Ard Kramer

Qualisopher – OrangeCrest, Netherlands

Ard is a software tester from the Netherlands and works for OrangeCrest. He calls himself a Qualisopher which stands for someone ‘who loves truth and wisdom, and at the same time is decisive to improve man and his environment’. This means he is interested in the world around us, to see what he can learn and subsequently apply in software testing. That is one of the reasons why Ard tells stories in books and at (test) conferences such as EuroStar, Expo:QA, TestWarez, TestingCup, and Romanian Testing Conference. Besides working in IT he is also active in sport (volleyball) as a board member of the Dutch Volleyball Association

Laveena Ramchandani

QE Manager – EasyJet, United Kingdom

Laveena Ramchandani is a passionate Test Manager, who’s been testing for nearly 10 years, and is always seeking to learn and share. She is a community leader for data science testing and testing in general. Her entry on the digital platform has enhanced many individuals to learn a new area within testing. Laveena was a finalist for The Digital Star 2022 at the everywoman in Technology awards. She has also been on various podcasts and blogs, and trains new testers as part of the Coders Guild. She is also an international speaker.

Joel Deutscher

EGM – Technology & Innovation Planit, Australia

Joel Deutscher is the driving force behind cutting-edge technology and innovation at one of the foremost pure-play testing companies globally. With over two decades of testing industry experience under his belt, Joel is no stranger to the ever-evolving landscape of quality assurance.

His passion lies in the realm of continuous improvement, pushing the boundaries to embrace the latest innovations, including the exciting world of AI. Joel is a firm believer in the transformative power of technology, particularly how it shapes the lives of testers, and impacts their craft.

Jarrod Plant

Product Owner – Planit, Australia

Jarrod Plant is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience in software testing consulting, providing him with a diverse range of skills and knowledge in various industries, tools, and corporate cultures.  He has a technical background, with experience in both Automation & Performance testing, that is balanced by his experience in customer solutions driving a value-focused delivery.

Driven by his passion for the potential of Artificial Intelligence, Jarrod currently serves as the product owner of Planit’s Quality Engineering-centric Generative AI platform. This role provided him with invaluable firsthand experience in building, managing, and testing a generative AI platform.  He believes that we are at the precipice of an evolution in software delivery and testing, brought on by the power and accessibility of AI.

Gil Zilberfeld

CTO – TestinGil, Israel

Gil Zilberfeld has been in software since childhood, writing BASIC programs on his trusty Sinclair ZX81.

With more than 25 years of developing commercial software, he has vast experience in software methodology and practices. From automated testing to exploratory testing, design practices to team collaboration, scrum to kanban, traditional product management to lean startup – he’s done it all.

Gil speaks frequently at international conferences about testing, TDD, clean code, and agile practices. He is the author of ‘Everyday Unit Testing’ and ‘Everyday Spring Testing’, blogs and posts videos on these topics, and in his spare time he shoots zombies, for fun.

Vlada Danilova

QA Engineer – JetBrains, Germany

Vlada works as a QA Engineer at JetBrains Datalore – a collaborative data science platform. She participated as a mentor in the Women In Tech program, and helped her mentees to switch to automation and find new job opportunities.

Ajay Balamurugadas

Senior Director – GSPANN Technologies, India

Ajay Balamurugadas goes by the handle ‘ajay184f’ in the testing community, and is continuously re-inventing his testing methodology. He co-founded Weekend Testing – a worldwide movement for skilled testing, and authored multiple books available at bit.ly/booksaj and bit.ly/ajleanpub. His friends associate the terms – ‘Change Agent, Idea Man, Motivational’ with him. He tweets and loves to have long conversations on software testing, and life in general. He is currently working at GSPANN Technologies, Inc. as Senior Director – QE. When not testing, he spends time with his wife and two children.

Ezanne Grobler

QA Advisor – iOCO Pty, South Africa

Ezanne is a highly experienced professional who effectively combines strong technical, problem-solving, and planning capabilities, whilst assisting in finding solutions to client’s quality assurance challenges and/or in delivering testing projects on time and on budget. She has more than 20 years’ experience in Quality Assurance and Testing and possesses excellent business acumen and interpersonal skills. She is passionate to share her knowledge and experience and use her ability to communicate professionally across all levels, not just in consulting but also being a vivid testing lecturer and mentor.

Kristoffer Nordström

Senior Test Developer – Northern Test Consulting, Sweden

Kristoffer Nordström is a test developer who has worked with telecommunications systems, distributed compilers, cloud technology, smartphone OS development, embedded systems, and much more. As a testing devotee and a member of the context-driven test community, with his own company, Kristoffer consults and teaches the course Python for Testers because he believes in tools-assisted sapient testing. Over the years he has seen the immense value of testers learning how to distill large amounts of information into the so-called “big picture,” and he advocates for learning the soft skills necessary to collaborate with the people making up the organization. Apart from being an avid software tester, Kristoffer is also a sci-fi reader, lamp maker, and craftsman.

Karin Thorvaldsson

Specialist – Saab, Sweden

I have worked as a tester, test leader, project leader, manager, discipline driver, business developer, researcher, educator and specialist in 6 different companies during the last 25 years. I have worked in big companies including Ericsson, Volvo, and Saab. I’ve also worked in small companies, and always with testing. I have been a permanent employee, consultant, and self-employed, so I have met many people, seen several different organizations and leaders, and gathered a lot of experience. I have a great interest in leadership and coaching. I like to see people grow, support them in their challenges, and create the right conditions so that we can all do good work. Leaders who can inspire their employees, make them feel comfortable, feel that they are doing important work, and strive towards the same goal – they can lift an entire company.

I am also the mother of a son with high-functioning autism. I get to see the benefits of thinking differently – every day. I know it takes understanding and adaptation from other people, but with the right approach, employing these nerds is good business.