The results are in! Test Atelier AI industry analysis.
13 May 2026
Yesterday, at Leeds Testing Atelier, I presented some slides around the use of AI (as a tool) to enable automation. After defining automation vs test automation and AI (technology that enables computers to simulate problem solving and decision making), I asked the audience how the industry should move forwards...Â
Except in the room, we thought we had a tech failure, so for the 40 individuals that answered, here are your votes.
Except in the room, we thought we had a tech failure, so for the 40 individuals that answered, here are your votes.
- 18 of you said the industry should harness the power of agents
- 10 people were less sure
- 7 voted straight down the middle
- 4 people voted to focus on the craft and the final voter moderately agreed to focus on the craft too.
Emily O'Connor
Principal Quality Engineer
She/Her
Technical leader with a sixth sense for bugs. Avid learner, passionate about translating "dev-speak" to enable teams adopt automation and AI-accelerated quality engineering. I believe great software starts with user-focused problem solving, and automation should surface the bugs that PMs actually care about fixing.
Simon Tomes
Cool insight. Thanks for sharing! 📊
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