DEV Community: Ronald Williams

Meet the CypressConf 2026 Keynote: Bas Dijkstra

Ronald Williams — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:32:16 +0000

As CypressConf 2026 gets closer, the focus is simple.

How do you move fast and still trust your test results?

With more automation and AI in the mix, teams are shipping faster than ever. But speed has never been the hard part. Confidence is.

Across teams, the same patterns keep showing up. Test suites grow, pipelines get faster, and more signals are generated at every stage of development. But when it comes time to make a decision, teams are still asking the same question.

Can we trust this?

Quality issues rarely belong to one person or one role anymore. Confidence in what ships depends on how well teams interpret and act on the signals coming from their tests, pipelines, and production systems. That is the shift happening across the industry, and it is what this year’s theme is built around.

To kick things off, we are excited to announce our keynote speaker, Bas Dijkstra.

Bas is a global test automation consultant, trainer, and speaker who has spent years working directly with engineering teams to improve how they approach quality. His work is grounded in real systems, real constraints, and the realities of modern development. He is known for helping teams cut through noise, reduce flake, and build testing strategies they can actually rely on.

More importantly, he understands that testing is no longer a single function. It is a shared responsibility that spans developers, QA, and engineering leadership. The teams that succeed are the ones that align around clear signals and act on them with confidence.

That perspective is exactly what makes this keynote the right fit for CypressConf this year.

The industry is not short on tools. It is not short on automation. What teams are working through now is how to make sense of everything those systems produce. AI is increasing the volume of signals. Pipelines are accelerating feedback. But without clarity, more signal can just as easily create more noise.

The challenge is no longer generating results. It is knowing what matters.

At CypressConf 2026, you will hear from teams who are working through this in real time. They are improving how they collaborate across roles, finding ways to respond earlier without introducing risk, and turning test results into decisions they can stand behind. They are not slowing down. They are getting better at understanding the systems they have already built.

The keynote sets the tone for that conversation.

With Bas Dijkstra, expect a session grounded in experience, focused on what teams are actually dealing with today, and clear about where things are going next.

This is the first announcement for CypressConf 2026. More speakers, sessions, and content are on the way.

The signal is up.

Leading Quality Through Change: Balancing Speed, AI, and the Fundamentals That Matter

Ronald Williams — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:41:46 +0000

As software delivery accelerates and AI driven tooling reshapes how teams approach testing, many QA leaders are facing the same challenge: how to evolve quality practices without losing the fundamentals that keep teams effective, scalable, and trusted.

This tension shows up in real leadership decisions every day. framework selection, automation trade offs, skill development, and responsible adoption of emerging tools. The conversations are rarely just about tools. They are about judgment, mindset, and how to guide teams through constant change without sacrificing long term quality.

In this reflection, Lyle Smart, Director of Quality Assurance and Test Automation (SDET) at Continued, shares perspective shaped by real world leadership decisions. His experience offers practical guidance for QA and engineering leaders navigating speed, complexity, and sustainability in today’s delivery landscape.

When a technical decision becomes a leadership one

One defining moment for Lyle came during a new platform build, when he was faced with choosing a test automation framework.

On the surface, the decision appeared technical. In reality, it carried significant leadership weight.

That choice would influence how the team collaborated, how quickly engineers could onboard, and how quality practices would scale over time. For Lyle, the decision was less about picking the “best” framework and more about setting the foundation for how the team would work and grow together.

Framework decisions shape culture. They signal what a team values, how approachable quality is for new contributors, and whether testing becomes a shared responsibility or a bottleneck.

Excitement, innovation, and the need for discipline

Lyle describes QA leadership today as genuinely exciting. The pace of innovation, especially with AI, has opened up new possibilities for how teams think about testing and quality engineering.

At the same time, strong fundamentals still matter.

From his perspective, leading QA requires balancing innovation with discipline. Skilled QA professionals remain essential to guide quality decisions, apply context, and ensure tools are used intentionally rather than for novelty. AI can accelerate workflows, but it cannot replace judgment.

The role of QA leadership is increasingly about knowing when to lean into new capabilities and when to slow down and ask harder questions.

What really keeps QA leaders up at night

For leaders like Lyle, the biggest concern is not adopting the next tool. It is ensuring the department has the right mix of skills, both technical and interpersonal, to succeed in the future. This matters at a leadership level because it directly affects sustainability.

Teams need more than expertise with tools. They need communication skills, critical thinking, and the ability to adapt as systems, products, and expectations evolve. Without those skills, even the most advanced tooling can become a liability rather than an advantage.

Fast adoption, thoughtful use

Lyle points to real world examples where new capabilities required careful leadership, not just enthusiasm. When new features such as cy.prompt were introduced, adoption needed to be fast but thoughtful. The challenge was ensuring teams understood not only how the feature worked, but when it should be used and when it should not.
As a leader, he felt responsible for helping the team avoid unnecessary complexity or misuse that could reduce effectiveness instead of improving it. Clear guidance, shared standards, and open conversations became just as important as documentation.

