Tauranga Test Professionals Meetup February 2025

What do decentralised test automation, a practical implementation of AI in test case development, and managing user acceptance testing across multiple agencies on a shared platform all have in common?

Well – they were all the topics at our most recent Tauranga Test Professionals Meetup held at Bay of Plenty Regional Council on 27th February – and the topic of an AI-produced country and western song created to immortalise the evening

A Thriving Community of Testing Professionals

The Tauranga Software Testing Professional community is a special bunch of people. Our first meetup (dating back to 2019) set the scene for wide-ranging discussions, and the community not only survived but thrived through the Covid years. For our first meetup of 2025, we aimed to bring together a mix of presentations that would resonate with the diverse professionals in our group. And we succeeded.

Decentralised Test Automation – A Self-Service Portal

With all the recent conversations around the adoption of test automation, the focus has shifted to maintenance and execution—particularly in test teams still managing active workloads. Organisations are increasingly looking at ways to reduce the execution workload on their valuable testing teams. While scheduled execution is an option, handling out-of-cycle test execution requests—especially for generating essential test data—remains a challenge.

Berny of Zespri presented a solution: a test automation self-service portal (not a dashboard!) that enables authorised users to execute a range of automated tests with a simple click. His presentation included a live demonstration, insights into why the portal was necessary, and an overview of its architecture. As always, Berny’s session was informative and engaging. You can view his presentation here: [Link to Presentation PDF].

AI in Test Case Creation – A Practical Implementation

Our discussion on AI in software testing took a big leap forward. In a previous meetup, we explored AI's emerging role in testing—both in automating test creation and in the testing of AI-driven systems. Fast forward six months, and we had the privilege of Rodney from Tauranga City Council showcasing their implementation of AI-generated test scripts from use cases.

For organisations managing large numbers of test cases, leveraging AI in this way offers significant time, effort, and cost savings. Rodney from Tauranga City Council
walked us through how AI-assisted test creation was implemented, provided a real-world demonstration of the generated test cases, and discussed the level of review work required

A key highlight? Rodney also shared the cost-per-transaction breakdown of their AI implementation—an invaluable insight for those considering a similar approach. And to top it off, he introduced the AI-generated country and western song crafted just for the meetup! [Link to Presentation PDF].

Managing User Acceptance Testing Across Multiple Agencies

After two tech-heavy sessions, we shifted gears to address test planning challenges. Specifically, how to manage User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for a common application platform deployed across multiple agencies—each with slightly different requirements and processes.

Garry of Bay of Plenty Regional Council presented this as a problem statement, inviting attendees to contribute insights on structuring UAT efficiently. The goal? To reduce redundant testing across agencies while still addressing individual agency needs and mitigating deployment risks.

This interactive session sparked lively discussions, which carried on well into the post-presentation drinks and nibbles. Have thoughts on this topic? Check out Garry’s presentation and contribute to the conversation here: [Link to Presentation].

A Strong Start to 2025

Another fantastic Tauranga Test Professionals Meetup and a brilliant way to kick off the year! And yes – if you’re curious about the AI-generated meetup song, you can listen to it here: [Link to Meetup Song] 😊.

We sense this won’t be the last AI-created tune for our meetups!