QualiZeal’s Initiative to Redefine Software Testing with AI-Powered Quality Engineering: Insights from Executive Director and CEO, Kalyan Konda | Podcast Ep. 26

So, we got an excellent marketing team, they are continuously telling the QualiZeal story and they are a very creative bunch that are constantly, you know, sort of trying to build a brand for QualiZeal and they, actually we did not, at least I did not do anything with the intent of winning this award. So, you know, we were doing what the company is supposed to do and I guess the committee liked what we had done and that’s how we got the award. I think it just, I would say that it is just a testament to all the collective effort of the entire QualiZeal team.So, I just happened to have the, you know, sort of be in this role but I guess the entire award, I think, should go to the entire team of QualiZeal.

Host: It’s absolutely great to hear how the entire team is contributing to the organization’s success. So, moving ahead, QualiZeal is a leader in software testing and quality engineering. What are the firm’s core principles and how do you ensure fostering them while driving progression?

Kalyan: Yeah, QualiZeal, when we actually started sometime in mid-2021, it’s been about four years since we started the firm and in the very beginning itself, while we were actually sort of thinking about, you know, what is the reason that the world needs another QE engineering IT services company. Some of the things that came very clear to us is that, one, we want to build a very differentiated QE engineering services player and we want to be a company that provides IP-led services, basically intellectual property-led QE services and we also wanted to sort of create a company where everybody is part of what is being built and also that the initial team that came together and started the company and we were all, the thing that really binds all of us together is actually the passion for quality engineering and at the time, initially, I mean, those things didn’t really change much. I think some of the things that we wanted to do it really differently is that, one, is that we want to be a client-centric organization.

So everything that we do has to be in the interest and benefit of the clients and the second thing is that we really want to build a great culture where, you know, some of the things that we were thinking about that time is that, you know, the team that initially came together, we all worked in different companies and then there were times where we felt we wish we could have been treated slightly differently, right, and so I think the initial culture was that is that we want to treat all the employees the way that we would want to be treated and that’s our that’s our principle, like, you know, we really want to, whenever we come across a situation and question that we ask ourselves is that if I was in that role and doing whatever I’m doing, how I would want to be treated.

That is something that still holds good for us and one more thing is that in IT, things change very fast and so we also want to be a company that is continuously innovating and at least looking two to three years ahead and actually making the investments, initiating projects to continue to stay relevant to the industry. So, the broad, some of the broad principles were like, you know, the client centricity, high-tech management and then build a great employee work culture and, you know, continue to innovate in the space that we selected, which is quality engineering.

Host: Indeed, client-centric approach, positive culture and continuous innovation are three pillars of successful businesses. So next up,

QualiZeal recently hosted its second edition of Client Advisory Council event in Dallas. So, can you share the key highlights from the event that shaped the most interesting conversations?

Kalyan: The Client Advisory Council is an initiative that we started about two years before. We had one in the middle of 2024, and we had another one recently. In fact, sort of the concept of Client Advisory Council for a form of our age and size is, I think, is very significant because not a lot of companies of our age and size generally conduct initiatives like this.

So, this goes back to the point that I talked about the client-centric organization and actually this initiative is based on that principle. So, what we typically do as part of the Client Advisory Council meeting, which happens annually, is that we actually get about 12 to 15 decision makers, typically CIOs, of the clients that we are actively working with. And we really want them to have a say in the vision and strategy of the organization.

So, a lot of times clients don’t get to do that. So, the service providers are doing what they want to do and the clients are executing their own plans given by the board. And because of that, you miss synergy sometimes.

So, this initiative is to really capture the kind of things that they’re working with the intent of next two, three, four years. And then actually how do we align quality, sales, vision, and strategy so that we continuously stay relevant to our client needs, not only today, but also tomorrow and the day after. So that’s the whole purpose.

And also, that we really also want to help clients and create an opportunity for them to network with individuals of their stature and caliber and use this as an opportunity to learn something new, which they can actually go back and apply in their jobs. So, it went really well. And actually, I’m really looking forward for the 2026 event as well.

Host: Yeah, it’s highly appreciating how QualiZeal is prioritizing clients’ perspective. So, approaching further, testing is a crucial stage of software development. What challenges generally arise in software testing and how do developers overcome them?

Kalyan: Yeah. So, software testing, actually there was a study done, I think about probably about more than a decade before of basically what is the impact of not testing enough. And it looked like because of the inadequate software testing, and just in the US, the economy is losing about a trillion dollars in value.

So testing is still something that is underinvested, but it’s very crucial. It’s very crucial for the end users. It’s very crucial for the client organizations.

And almost now, as the application development and release times have significantly accelerated, you’d have seen people installing their apps. And if the app is not able to deliver the experience that they were expecting, and people simply delete the app and move on to something else. So just the amount of tolerance people have for the buggy stuff is very low.

So, just in terms of the quality expectations from the end user are going up in that context. I think having really developing apps or products that really meets the user needs from day one is very important. And as they say that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

So, in that context, I think the software quality and actually the spending enough amount of time and money on software testing has become really important. And it is not just for the, you know, people are not doing it for the process sake, because somebody within the process team is telling them that you need to spend a percentage of time or money on software testing, it really impacts the business. So, if you don’t spend enough, and if you don’t find and fix all those defects, ultimately, they will reach the end users are the customers.

And if it reaches, then it has a real impact on the reputation of the company, the brand of the company, and many times on the overall revenue and business of the company as well.

