In this episode, host Joe Colantonio sits down with Debbie O'Brien, Principal Technical Program Manager at Microsoft and a leading advocate for Playwright end-to-end testing. Debbie shares her fascinating journey from web design in the late '90s to building and nurturing the Playwright community at Microsoft. Together, they tackle the latest and greatest in test automation, with a special focus on Playwright's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server and how you can unlock its powerful AI-driven browser automation capabilities.

From real-world advice on overcoming resistance to testing in teams to the exciting possibilities MCP brings for generating and scaling tests with natural language and AI, this conversation is packed with both practical tips and future-looking insights.

Debbie also addresses common fears around AI replacing jobs, highlighting the need for testers and developers to embrace these tools and stay ahead of the curve. Whether you're an automation engineer, front-end developer, or simply curious about where testing is headed, this episode is full of actionable wisdom and inspiration.

Tune in and get ready to supercharge your automation skills!

On this episode of the TestGuild Automation Podcast, host Joe Colantonio welcomes Kristijan Plaushku, founder of QA Robots, for a fascinating deep dive into the evolving world of testing and automation.

Grab the free Testing Toolkit now: https://testguild.me/toolkit

Broadcasting from Italy, Kristijan shares his journey from starting in quality assurance at AS Watson to building his own company, dedicated to reshaping how businesses approach QA, automation, and DevOps integration, with a specific focus on the unique challenges and opportunities within the Italian tech landscape.

Together, they explore what it means to apply first-principles thinking in QA, the ongoing struggles with test environment management, and why bridging the gap between QA and DevOps can have such a significant impact on software delivery.

Kristijan also shares the growing influence of AI in automation, his passion for the Robot Framework, and the innovative tools he’s creating to help teams work smarter, not harder.

Whether you’re an automation pro or just beginning to dip your toes in the world of testing, this episode is packed with practical insights, industry trends, and actionable advice for building better, more efficient quality processes.

Don’t miss Kristijan’s take on building a QA culture from the ground up and why human-centric thinking still matters in an AI-driven world.

In this episode, we sit down with Tom Akehurst, the creator of WireMock, the popular open-source API mocking tool now powering simulation at scale in modern development pipelines. We unpack the real-world benefits of API mocking, when to simulate vs. integrate, and how WireMock Cloud is helping teams manage drift, complexity, and change.

If you're exploring API testing, mocking tools, or wondering how OpenAPI, AI, and MCP (Model Context Protocols) fit into the picture—this one’s for you.