes and Sarah Deery shine the spotlight on the launch of the Software Testing Essentials Certificate (STEC) — lovingly nicknamed STEC by the community.Sarah shares the years-long journey that led to its creation, from identifying gaps in existing training to surveying over 160 juniors and managers, and finally co-creating a curriculum with 59 contributors across the globe. Simon reflects on reviewing the lessons, the power of asking the right questions, and why the “portfolio of work” makes STEC different from traditional certificates.Ady Stokes joins to describe his role in shaping the article content and explains how STEC goes deeper than any other introduction to testing, covering not just techniques but also storytelling, communication, and critical thinking. Maneesh Maddala jumps in with questions about localisation, AI, and the future of certifications. The live chat adds humour and energy — from Rosie Sherry’s breaking news that she passed the exam, to debates about whether Ady should sit the test he helped write, to ideas about bug-hunting Easter eggs hidden in certificates.Whether you’re tired of the old ISTQB path, curious about how STEC was built, or just want to hear community voices reflect on shaping the future of testing, this episode is packed with insights, stories, and plenty of laughs.#STEC#TestingCommunity#CareersInTesting#LearningAndDevelopment#ThisWeekInTesting

In this 101st episode of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Mariem Safi and Demi Van Malcot discuss their excitement and preparation for the upcoming TestBash conference in Brighton. The conversation also explores the current state of the testing industry, including the growing prominence of AI and the importance of professional development.Demi kicks off the discussion by sharing her experience balancing new projects and preparing for her first-ever conference talk, "How to Start Continuous Quality in Your Team." She reveals her nervousness but finds encouragement in the advice, "No one in the room wants you to fail." Mariem echoes her excitement, detailing her own TestBash preparations and the challenge of choosing which talks and workshops to attend from the packed schedule.Judy Mosley and Maneesh Maddala join the conversation on stage to share their perspectives. Judy highlights the value of the conference's focus on foundational skills and career development, noting her appreciation for the agenda's variety over an overemphasis on AI. Maneesh, unable to attend the conference in person, raises the question of live-streaming sessions for an international audience and shares his interest in talks about making work more visible and becoming a "testing generalist."Gary Hawkes, a TestBash newcomer like Mariem and Demi, joins the discussion and talks about his excitement for the event and his plan to meet as many people as possible. The episode wraps up with a fun discussion about creating a secret signal or sticker for This Week in Testing community members to recognise each other at the conference.

In this 100th episode of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Mariem Safi and Simon Tomes celebrate the milestone with a lively, wide-ranging conversation, from MCP server hype to the surprise reality of companies making AI usage mandatory, and even tracking it.Christine Pinto kicks things off with her experiences improving performance at Epic Test Quest and ponders how MCP servers could change testing workflows. Eamon Droko shares the big news of landing a new role, plus a teaser for his upcoming conference talk. Maneesh Maddala describes how his company connects MCP servers to tools like Figma and Asana, plus what happens when AI usage is monitored across an organisation.Ady Stokes spotlights the launch of the Software Testing Essentials Certificate (STEC), a project that was over a year in the making, while Gary Hawkes finally makes a successful live mic appearance. Ujjwal Kumar Singh rounds out the discussion with hands-on stories of switching from Gemini to Claude and evaluating LLMs for automation work.From tracking AI usage at work to exploring its practical testing applications, this episode blends milestone celebrations with future-focused debates, honest stories, and practical insights from across the MoTaverse!#AIinTesting#MCPServers#LLMUseCases#STEC#CareerGrowth#TestingCommunity#ThisWeekInTesting

In this milestone 99th episode of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Simon Tomes, Ben Dowen, Demi Van Malcot, Oleksandr Romanov, Mariem Safi, Judy Mosley, and Rosie Sherry gather to celebrate the journey so far. They reflect on how the podcast started as a simple experiment and grew into a weekly space for connection, learning, and community support.Each co-host shares what it’s meant to be part of the experience. From early nerves to finding confidence in co-hosting, they talk about the joy of welcoming new voices and creating a space where everyone can share something valuable. Rosie looks back on the origins of Ministry of Testing and what it means to step forward as both a founder and a participant.The group also highlights how small actions, ike joining the chat or giving a short talk, can lead to bigger moments of growth. There are stories of encouragement, lessons in showing up, and plenty of appreciation for those who make this space what it is. It’s a warm and honest episode about building something meaningful together, one stage at a time.#Episode99#TestingCommunity#CommunityVoices#OriginStories#CoHosting#PublicSpeaking#ConfidenceInTesting#MoTMultiverse#ThisWeekInTesting

In this episode of This Week in Testing, co-hosts Nataliia Burmei and Simon Tomes gather the community for Episode 98 and steer the conversation toward the spicy topic of performance reviews. Joined on stage by Eamon Droko, Olly Fairhall, and Milan Kumar, they explore how testers experience reviews, why they can feel so Marmite, and whether they can be made more useful, fair, or even enjoyable.From using community contributions as evidence of impact to running bug hunts that reveal unexpected insights, the group reflects on the power of visibility, feedback, and shared learning. Nataliia shares her experiments with white-box coding using Cursor AI, while Simon spotlights MoT’s latest platform features, including new Community Stars stats and a much-requested way to follow user profiles.Along the way, Eamon describes how community work creates value inside the workplace, Milan shares his dream of one test stack to rule them all, and Olly celebrates the fresh eyes a team-wide bug hunt can bring. And yes, there’s a surprise mic appearance from Gary Hawkes, setting the stage for the long-awaited chaos of Episode 99, next week!Whether you dread your next review cycle or want ideas for making your work more visible, this episode offers honest stories, smart tactics, and a few Marmite moments that every tester will relate to.#PerformanceReviews#MarmiteDebate#CommunityStars#AIinTesting#BugHunts#CareerGrowth#TestingCommunity#MoTPlatform#TeamQuality#ThisWeekInTesting