AI, Automation, and the Real Value of Testers - Daniel Knott

Why Software Testing Struggles With Recognition and How AI Changes the Game

"I truly believe that we have like in five to 10 years we see a huge demand in people who are able to understand system architectures." - Daniel Knott

In this episode, I talk with Daniel Knott about the real pains in testing and what comes next. Why do managers cut quality when money gets tight. We look at AI and low code that spit out apps fast, often without clear architecture. We warn about skipping performance and security. We also reflect on how testers can sell value in business terms. Speak revenue, KPIs, and user happiness, not code coverage. Daniel says domain knowledge may beat deep coding as AI writes more code. We explore prompt reviews as a new shift left habit.

Daniel Knott loves digital products with high quality being web or native mobile applications. He has been working in the IT industry for almost 20 years with experience in hands-on software testing for desktop, web and mobile applications. He also worked as product manager for mobile and web products. At the moment, Daniel is working as an IT manager as Head of Engineering, helping software development teams ship great products with high quality.

Daniel wrote two books - Hands-On Mobile App Testing and Smartwatch App Testing and is a frequent blogger and conference speaker. In 2022 he also created his YouTube Channel about Software Testing which has grown to more than 145k subscribers.

Highlights:

• Budget cuts often hit testing and quality first
• AI and low code speed delivery but risk weak architecture
• Skipping performance and security testing creates major business risk
• Testers should speak business metrics like revenue, KPIs, and user value
• Domain knowledge gains importance as AI writes more code