The Scalable Quality Blueprint

Architecting Next-Generation Test Automation

Ronak Ray

VP, Quality Assurance & AI Strategy, Forbes

About Me: Ronak Ray

Ronak Ray is the Vice President of Quality Assurance and AI Strategy at Forbes, where he leads the evolution of quality engineering across the organization. With over a decade of experience in building scalable automation frameworks and driving digital transformation, Ronak has grown QA from the ground up into a high-impact team of 35+ engineers.

Under his leadership, Forbes achieved an 85% automation coverage and accelerated release cycles by over 20x through robust CI/CD practices. In his current role, Ronak also spearheads AI strategy, integrating generative AI into quality workflows to enhance test generation, flakiness detection, and release confidence. A strong advocate for shift-left testing, continuous delivery, and intelligent automation, Ronak blends deep technical expertise with a strategic vision for the future of software quality.

10+

Years of Experience

35+

Engineers in QA Team

20x

Faster Release Cycles

The Automation Crisis

Traditional test automation is failing. The strategies that brought us here are no longer sufficient.

23%

Automation Effectiveness

(World Quality Report, 2023)

This isn't a tooling problem. It's a symptom of brittle tests, eroded confidence, and a flawed strategy.

The Objective

What is the primary purpose of writing automated tests?

Reduce manual testing time?
Give feedback of test failure faster?
Increase release velocity?

Plan Around your Objectives

Project Scope

What features needs to be automated
Platform/Environment to be covered

Evaluate Technology Stack

Determine Tools/Frameworks

Test Coverage Strategy

Outlines which aspects of the application will be tested and to what extent
e.g. Functional, Integration, Regression, performance etc..

Test Data Management

Where is test data getting sourced

Integration with CI/CD Pipelines

How tests will be triggered, reported and failures are handled.

Monitoring and Maintenance

How Test results will be monitored and who will be responsible for maintenance.

Do Not Over-Engineer

Excessive Abstraction

Makes it harder to understand and maintain

Feature creep

Adding feature to testing, which are not essential to project testing needs

Over optimization

Spending excessive time optimizing the performance of the framework

Excessive Customization

Making bloated configuration interface makes framework more difficult to use.

Start with MVP, Add features as needed as project keeps evolving.

The Mission: From QA to Quality Engineering

We must evolve from being end-of-cycle gatekeepers to proactive enablers who build quality in from day one.

The Goal

✔️ Reduce manual testing time
✔️ Get faster, reliable feedback
✔️ Increase release velocity

The Proof (Forbes Case Study)

85% Reliable Automation Coverage
20x Faster Release Cycles

The Four Pillars of Scalable Quality

A modern strategy is a holistic system addressing technology, process, and culture.

🏛️ The Architectural Foundation

💡 The Intelligence Layer

⚙️ The Engine Room

🤝 The Human Element

Pillar 1: The Architectural Foundation

API-First & The Test Pyramid

Quality starts with testability. An API-first approach creates a testable foundation, while the Test Pyramid guides a smart testing strategy for microservices.

Manual & Exploratory

UI & API Testing

Integration Testing

Component Testing

Unit Testing

Pillar 2: The Intelligence Layer

Supercharging with GenAI

Generative AI is a force multiplier, automating test creation, predicting risk, and fixing broken tests automatically.

The Breakthrough: Self-Healing

AI automatically detects and repairs broken tests caused by UI changes, killing brittleness and maintenance costs.

GenAI Adoption in QE is Now Mainstream

From PRD to Test Cases in Seconds

Save brain power and accelerate test creation by 2x or more.

Product Requirement Doc (PRD)

Feature: User Login

Requirements:
1. Users must log in with a valid email address and password.
2. The email field must accept a standard email format (e.g., user@example.com).
3. The password must be at least 8 characters long.
4. An error message "Invalid email or password" should be displayed for incorrect credentials.
5. An error message "Password must be at least 8 characters" should be displayed if the password is too short.
6. Upon successful login, the user is redirected to the /dashboard page.

Generated Test Cases

AI-Powered E2E Testing with Playwright

Automate browser interactions by generating robust tests from high-level descriptions or existing code.

The Goal: From Natural Language to Test

"Verify a user can add two items to the cart and see the correct total with tax."

The Future: Playwright MCP Server

An AI Agent receives the plain-English command.
The MCP Server provides the Agent with live context of your app's UI components.
The Agent uses this context to autonomously write and execute a Playwright test.
Result: QA engineers can write code and get a head start.

AI-Generated Playwright Test

Pillar 3: The Engine Room

Optimizing the CI/CD Pipeline

Engineer your pipeline for speed and stability. Use Test Impact Analysis (TIA) to run fewer, smarter tests, then use parallelization to run them faster.

Pillar 4: The Human Element

A federated model fosters shared ownership instead of blame.

Forging a Culture of Shared Quality

Technology fails without the right culture. "Shift Left" by finding bugs earlier, when they are exponentially cheaper to fix.

Adopt a Federated Quality Model: a central QE Center of Excellence builds the platform, empowering product teams to own quality.

The Exponential Cost of a Bug

The Maturity Roadmap

Transformation is a journey. Follow this phased roadmap.

1

Phase 1: Foundation (Months 1-6)

Establish QE CoE. Mandate TDD & AI assistant training. Instrument baseline quality metrics.

2

Phase 2: Expansion (Months 7-18)

Roll out federated model to pilot teams. Integrate Test Impact Analysis into CI. QE CoE begins coaching.

3

Phase 3: Maturity (Months 18+)

Full adoption of federated model. Implement AI-driven failure triage. Tie quality metrics to team goals.

Actionable Recommendations

1. Mandate API-First

Make the API contract the first artifact of any new feature.

2. Build a QE CoE

Restructure QA to be a platform and enablement team.

3. Launch a GenAI Initiative

Prioritize self-healing tools and equip all devs with AI assistants.

4. Implement TIA

Reduce test volume first, then use gains to fund parallelization.

5. Fund Training

Invest in a formal training curriculum to drive cultural change.

Q&A

Thank You