Slowing down to move forward

These experiences shaped how Lyle approaches leadership today. Pressure can push teams toward fast solutions, but rushed quality decisions often create more work later. He now places greater emphasis on evaluating broader impact and long term consequences, especially when introducing new tools or practices.
Slowing down is not resistance to progress. It is a way to protect teams from churn, burnout, and fragile systems.

A final reflection for QA and engineering leaders

If Lyle could leave other QA or engineering leaders with one reflection, it would be this:

Keep learning. The future is exciting, and new tools and skills are essential. Just do not lose sight of the core principles of quality that make those tools effective in the first place.

If you are looking for leadership content that keeps you and your team ahead of the curve, register for CypressConf 2026 and learn from industry leaders defining success in modern software development.

Six Technical Sessions That Will Change How You Think About Testing

Ronald Williams — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:04:00 +0000

Tired of expensive learning materials that take weeks to complete but teach you nothing you can't Google? Fed up with content that assumes you're still figuring out basic assertions when you're managing complex test architectures?

CypressConf 2025 workshops solve the learning problem that plagues experienced developers: finding advanced, practical content that matches your skill level and specific to your setup without the cost barriers or time wasting. Over two exclusive workshop days (October 23–24), global industry practitioners will teach you competitive skills you can implement Monday morning. These workshops were designed based on years of attendee feedback from our global community, focusing on the real problems you've told us you're solving right now.

Slack 'n' Roll: CI/CD Pipelines with GHA
Led by: Tanya Sahni, Software Developer in Test at Fashion Cloud

Your CI/CD pipeline should work for you, not against you. Tanya will show how to integrate Cypress into GitHub Actions so your tests run automatically and notify your team intelligently. This intermediate to advanced workshop assumes you're already comfortable with CI/CD concepts and want to build pipelines whose scale reliably", eliminating the manual check dance that wastes hours every sprint and positioning you as the developer who builds systems that move as fast as your code.

Advocate for Quality Within Your Company
Led by: Péter Földházi, Quality Architect at EPAM Systems

Quality isn't just a QA responsibility. It's an organizational capability. This senior-level workshop teaches experienced QA professionals how to become effective advocates for quality across engineering teams. You'll learn to speak business language while maintaining technical standards, turning quality from a cost center into a competitive advantage and transforming how your organization views testing so you lead change instead of reacting to it.

Operationalizing Quality with Data That Matters
Presented by: Dan Johansen, Senior Product Manager at Cypress.io

Raw testing data is noise. Actionable insights are signal. Dan demonstrates how to turn test results into meaningful metrics that improve release decisions. This intermediate to senior workshop teaches which data points actually matter and how to present them in ways that influence engineering strategy, enabling you to make data-driven quality decisions that leadership understands and supports.

Data Driven Testing with Cypress
Delivered by: Marko Kolasinac, CEO at Assert QA, and Dejan Živković, QA Automation Engineer at Assert QA

Hardcoded test data creates maintenance nightmares. This intermediate workshop shows how to design resilient, data-powered testing strategies that don't interfere with production systems. Marko and Dejan assume you understand testing fundamentals and focus on building migration approaches that scale without the complexity overhead that kills productivity.

Simplifying Cypress Testing
Led by: Walmyr Filho, Instructor and Founder at Talking About Testing

Writing Cypress tests isn't just writing JavaScript. It requires different thinking. Whether you're new to Cypress or have been using it for years, Walmyr shares practical techniques for writing maintainable tests that grow with your product complexity. You'll learn patterns that prevent technical debt before it accumulates, building tests that remain valuable as your codebase evolves rather than becoming liabilities.

Authentication Workflows with Cypress & Mailosaur
Led by: Filip Hric, Developer Educator at filiphric.com

Authentication testing is notoriously brittle. Filip walks through testing authentication flows so your login and access systems remain reliable across environments. This intermediate to advanced workshop handles real-world scenarios including email verification, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access, helping you secure reliable user experiences without compromising test stability.

What Makes These Workshops Different

These sessions were built from years of global community feedback. Developers told us they needed advanced content that respects their experience level, practical sessions they could apply immediately, and learning opportunities that didn't require expensive course subscriptions or weeks of commitment.

Each workshop delivers concentrated expertise from practitioners who've built testing systems at scale. No generic tutorials. No basic concepts you already know. Just advanced techniques that solve real problems you're encountering in production environments.

Workshop seats are intentionally limited and fill fast. You must be registered for CypressConf 2025 to access workshops, and early registrants get first access before standby lists open.

More workshops are coming soon.

Cheatsheet: Quick tips for Contract Testing with Cypress and Pactflow

Ronald Williams — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:28:48 +0000

Contract testing is a game-changer for teams looking to improve API reliability, reduce test flakiness, and streamline their CI/CD pipelines. But navigating the nuances of contract testing, especially when integrating Cypress with Pactflow, can be overwhelming. This cheat sheet distills key insights from our AMA with Lewis Prescott, QA Lead at Health Partners Group and author of Contract Testing in Action, into an easy-to-follow guide for upskilling QA professionals.

