Use of AI-powered software testing doubles in the last year
A new report shows that 60 percent of organizations use AI in the software testing process, compared to just 30 percent last year, but 80 percent lack in-house AI testing expertise.
The study from Applause, based on a global survey of more than 2,100 software development and testing professionals, finds 92 percent of organizations are finding it challenging to keep pace with rapidly changing requirements.
Using AI to develop test cases (70 percent) is most popular, followed by automating test scripts (55 percent) and analyzing results/recommending improvements (48 percent). Other use cases include test case prioritization, autonomous test execution/adaptation, finding gaps in coverage and self-healing test automation.
Customer satisfaction and customer sentiment/feedback are the top metrics for assessing software quality. In terms of testing types, user experience (UX) testing is the most popular at 68 percent. Usability testing (59 percent), which measures ease-of-use, and user acceptance testing or UAT (54 percent) are also preferred.
While a previous survey found that 42 percent of respondents only test at a single stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), this year just 15 percent limit testing to a single stage. Over half of organizations now address QA during the planning, design and maintenance phases of the SDLC. In addition, 91 percent of respondents report that their team conducts multiple types of functional tests, including performance testing, user experience (UX) testing, accessibility testing, payment testing and more.
“Software quality assurance has always been a moving target,” says Rob Mason, chief technology officer at Applause. “And, as our report reveals, development organizations are leaning more on generative and agentic AI solutions to drive QA efforts. To meet increasing user expectations while managing AI risks, it’s critical to assess and evaluate the tools, processes and capabilities we’re using for QA on an ongoing basis – before even thinking about testing the apps and websites themselves.”
You can get the full report from the Applause site.
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