QA or the Highway 2025 Overview

Highway 2025 Conference Overview

📅 Date Attended: June 27, 2025
📍 Location: The Ohio Union, Columbus, OH
🔗 Conference Website: QA or the Highway
🎯 Focus Areas: Software Quality Assurance, GenAI Testing, Prompt Engineering, Automation

📝 Summary

The QA or the Highway 2025 Conference was a dynamic, one-day gathering that brought together the brightest minds in software quality assurance. Held at The Ohio Union in Columbus, OH, it offered a sharp, experience-driven look at QA in the age of AI, automation, and distributed teams.

🔍 High-Level Summary

  • Practical focus: Speakers shared hands-on approaches and real-world applications of cutting-edge QA tools and strategies.
  • Timely topics: GenAI testing, prompt engineering, AI agent automation, and accessibility were front and center.
  • Diverse voices: From industry veterans like Rex Black and Tariq King to up-and-coming professionals, the lineup was as rich as it was insightful.
  • Community vibe: With breakfast, lunch, giveaways, and collaborative sessions, the atmosphere fostered connection as much as learning.

The conference didn’t just talk about the future of QA—it put it on stage, gave it a mic, and let attendees take home practical ways to meet it head-on. It was a blend of innovation, strategy, and camaraderie that left a lasting impression on everyone present.

🔑 Key Themes

  • GenAI Testing – Ensuring quality in unpredictable AI-powered applications
  • Shift-Left Testing – Using Cypress for component testing
  • Accessibility & Inclusivity – Making testing a team sport
  • AI Agents & Prompt Engineering – Automating and improving QA techniques
  • End-to-End Automation – Across web, desktop, and APIs
  • Remote Collaboration – Value-based frameworks for distributed QA teams
  • Quality Visibility – Reporting tools for C-suite alignment
  • Certification Debate – Rethinking QA standards and professional growth

More to Come

I’ll add more over the next few weeks, but just finished a big round of testing for an upcoming release, but for now you can check out QA or the Highway and maybe I’ll see you there next year.