Judging Panel

Charlotte Semp

Director of Technology & Software Assurance

Smart DCC is the secure digital spine that connects the UK’s SMART Energy network. My team are responsible for ensuring the resilience of the smart energy network ensuring devices remain secure and up to date with the latest firmware and new features. DCC also provide bespoke testing services at our Manchester labs. This is the UK’s largest dedicated Smart Meter Testing facility, supporting on-site and remote testing. A highly professional team supports customers test components utilising Faraday and mesh cages in secure lab facilities, protecting IP for prototype testing. With 140 robotic arms, providing 24/7 testing utilising fully automated testing regression.

Philip Curran

Director of Quality

Philip founded and heads up the Quality function in ESW. ESW is an eCommerce & logistics company that partners with some of the world’s top retailers, winner of the Deloitte Fast 50 a record-breaking 3 years in a row. He initiated the quality strategy that has driven CI/CD adoption in ESW, has grown his team from a single functional QA to 40+ covering Functional, Performance, Automation, and UAT.

He has a transformational mindset to software quality and promotes a more holistic approach to it. Striving to instil the idea that quality is everyone’s responsibility as opposed to merely laying it at the feet of QA.

In pursuit of this goal, he has run a cross-company Excellence program to promote Excellence for the mind, body & soul.

Paul Kerrison

Director of Digital Engineering

Paul Kerrison is an avid technologist with over 20 years’ experience in software development and architecture, most recently building and leading award-winning technology teams for Dunelm and Travis Perkins. At Dunelm, he supports the Quality and Engineering chapters across multiple enterprise domains. He has a keen interest in the application of modern technologies and approaches, particularly with emerging tech and is a strong proponent of the devops mindset. He values innovative solutions to real problems, delivered in an iterative way that maximises learning, minimises waste and ensures successful outcomes.

Abhishek Vijayvargiya

Vice President of Quality Engineering

Quality Engineering Leader and Automation Architect with 16+ years of QA experience across banking, SaaS, and enterprise-scale domains. Proven expertise in designing and implementing automation frameworks, CI/CD pipelines, performance & security testing, and driving agile test leadership. Strong track record of leading global QA teams, accelerating release cycles, and leveraging AI-driven test optimization strategies. Technical strengths include Java, Selenium, RestAssured, Playwright, JMeter, Jenkins, Spring Boot, GitHub Copilot, and AI/ML.

Devender Sharma

Head of Engineering, Quality and AI excellence

Bio: Devender Sharma is a distinguished AI-driven Quality Engineering Leader with over 20 years of experience delivering excellence across software quality, automation, DevOps, and AI-integrated testing solutions. Recognized for spearheading digital transformation initiatives in fast-paced, global technology environments, Devender has consistently demonstrated an ability to lead scalable engineering practices, foster innovation, and drive quality as a strategic function.

Currently serving as the Automation and AI Operations Consultant Head at Procter & Gamble, Devender leads AI-driven automation strategies for the Pampers Club app, deployed across 20+ countries. His work involves streamlining testing, performance monitoring, and backend validation, significantly reducing manual testing effort and accelerating time-to-market. Through implementation of AI-powered mobile automation frameworks, predictive analytics, and CI/CD pipelines, he has improved product quality, user engagement, and backend resilience. His work in integrating real-time observability and anomaly detection has directly influenced operational efficiency and fraud prevention efforts across global markets.

Prior to this, as the Director and Head of Quality Engineering, Excellence, AI, and Operations at Plentific, Devender was instrumental in shaping the quality engineering roadmap for the company. He led over 25 engineers distributed across the UK, US, and EU regions, driving the shift toward Engineering Maturity and scalable quality processes. He established automated testing pipelines and implemented organization-wide quality metrics and strategic roadmaps, while mentoring global teams and embedding a culture of continuous improvement. His leadership in introducing AI into operations has become a benchmark initiative, unlocking new levels of efficiency and scalability across the engineering division.

At Babylon Health, Devender served as Engineering Manager – Quality Engineering & Excellence, leading global teams in advancing microservices-based quality practices. He managed quality efforts across domains and successfully built strategic quality initiatives that aligned engineering outputs with business goals. He also ensured regulatory alignment and provided technical coaching and support to diverse, international teams.

Earlier in his career, at RELX, he led quality assurance teams through complex enterprise projects, using modern frameworks like Cucumber, Selenium, Jenkins, and REST-assured. He defined and drove automation and performance testing strategies for large-scale applications, ensuring quality was embedded from unit to integration levels.

Devender also played a critical role at Sophos, where he worked in a dynamic Agile environment embedded within development teams, leading backend and frontend automation, performance testing, and test infrastructure management. His experience developing Python-based performance test rigs, building CI frameworks, and managing automation test environments across platforms added tremendous value to their product delivery pipeline.

Throughout his career, Devender has maintained a consistent focus on building technical excellence, managing geographically distributed teams, and embedding AI and automation into core engineering practices. His role at Aimia, working with major banking clients like Lloyds, TSB, RBS, and NatWest, showcased his strengths in building hybrid automation frameworks in both .NET and Java environments, managing large QA teams, and aligning test strategies with complex client requirements. He also ensured rigorous UAT, coordinated onshore/offshore resources, and worked directly with business stakeholders to define and validate user stories.

