I never expected software quality and testing to become my career — or that it would bring me so much joy, energy, and fascination. I began in Engineering, qualifying as a Chartered Engineer and working on large-scale IT across even larger-scale construction projects. Testing wasn’t part of the plan. It arrived while I was working as a Project Manager on an IT project delivering a vendor’s software solution to an aviation client. I remember looking at the data it was producing in our pre-prod environment and feeling sceptical; something felt off. My engineering training kicked in and I started picking the solution apart. The challenge fascinated me, and in that moment, without realising it, my testing career commenced and this piece of work completely reshaped the direction my career would take.
There was something about this that felt different. Up until then, I’d always have said that I enjoyed my job. But it wasn’t until I discovered testing that I had the awakening moment when I realised this was what I truly wanted to do. Part of the attraction was the technology — the chance to get hands-on with new things before anyone else — but just as compelling was the challenge of testing. Fundamentally, given limited resources, what is the best way to uncover what threatens the value of a software solution — before release, and fast? It's such an open question.
I found myself genuinely intrigued by the scale and diversity of the challenge. Learning how to do it wasn’t just necessary — it became exciting. This was the moment I realised I’d found my “thing.” Nothing before had inspired me in quite the same way or given me such energy to learn, share, and improve.
I quickly got good at it. More projects came my way, and before long I became a Principal Test Consultant, leading a portfolio worth millions of pounds each year in the UK aviation sector.
Then Covid arrived, and life shifted. For several reasons — some personal — I chose to leave a senior leadership role to return to hands-on QA work, to deepen my technical skills, reconnect with the craft, and focus on meaningful work in healthcare. I joined a small software company doing transformative work for the NHS. It was an opportunity to grow as a tester and rediscover where the fun began.
As the company has grown, our product has become more complex and our customer base more diverse. The challenges we face as a QA team have scaled faster than we ever imagined. Today, we’re working hard to find new ways of working to meet the demanding needs of NHS hospitals — and once again, learning how to do it isn’t just essential; it’s energising.
This blog is where I slow things down, reflect on what I’m learning, and try to make sense of an industry that moves fast and rarely pauses. If you’d like to understand the thinking behind why I started writing, the first place to begin is my opening post: This is me; let’s begin.
— Chris Pratt