Host: Certainly, testing is not only beneficial for software development, but also deployment. So, moving further,

How has AI revolutionized software testing and quality engineering methodologies? And how is QualiZeal’s QMentisAI contributing to this revolution and empowering software tester with Gen AI capability?

Kalyan: Yeah, so exactly. We are a firm believer that actually, as and when new technologies come up, and one thing that we one thing that we try to assess is that, is this something that disruption that the new technology is causing? Is it?

Is it real? Is it more of a fad? Is it something that will exist for a while and then slowly fade away?

And we had seen a number of technologies like that. But actually, we believe that actually AI is going to stay and is going to have an impact and the luckily is not going to have an impact on any other industry except it. So, it’s a you know, is a more of a more of an IT phenomena.

It’s not it’s not universal across industries. And even within it, I would say that it will disrupt the quality engineering and so we were we were able to recognize this about two years before and then about almost about one and a half year before we launched internally a COE and was able to put together a large team of people that worked on a building platform which to actually to address the productivity needs within QLM quality lifecycle management. And that’s the whole genesis of how we how we started and we would our thinking as a company is that we want to we actually for a young company like us, some of these disruptive technologies are actually beneficial for us. We don’t look them as a threat.

We actually look at them as an opportunity because we have little to lose, but a lot to gain. And also some of these new technologies would really place us on a on a level playing field with the very large companies that has deep pockets and resources because but then AI is new to everybody. The ones with you know, the ones that are big, the ones that are small, it doesn’t matter.

AI is going to impact everybody. So, we see this as a more of a benefit to us. And right now, the QMentisAI platform we actually have recently launched, we actually unveiled the enterprise version of QMentisAI at our recent client advisory council event.

And I’m happy to tell you that it was received very well by all our existing clients. And also that whenever we pitch QMentisAI to our new clients that were in the process of acquiring the feedback has been nothing but fantastic. Having said that, we still got a long way to go.

But we firmly believe that QualiZeal as a company, it is going to the AI is a friend to us. I mean, we are not afraid of AI. We are actually embracing AI with both of our hands and hopefully that the world will embrace AI much faster.

As it embraces much faster, the better it is for QualiZeal.

Host: QMentis is indeed a top-notch AI tool that assists software testers and quality engineering professionals. So, approaching further,

Talent management is crucial for organizational success. So how does QualiZeal’s ESOP strategy help in this regard, retaining the right talent for your company?

Kalyan: Yeah, we like I said, one of our core principles is that we want to treat employees the way that we always wanted to be treated. And actually keeping that principle in mind, we launched our ESOP strategy in the beginning of the year, where we actually shared, we actually identified about close to 70-80 people in the company. And they were all given a piece of the company and which they had been helping to build.

And we are actually using ESOP as a strategic tool to continuously reward, you know, high performance and also the seniors within the organization. And we also want to use ESOP as a strategic tool to continue to attract top talent in the quality engineering space. So far, we had been able to do this.

And we also don’t want the our ESOP strategy to be a more for one and done event. This is something that we intend to do as a as a long-term strategic tool.

Host: It’s amazing how QualiZeal is acknowledging the right talent. So next up,

QE Conclave is a futuristic event to highlight what’s next for quality engineering. What impact does this event bring among QE professionals and how does this unlock new possibilities for quality engineering?

Kalyan: Yeah, so QE Conclave is so far we had two events. So, we started it in 2023. And so basically, we felt that there is a need to bring the quality engineering professionals together on one platform.

And we felt that there is no such platform that exists within Hyderabad. So QE Conclave was one such initiative to get all the bright minds of quality engineering professionals together and talk about issues that are relevant to quality engineering, especially the ones that are impacting them right now, and also the ones that could potentially impact them in the in the in the coming months and years. And the we were actually we were actually positively surprised by the kind of participation that we had received in year one.

And that made us to dream and aim big for year two. So just in terms of the number of people that joined year two is almost like three times bigger than what we had in year one. And also the amount of the senior people that came together was also very high.

And we also we really want to do this for the quality engineering community. And we were happy that we also had many sponsors for the event. There were a lot more lot more companies and individuals that really wants to be part of this initiative.

And we intend to keep doing this in the years to come because, you know, we were able to just build a company based on quality engineering. We think that this is our way of giving back to the quality engineering community.

Host: It’s absolutely amazing how QE Conclave is encouraging quality engineering professionals. So, approaching further,

You have been contributing to the tech sector for almost 25 years now. So which innovations have fascinated you the most and also have an edge to lead the future as well?

Kalyan: Right now, I would think that yeah is definitely disrupting. And I would say that it is very relevant to what we do as a company, the quality engineering. I’m of the form of opinion that that actually AI will not replace.

It’s not going to take away a lot of jobs of the people. Definitely not. I think it’s a tremendous productivity improvement tool.

I guess if you use AI, your job is safe. If you don’t, it may not be as safe as you think you are. So, I would if I was a professional, I would rather embrace AI as a way to put my career on a fast track.

And so, in that sense, you know, currently, we are very excited about the possibilities of AI in the quality engineering space Rittika.

Host: Yeah, AI truly holds the potential to revolutionize the IT sector, especially. So that’s a wrap. Thank you, Kalyan, for joining us and sharing your expertise.

Your perspective on quality engineering, AI and software testing is nothing but exceptional. Thank you so much.

Kalyan: Thank you very much. Thank you for having me on your show. And I really enjoyed it.

Host: Thank you, everyone for accompanying us today. I’m your host, Rittika, signing off. See you in the next episode of ExtraMile by HiTechNectar with our next extraordinary guest on board sharing their thoughts and knowledge. Stay tuned.