Devender’s foundational experience in automation began at QASource India, where he served as QA Lead and Automation Architect for major clients in healthcare, e-commerce, security, and identity management. There, he developed hybrid automation frameworks using C#.NET and Selenium, conducted complex integration and API testing, and mentored teams across the US and India. His security testing work, including vulnerability assessments using tools like Burp Suite, Arachni, and Backtrack, illustrates his breadth across QA domains beyond just functionality.

Technically, Devender is highly proficient in a broad range of programming and automation languages including Java, C++, Python, C#.NET, JavaScript, TypeScript, and PowerShell. He has deep experience with tools like Selenium, QTP, Appium, WebDriverIO, and REST-assured, and has developed frameworks across mobile, web, and backend systems. His expertise extends into areas like microservices testing, CI/CD using Jenkins and GitHub Actions, containerization with Docker and Kubernetes, and AI tooling using platforms like HuggingFace and custom ML pipelines.

As a strategic thinker and operational leader, Devender is also skilled in budget ownership, forecasting, and vendor management. He has served as a bridge between engineering and business, ensuring alignment with regulatory expectations, customer experience, and infrastructure efficiency.

Devender holds a Master’s degree in Computer Security and Forensics (with distinction) from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK, earned under a Dean’s Scholarship. His research covered topics such as cloud security, Linux file systems, and honeypot mechanisms. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Engineering with distinction from Kurukshetra University, India.

Over the years, Devender has built a reputation for mentoring future engineering leaders, conducting internal workshops, and fostering collaborative cultures in cross-functional environments. His ability to lead through influence, embed scalable processes, and leverage modern AI tools makes him a transformative figure in quality engineering.

He has made lasting contributions across various domains including banking, healthcare, e-commerce, education, loyalty, identity management, and cloud-based services. Whether it’s defining enterprise-wide testing standards, modernizing DevOps workflows, or implementing AI-powered observability, Devender brings vision, technical excellence, and executional discipline to every initiative he leads.

Hemanshu Chauhan

Director – QA

Bio: Bio coming soon.

Logi Krishnamoorthy

Logi Krishnamoorthy Head of Software and Quality Engineering Technology

Bio: Bio coming soon.

Stephen McCartney

Chief Architect for EMEA

Stephen is a hands-on CTO who has been solving technology challenges that matter for over 20 years, driving innovation and measurable commercial success in extensive global retail settings.   Currently leading the technology charge at Iceland Digital, the fastest-growing online grocery retailer, where Stephen has transformed the technology landscape through intelligent software-driven solutions that have simplified operations and created real business agility.

Stephen also advises several other boards on their technology challenges, future state architecture and product development.

Simon Robinson

Senior Director of Agile Training and Coaching

Simon is a highly accomplished Senior Technology Leader with over 27 years of experience driving successful digital transformations for global corporations and startups. His extensive portfolio spans multiple industries, demonstrating a consistent ability to navigate complex, technology-driven environments on an international scale. Simon is a recognized expert in Agile Coaching, Agile Delivery, AI, IT strategy, governance, risk management, and cybersecurity. He possesses in-depth knowledge of digital transformation, cloud computing, and emerging technologies, allowing him to deliver innovative solutions that align technology with business objectives. Renowned for his exceptional leadership and communication skills, Simon excels at engaging stakeholders and fostering collaborative environments. His track record showcases measurable business outcomes, achieved through strategic vision, technical excellence, and a commitment to innovation.

Ganesh Practoor

Head of Infrastructure Quality Engineering

Ganesh Practoor is an ardent software quality engineering professional with 22 years of diverse industry and technology expertise in Banking, Financial Trading, Insurance, Financial Crime Risk, and Telecommunication. He has successfully established and managed a multi-award-winning global centralised testing services function for delivering business outcomes across the organisation, improving quality, resilience, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Ganesh focuses on people, technology, process excellence, standards, strategy, governance, and risk management frameworks to drive sustainable organisational outcomes.

Sylvia Maeckelberghe

Senior Technology and Quality Engineering Leader

Sylvia Maeckelberghe is a senior Technology and Quality Engineering leader with 30+ years of experience across IT development, enterprise testing, and large-scale transformation. Her leadership spans IT Business Relationship Management, architecture-driven decision-making, QA strategy, and the modernization of testing organizations – evolving traditional QA into customer-first, automation-forward Quality Engineering.

Sylvia brings deep expertise in performance testing, business process validation, and data-centric assurance, enabling organizations to improve release confidence while accelerating delivery.

She is recognized for implementing shift-left practices, AI-enabled quality solutions, and test automation integrated into DevOps CI/CD pipelines, leveraging Agile and SAFe delivery models. With a structured, outcome-focused leadership style, Sylvia positions quality as a business enabler—balancing risk, customer experience, speed-to-market, and operational resilience, while ensuring data accuracy, integrity, traceability, and compliance across the lifecycle.