AI Summary
5 min readWalmyr started his career as a manual tester in Brazil, got bored of repeating the same work, and taught himself to program so he could automate his own job. That decision set off a 21-year arc that eventually turned him into a quality advisor, educator, and entrepreneur—someone who now works to make himself unnecessary on the teams he joins. His story is a concrete example of the shift from specialist bottleneck to quality culture, and it offers practical lessons about how to make that transition stick.
The bottleneck that forced a change
Walmyr’s turning point came at a 20-person startup in Brazil. He was the second tester hired, and the first tester had been unable to take a vacation for two years because he was the only person who knew how to write automated tests. Walmyr trained under him, the senior tester finally took his vacation, and when he came back, Walmyr realized: if this guy leaves, I’ll be stuck the same way. So he decided to make himself unnecessary.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:21) **Introduction and Guest Background** - Alan welcomes Walmyr back to the show; Walmyr shares his 21-year career journey from manual tester to test automation and quality culture advocate.
- 2 (07:45) **Transition from Specialist to Quality Coach** - Walmyr describes his shift from being the sole automation expert to enabling the whole team to own quality.
- 3 (11:51) **Career Moves and the Courage to Leave** - Walmyr recounts moving from Brazil to Norway, then the Netherlands, and finally Spain, and the factors that drove each move.
- 4 (17:20) **The Tipping Point for Leaving a Job** - Walmyr details the specific reasons he walked away from a role on day one.
- 5 (20:48) **Current Role: Senior QA Engineer / QA Advisor** - Walmyr describes his dual role at a Barcelona company, where he is proving a new quality approach before scaling it.
- 6 (26:56) **Transitioning Colleagues to Quality Assistance** - Walmyr reflects on helping other QAs adopt a coaching mindset at a previous company.
- 7 (30:23) **Test Design Master Class and 14 Principles** - Walmyr explains his practical approach to teaching test design, inspired by John Ousterhout's "A Philosophy of Software Design."
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Show Notes
Summary
In this episode of the AB Testing Podcast, host Spy welcomes back Walmyr, a seasoned QA engineer and educator, to discuss his journey in quality assurance, the importance of quality culture in software development, and the transition to agile environments. Walmyr shares insights on his experiences with test automation, the significance of effective test design, and the challenges of navigating job changes and company culture. The conversation also touches on personal growth, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and the impact of remote work on team dynamics.
Walmyr emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and knowledge sharing in the tech industry, making this episode a valuable resource for anyone interested in quality assurance and software development.
More on Walmyr here: https://walmyr.dev/
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