By the start of 2020, in the technology industry, women had leadership positions in new-age technology areas such as software development, information technology, AI/ML/Data Science, Cloud, Big Data, IoT, Security, UI/UX, project management, and blockchain. Analyzing the software talent pool, among the eight roles identified, namely, DevOps engineer, Mobile engineer, QA engineer, Cyber security engineer, Frontend engineer, Backend engineer, ML engineer, Full-stack engineer, QA engineer is the most gender diverse role with 37% women in the role. However, the pandemic has impacted the significant strides women have made. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women, especially of color. Workforce planning must correct the impact on gender diversity.

The upcoming trends in software testing will enable companies to enhance customer and business value. Fremont, CA: Software testing is transforming. It is constantly developing and evolving with the shifting technology landscape, from AI to ML. In addition, the software testing industry is quickly expanding. Because software testing is crucial, every company will need to be on top of their game as they enter the next decade.

The advent of DevOps paves way for businesses to actively look for real-time risk assessment backed by machine learning algorithms throughout the various stages of the software delivery cycle. QA engineers face a plethora of difficulties in the juggle to find out a perfect solution. At the time of testing, it becomes quite a task to make new additions in the existing code which has already gone through the testing process. Every time there is an expansion on the existing code, the development team must carry out new tests. While regression testing cycles can be time-consuming, undertaking them on a manual basis is bound to overwhelm QA engineers.

Asif: Tell us about your journey with your multiple startups and successful exits. What were some of the biggest challenges you faced? To date, I've built three venture-backed companies, one bootstrap company and a fifth company I, unfortunately, had to close down. My most recent exit experience was also my most successful. I founded BlazeMeter, back in September of 2011, and we were acquired by CA technologies in October of 2016.

These days it seems that testers and QA Engineers are forced to confront a host of new challenges, with solutions lacking or hard to implement. With the demand for new features and code changes being continuously incorporated, the code becomes increasingly weak. Teams risk releasing a sub-optimal or non-functional product. Therefore, each time the development team works on existing code, new tests have to be carried out to ensure the code is not on the verge of breaking. Traditional approaches to testing can overwhelm QA engineers.

Software testing performed by human resources still has its value, although Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a promising way to make the process easier, faster, and clearer. Someday, the emerging technology of AI may force software testers to start looking for a new job elsewhere. But don't get tripped up with such predictions. Strategies to implement AI and machine learning are far from perfect; companies still have plenty of challenges to work through. However, one thing is certain: the use of AI by QA professionals would upgrade the whole testing process, enhance testers' professional skills, and contribute to business growth.

Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have caught the attention of the masses. We've come to the point when we explore the ways these innovative technologies can help us achieve our business' digital transformation goals. Adobe's research from last year shows that only 15% of enterprises were using AI, but forecasted this number to double in only 12 months. If they were right this means that today one-third of organizations have implemented it already. Furthermore, the overall revenues from AI are expected to grow from $9.5 billion in 2018 to the impressive $118.6 billion in 2025 and that's only 6 years from now.