What's really happening the quality space? Watch out for community misinformation.

In 2025, I had over 20 conversations with leaders in quality.

A big reason for doing that was to get an understanding of what the reality of our quality world looks like. To hear it from those living it. To start making sense of the data.

Yesterday, I had a chat with Melissa Fisher, we were talking about skills and recruitment and the pressure recruiters are putting on by saying how essential "ai and automation" are, that it's a must have skill. That you can't get a job without it. That you must skill up. Etc, etc, etc.

I don't doubt these skills are important, but at the same time, expecting everyone to have them is unrealistic. And then, to expect people to have all these very new skills RIGHT NOW is unfair. Most people learn on the job, on the go, ondemand. That's smart learning. Learning what you need to do and applying it to a project is really what makes things stick.

What's more, the story I heard on the ground about skills that are being applied is very different from what people are shouting about.

Yes, automation is important, but increasingly, devs are doing it.
Yes, AI is important, but so is risk management and quality in the loop.
Yes, new tools are interesting, but the risk of new tool adoption is not something many companies want to take on.
Yes, quality and testing are important, but so is understanding the system and risks that businesses face.
Yes, skills are important, but so is the energy and excitement to learn new things that matter as they arise.

The stories we read, that podcast we might listen to, or that great article you read is not necessarily a reflection of the entire market.

I hope in 2026 we can be more real about this, rather than falling into the trap of trusting unfounded information.

PS. here's the link to the conversations with leaders in quality: https://www.ministryoftesting.com/collections/leading-with-quality-conversations