Dmitrii Kochetov on how the role of QA engineer is changing with automation implementation

An experienced QA engineer and a professional council member of the AITEX technology association and a professional member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) shared how his profession is transforming in the era of automated testing and artificial intelligence, and why the shift-left approach makes quality assurance a strategic part of the development process.

The test automation market is indeed experiencing explosive growth: according to a recent report, the global automated testing market is valued at $33.13 billion in 2024 and, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.4%, is projected to reach $213.25 billion by 2037. The growth of test automation is supported by both artificial intelligence technologies and low-code and no-code tools. These technological changes raise a critically important question: are traditional testers still needed, or should the modern QA engineer become a quality architect managing automated systems? Dmitrii Kochetov, an experienced QA engineer who has gone from manual QA engineer to test automation architect, implementing test case strategies, participating in process automation, and creating CI/CD pipelines, answers these questions. He is also a winner of national awards in the field of digitalization, including the National Business Award. His work focuses on developing strategic approaches to maintaining information systems and implementing practices that enable a fundamental transformation of testing and automation processes. Beyond his practical work, Dmitrii is also active in the scientific and professional community. He has authored articles on modern testing methodologies, automation architecture, and the use of frameworks for server-side component validation. He also serves as a jury member in professional competitions and as a reviewer of academic research.

In the interview, he shared his views on how modern technologies are transforming software testing, the extent to which manual checks might disappear, and what the future holds for the role of QA engineers.

Automated tests for all occasions

Just a few years ago, testing was primarily associated with manual checking: spending hours “clicking” through interfaces, searching for bugs and describing them in reports. Today the situation is changing. Automated tests can run thousands of scenarios in minutes, and business sees obvious savings in this. For many companies, automation combined with CI/CD infrastructure and targeted manual testing has become the foundation that allows maintaining a high release pace without compromising product quality.

According to Dmitrii, automated tests are gradually becoming the foundation of development processes: they reduce the volume of repetitive manual checks and speed up feedback for developers.

“Today, with several releases per week, test automation helps ensure stability and predictability. It removes routine workload, speeds up feedback, and makes quality more manageable,” notes Dmitrii Kochetov.

His professional experience confirms this trend: in one project, Java automated tests integrated into Jenkins and GitLab CI/CD pipelines enabled the team to reduce manual checks significantly and accelerate feedback. Additionally, the implementation of reusable test steps and script libraries increased build stability and made releases more predictable.

At the same time, the expert emphasizes that automation should not be idealized. Writing and maintaining automated tests requires resources, and it is not always justified to automate everything. The optimal strategy is to strike a balance between automated and manual testing, using each technique where it is truly effective.

When is manual testing still necessary?

Automated tests are effective for regular, repetitive scenarios, especially if they are well formalized. However, manual testing remains indispensable in many situations. Dmitry regularly interacts with colleagues in the industry and shares insights from his own practice and the experience of other specialists. Based on this, he highlights key areas where manual testing continues to be crucial:

– Testing new functionality when requirements are still being refined. At this stage, a QA Engineer needs to apply analytical thinking, ask clarifying questions, and identify potential unexpected usage scenarios.

– UX and UI testing. Automation can only verify the technical side, but it cannot assess visual harmony, interface usability, or the natural flow of user interaction with the product.

– Analysis of non-standard cases and edge cases, manual checks help identify errors that occur when data is incorrect, operations are interrupted, or the connection is unstable. 

– Cross-platform and cross-browser checks and automated tests provide broad coverage, but manual testing is important for evaluating the nuances of application behavior on real devices and in rare OS/browser combinations.

– In situations with a high degree of uncertainty, when the behavior of the system is difficult to predict or automated tests have not yet been adapted, manual testing helps to identify potential risks more quickly.

Manual testing should not be seen merely as a supporting activity for automation, according to the expert. It is an independent approach that allows you to evaluate the product from the user’s perspective and identify scenarios that remain outside the scope of automated tests. 

Today, another aspect is inevitably added to the conversation about automation: the use of artificial intelligence in testing. It is important to remember that the effectiveness of AI tools directly depends on how deeply the team understands the product architecture and key business risks. 

As Dmitrii emphasizes, “The more you shift responsibility to algorithms without systematic analysis, the less control you have over your own business.”

Testing is not a separate phase 

Modern Quality Assurance practices are based on the “shift-left” principle — integrating quality control into every phase of development. Software QA Engineers are no longer limited to testing the finished product at the final stage, but become architects of the testing strategy, participating in sprint planning, requirements reviews, and testing system design. 

To do this, a QA engineer must understand the application architecture, be proficient in programming languages for writing automated tests, and be able to build relationships with developers, DevOps, and analysts. In Dmitrii’s experience, it is this kind of immersion that allows QA engineers not only to find bugs, but also to prevent them at the requirements or process level.

In his daily work, the focus is on the business value of Quality Assurance. A Software QA Engineer assesses risks, balances automation with manual testing, and fosters a culture of quality within the team.

 “This approach provides instant feedback: bugs are filtered out already at the pull request stage, before the code reaches the main branch. As a result, the cost of fixes decreases, while releases become more stable and predictable,” the expert explains.

For this reason, quality control in modern products cannot be considered a “separate stage.” It is a strategic element of the engineering process that directly impacts system stability, development speed, and overall business efficiency. As a result, QA is becoming a business-critical discipline and a cornerstone of modern engineering practices.