Honoring #IconsOfQuality: Kristin Jackvony, SmartSense

To celebrate the relentless passion of testers, BrowserStack is honoring some of the icons in the testing space—those who push the industry forward by sharing their knowledge with the community at large through their thought leadership.

Great leaders in quality assurance don’t just build test suites; they build confident, curious, and collaborative teams. Kristin Jackvony, Principal QA Automation Engineer at SmartSense, has built her career on this principle. As an experienced manager, author, and speaker, she specializes in creating robust testing strategies for both new and legacy software. Kristin forever champions the power of human intellect and curiosity, making her a truly inspiring Icon of Quality.

We spoke with Kristin about the importance of questions and her journey from music to quality.

What are the most exciting aspects of your role as the Principal QA Automation Engineer at SmartSense?

The thing that excites me the most about my role at SmartSense is that I help set the testing strategy for all the software teams. It’s fun to solve test automation challenges and evaluate manual test plans to ensure that we’re providing the best possible test coverage.

What’s a testing trend/innovation that’s got you excited these days?

I’m so happy that software developers are recognizing the importance of testing. Writing unit tests is now standard practice, and developers are more comfortable working with testing tools like Cypress and Playwright.

What's your hot take on AI in testing?

My best use of AI is as a fancy search engine and auto-completion tool. I find it useful for brainstorming ideas like the title for my latest book (The Professional Software Tester: Finding Your Passion, Growing Your Skills, and Managing Your Career), and completing lines of code I’m writing, but it’s dangerous to rely on it too much. Firstly, AI coding tools will sometimes make up automated tests that use element selectors that don’t exist. Secondly, constant reliance on AI keeps people from doing their own thinking and problem-solving.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting their career in testing?

Never be afraid to ask questions! Many testers are afraid to ask about the technologies they are testing because they are fearful of looking ignorant. But asking questions is how we learn! There have been many times where I’ve asked a question in a meeting, and someone has come up to me later and told me that they had the same question but were too embarrassed to ask. Asking questions brings knowledge and clarity to the entire team, and also makes you look like a person who cares about the product and wants to learn and improve.

How do you keep up with all the new trends and tools in software testing?

I read content on LinkedIn and listen to podcasts, like Joe Colantonio’s great “TestGuild News” show. I also read blog posts, especially the compilation newsletters; those help find posts on many topics from many different writers.

What are the things you wish you knew about testing when you started your career?

I wish I knew that nobody knows everything, not even the most talented engineer. Everybody feels a bit out of their depth in one area or another. The important thing is to ask good questions, document what you are learning, and help each other.

Outside of the tech world, what’s a hobby or activity you’re really passionate about?

About a year ago, I took up playing guitar. Before I discovered software testing, I was a music teacher, piano instructor, and choir director. But after several years I burned out on making music. Recently I felt the urge to take it up again, so I decided playing the guitar would be a good choice. I love to play and sing, and I use it to unwind at the end of a long work day. Currently I’m learning John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”.

(Responses may have been edited for clarity.)