Integrating Contract Testing into CI/CD with Cypress

Install the necessary Pact package for your language (GitHub repo).
Connect to a Pact broker (Docs | Pactflow).
Add API tokens and set up webhooks to automate test triggers.

Encouraging Others to Write Contract Tests

Demonstrate value to stakeholders.
Use bi-directional contract testing to fit within existing workflows.
Emphasize time savings for providers when consumers write tests.

Reducing Flakiness in End-to-End Tests with Contract Testing

Stale mocks can lead to failures—use verified contract stubs instead.
Incorporate Pact-verified stubs within Cypress E2E tests (Example).

Best Practices for Structuring Contract Tests

Use Pactflow’s bi-directional contract testing (More info).
Implement tests alongside frontend requests or backend event triggers.
Use in-memory services for backend unit testing.

Contract Testing for GraphQL APIs vs. REST APIs

Pact supports GraphQL contract testing (Pact GraphQL).
Validates requests, headers, and response schemas—ensuring API interactions work as expected.

Applying Contract Testing to Microservices

Ideal for validating data flow between multiple small services.
Consumers (e.g., React apps) define expected API behavior.
Providers (e.g., .NET APIs) validate against these contracts.

Selling Contract Testing to Developers

Highlight the fast feedback loop and scalability.
Compare it to unit tests for APIs—faster and more reliable than traditional integration tests.
Show how it prevents downstream failures in multi-service environments.

Schema Testing vs. Contract Testing

Schema validation checks structure but not real-time interactions.
Contract tests validate that services actually communicate as expected.

Do Contract Tests Replace Integration Tests?

Debate exists around integration test necessity (Read more).
Best practice: Use contract tests to verify all communication; limit integration tests to happy path validation.

Limitations of Using Cypress for Contract Testing

Cypress mocks as consumer-driven contracts can be too rigid.
Bi-directional mapping ties mocks directly to the Pact contract, limiting flexibility.
For maximum value, use Pact-JS natively alongside Cypress for early feedback.

Join the Conversation on Discord

Want to learn from industry experts and see who we bring to the community next? Join the Cypress Discord: Join here.

Win a Free Copy of the Book

We have 5 free copies to give away! Share your thoughts below in the comment section, and the first 5 comments will receive a code to claim their copy. Get Your Copy of Contract Testing in Action As part of the Cypress Community, you can purchase Contract Testing in Action by Lewis Prescott at 45% off: Get the book.

CypressConf 2024: Keynote Speaker Announcement

Ronald Williams — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:40:50 +0000

We’re beyond excited to announce that David Ingraham, Senior SDET, @ Matium, will be taking the virtual stage as the keynote speaker at CypressConf 2024!

David’s story with Cypress is one of passion, growth, and community. From the moment he dove into the Cypress ecosystem, David has been all in—sharing his knowledge, supporting fellow developers, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with testing automation. His dedication to the Cypress community and his drive to help others excel make him the perfect person to lead us into our shift to the future!

Why You Should Tune In

In his keynote, Achieving Excellence: The Path to an Impactful Test Suite, David is set to deliver actionable insights that will help you level up your test automation game.Whether you're re-evaluating an existing setup or starting fresh, David will break down the essential strategies that can turn your test suite into a powerhouse.

Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll walk away with:

Actionable Takeaways: Walk away with a clear roadmap and practical tips to optimize your test suite immediately.
Strategic Insights: Discover why a rock-solid test suite is key to successfully "shifting left" in your development process.
Advanced Tools: Master the full potential of Cypress and Cypress Cloud to supercharge your automation efforts without sacrificing quality.

Sometimes it’s easy to get wrapped up in the technical details of a test suite. By taking a step back and evaluating the big picture, you’ll leave the session not just inspired, but equipped with the tools and strategies to make a real impact.

Join Us for This Must-See Session

David embodies the spirit of innovation and community that we celebrate at Cypress. His journey reflects the transformative power of embracing new technologies, and his commitment to fostering growth in others is exactly what makes him an ideal keynote speaker for CypressConf 2024.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with David and other forward-thinking professionals who are shaping the future of test automation.

Announcing CypressConf 2024 🚀

Ronald Williams — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 14:49:01 +0000

We’re beyond excited to invite you to CypressConf 2024, a free virtual conference happening on October 22nd and 23rd! This year’s theme, “Shift to the Future,” is all about diving into the cutting-edge advancements in automated testing, and you can experience it all from the comfort of your own space.

Get ready to be at the forefront of innovation as industry leaders share the latest trends and groundbreaking ideas set to redefine automated testing. Engage in interactive, hands-on sessions that will enhance your skills, and witness live demos of cutting-edge tools and techniques guaranteed to elevate your testing game. Plus, this virtual format offers unique opportunities to connect with a global community of like-minded professionals who are just as passionate and eager to exchange ideas, challenge the status quo, and explore future possibilities.

Don’t miss out on the excitement and opportunity to be part of the future of automated testing at CypressConf 2024.