Afleveringen
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Generative AI tools like Cursor and Copilot can write automated tests in five seconds flat. But without a strict architectural strategy, they are just building a massive factory for technical debt.
In this episode, we’re stepping away from the promotional hype to look at the harsh engineering reality of AI generated test automation. While having a model instantly spin up hundreds of scripts feels incredibly productive, we look at why this often creates a superficial safety net, masks architectural flaws, and creates a long-term maintenance nightmare for the engineering team.
We break down the "green square delusion," the reason why large language models are completely blind to test data isolation, and how the role of a senior SDET is shifting from code generation to context curation and environment gatekeeping.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WganwlVQ6z4
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Playwright is currently the undisputed king of test automation. But switching to it blindly won't fix your flaky, unstable test suite. In this essay, we’re taking a hard look at the current industry hype surrounding framework migrations. While Playwright offers incredible features like auto-waiting, parallel execution, and a powerful trace viewer, it cannot rescue a broken test automation strategy. We’ll break down why 90% of flakiness is caused by unmanaged state and poor data isolation rather than tool limitations, why teams waste months falling into the "migration trap," and what separates a junior tool-worshipper from a truly tool-agnostic senior test architect.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/c8TICiuQkJs
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Agile promised us a world focused on individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Instead, we got the commercialized rigor of Scrum - a system that often prioritizes sprint velocity over deep engineering thought.In this essay, I’m talking about the silent death of exploratory testing inside modern dev teams. We’ll break down why the relentless pressure of the 2-week sprint transforms creative QA engineers into brainless ticket closers, why your Scrum Master might be accidentally killing your product quality, and how to reclaim your critical thinking in a feature factory.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PNayG_3aEbQ
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Every tech company claims that "quality is their top priority." It’s a great marketing slogan, but in the real world of software engineering, it's a complete illusion.In this video essay, I’m exploring the uncomfortable reality of the software industry: why companies don't actually care about perfect software, and why QA teams are often hired as liability shields rather than quality optimizers.If you’ve ever felt frustrated that your critical bug reports were ignored to hit a deadline, or that your automation suite is treated as a bottleneck rather than an asset - this episode is for you. Let's talk about professional detachment and how to survive the corporate feature factory without burning out.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/KS51R_pefHo
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Nietzsche once said that God is dead. In 2026, I look at our CI/CD pipelines, our flaky tests, and our bloated frameworks, and I can't help but feel the same way about Automation. It’s dead. And we are its murderers.For years, the industry has sold us a lie: that coding is the highest form of testing. We rushed to master syntax, locators, and infrastructure, but in the process, we lost the very thing that made us testers in the first place - our hunter’s instinct. We’ve traded critical thinking for a maintenance manual, becoming operators of complex machines that are perfectly tuned to look at the world through a keyhole while the rest of the building is on fire.In this essay, I’m breaking down the "Automation Delusion" and why the technocratic definition of seniority is a dead end. If your only value is translating a manual step into a line of code, AI is already faster than you. It’s time to stop apologizing for "just testing" and return to the core of our profession.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode onYouTube: https://youtu.be/NJsYu6tTNHw
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Are your automated tests taking hours to run? Do they fail randomly because of a UI change on the homepage? In this episode, we tackle the #1 architectural mistake junior Test Automation Engineers make: using the UI to set up test data. Learn why mirroring manual testing steps in your code creates a massive bottleneck, how false negatives destroy trust in your framework, and how you can use API requests to inject session tokens and make your UI tests 10x faster and more reliable.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode onYouTube: https://youtu.be/GEpjApads_c
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Every bootcamp tells you to build a massive test automation portfolio on GitHub to get hired. Here is the reality check: hiring managers do not have the time to clone your repository, install your dependencies, and review your code. In this video, we debunk the portfolio myth. Learn why copying tutorial frameworks will not make you stand out, and how you should actually use your personal projects to practice for technical interviews.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/g7Sse7YjAhg
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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You passed the exam, memorized all the definitions, and got the certificate. So why are you still failing technical interviews? In this episode, we break down the reality of QA certifications in 2026. We discuss why hiring managers care more about your ability to solve real problems and defend your architectural decisions than your ability to pass a multiple-choice test. A certificate is not a golden ticket. Do not let it give you a false sense of security.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tYXm0UqWknA
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Youknow the syntax, you watched the tutorials, but you still cannot pass the technical interview. In this episode, we break down why learning testing tools is not enough to get an automation job. We cover system thinking, the importance of continuous integration, and why communication is the ultimatefilter during interviews. Stop wasting time on the wrong things
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBHUHHQLRw
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Are you stuck in "Tutorial Hell"? You watch endless courses, you understand everything the instructor says, but the moment you open a blank code editor... your mind goes blank.
In this episode, I explain why passive learning is killing your progress and how to finally break the cycle.We cover:1. The Illusion of Competence: Why watching code feels like work (but isn't).
2. The Gym Analogy: Why you can't get fit by watching others workout.
3. The 5-Minute Rule: A simple technique to turn any tutorial into active practice.
4. The Shift: How to start thinking like an Engineer, not a Typist.
It's time to stop consuming and start creating.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBHUHHQLRw
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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"It works on my machine!""Just re-run it, it's a network glitch."If you say these things, your test automation suite is in trouble.
Flaky tests (tests that randomly pass or fail) are the #1 reason why companies lose trust in automation. And contrary to popular belief, it’s usually NOT the tool's fault. It’s the code.In this episdoe, I expose the 3 Deadly Sins of flaky automation and how to fix them.We cover:1. Race Conditions: Why your script is faster than the app (and why Thread.sleep is evil).
2. State Management: Why your tests are fighting each other.
3. UI Addiction: Why you should stop clicking and start using API shortcuts.Stop building a "House of Cards". Start building a reliable framework.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBHUHHQLRw
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Thinking about switching to Test Automation? Be careful who you listen to. The internet is full of "Gurus" and Bootcamps selling you dreams or paralyzing you with fear.
In this episode, I debunk the 3 Biggest Lies about Test Automation that keep Manual Testers stuck in their current roles.The Lies:1. The "Genius" Myth: Do you really need advanced Math to write code? (Spoiler: No).
2. The "Replacement" Myth: Will automation steal your job?
3. The "Fast Track" Myth: Can you really master this in 2 weeks?Stop letting false information hold you back. Let's talk about the reality of the industry in 2026.
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBHUHHQLRw
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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We tend to glorify Automation Engineers and look down on Manual Testers. The industry tells us: "If you don't code, you are obsolete."I disagree. In this episode, I argue why Manual (Exploratory) Testing is actually intellectually harder and more creative than writing automation scripts.
We cover:
Logic vs Creativity: Why coding is predictable, but testing is chaotic.The Detective Role: Why you can't automate the discovery of new bugs.The Human Element: Why robots make terrible UX testers.Automation is a powerful tool. But let's not confuse "Tooling" with "Thinking".
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBHUHHQLRw
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Is learning Test Automation financially worth it in 2026? We often talk about passion and quality, but let's talk about the market reality. The gap between Manual QA and Automation Engineer salaries is widening every year.
In this episode, I break down the economics of the QA career path and why staying purely manual is becoming a risky financial strategy.We cover:
The Split: Why the "Middle Class" of QA is disappearing.Commodity vs Asset: Why manual rates are stagnating.The Leverage: Why companies pay double for code.The ROI: Calculating the $300k difference in your career.Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. I am a Senior Engineer analyzing market trends 😉
📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode onYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j618jqJbDiY
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
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Is your 2026 goal to become a Test Automation Engineer? If you look at job offers, you might feel paralyzed. They want a "Junior" who knows Java, Kubernetes, AWS, and Security Testing. That creates noise. And that noise keeps you stuck in manual testing.
In this video, I give you a filter. I ignore the hype and give you the Core 5 Steps you actually need to get hired in 2026. We are cutting the BS. We are focusing on what gets you the job.
The 5 Milestones:
The DOM: Why you shouldn't install Python yet.The Language: Why you need to be a Script Writer, not a Developer.The Tool: Why Playwright is the "Easy Mode" for 2026.Architecture: The "Laundry Rule" for your code (POM).The Accelerator: Using AI and CI/CD to boost your value.📺 Prefer the visual version? Watch this episode onYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ6AEgmz6E4
🤝 Join the discussion and connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciepielewski/
