Brackenfell: Cape Town software professionals will gather at the Shoprite Group’s Home Office Studio on Thursday evening to examine how artificial intelligence, complex digital systems and controlled failure testing are changing the way companies protect the quality of their technology.
Cape Town’s software-testing community will meet in Brackenfell on Thursday evening for a technical programme focused on artificial intelligence, system resilience and the growing challenge of maintaining reliable software across increasingly complicated digital platforms.
The event is being hosted by specialist quality-assurance company Inspired Testing at the Shoprite Group’s Home Office Studio. It is expected to bring together software testers, quality engineers, developers, test leads, technology managers and other professionals responsible for ensuring that digital products work as intended before and after they are released.
Although software testing often happens behind the scenes, it plays a central role in banking, retail, health services, telecommunications, government platforms and online commerce. A failed software release can interrupt payments, expose personal information, damage business operations or prevent customers from using essential services.
The programme will examine how testing teams are adapting as businesses introduce artificial intelligence, cloud services, third-party platforms and large networks of connected applications. These systems are more difficult to test because a failure in one service can quickly affect several others.
Inspired Testing says the gathering is intended to encourage practical knowledge-sharing rather than present artificial intelligence as a simple replacement for people. The sessions will focus on how professionals are already using new tools, where traditional methods remain necessary and what controls companies need when introducing AI into quality-assurance work.
AI Changes The Testing Process
One of the main discussions will focus on the shift from conventional automation towards AI-native testing.
Willem Mouton, Quality Assurance Engineering and Testing Practice Lead at the Shoprite Group, will present a session on the lessons his team has learned while moving beyond automation-centred testing.
Traditional automation uses scripts and rules to repeat tests that would otherwise have to be performed manually. These systems can check whether buttons work, information is processed correctly or a programme responds as expected under defined conditions.
AI-native testing goes further by using artificial intelligence to assist with tasks such as generating test cases, identifying patterns in failed tests, predicting areas of risk and adapting tests as software changes.
Supporters believe this can help teams work faster and find problems earlier. However, AI-generated testing also creates new risks when systems produce incorrect results, overlook important scenarios or make decisions that cannot be clearly explained.
Mouton’s session will focus on the decisions, internal support and safeguards required when testing teams begin using AI more deeply. It will also examine what his team would approach differently if it were starting the process again.
That practical emphasis is important because many businesses are under pressure to adopt artificial intelligence without always having clear rules for checking whether the technology is accurate, secure and appropriate for the task.
Controlled Failure Can Strengthen Systems
The event will also explore chaos engineering, a testing method that deliberately introduces controlled failures into a system to examine how it responds.
Hennie Francis, an AWS Technical Account Manager at Silicon Overdrive, will lead a session titled Mayday! Monkeys on the Loose in Production!
Chaos engineering challenges the idea that the best way to protect a system is simply to prevent every possible failure. Instead, teams deliberately shut down services, interrupt connections or create other controlled disruptions to see whether the wider system can continue operating.
The approach is particularly relevant for companies that rely on cloud computing and distributed digital services. A customer transaction may pass through several applications, databases and outside providers before it is completed.
Even when each part works correctly on its own, unexpected problems can occur when those services interact. A controlled failure allows teams to observe how the system behaves, whether backup measures activate and how quickly services recover.
The method must be carefully planned because uncontrolled experiments can disrupt real users. Testing teams therefore need clear boundaries, monitoring systems and recovery plans before introducing deliberate faults into a live or production-like environment.
Francis is expected to argue that resilience comes not from assuming failure can always be avoided, but from designing systems that can withstand disruption and recover quickly.
Modern Platforms Are Harder To Test
The evening will end with a panel discussion on testing in the age of complex systems.
Inspired Testing Chief Technology Officer Leon Lodewyks will facilitate the discussion with Mouton, Francis and Jéhan Coetzee, the company’s Head of Technology and Innovation.
The panel will examine how teams can confidently release software when modern platforms depend on cloud services, application programming interfaces, older systems and technology supplied by outside companies.
A business may fully test its own software but still experience a breakdown because a payment gateway, identity-verification service, mapping system or other external platform fails.
This creates a difficult problem for quality teams. They must test the parts they control while also preparing for failures in services they cannot fully reproduce or inspect.
The discussion is expected to cover the limitations of traditional testing, the role of monitoring after release and the need for development, operations and quality teams to work more closely together.
It may also examine the changing role of software testers. As more routine checks become automated, professionals are increasingly expected to understand business risk, system architecture, user behaviour and the ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Human Oversight Remains Important
The growing use of artificial intelligence has prompted repeated concern that testing jobs may disappear. Industry practitioners, however, increasingly describe the change as a shift in responsibilities rather than the complete removal of human testers.
AI tools can process large amounts of information and suggest tests more quickly than people. They cannot always understand the commercial, legal or human consequences of a software failure.
A system may technically complete a transaction while still confusing customers, excluding users with disabilities or applying a business rule unfairly. Identifying those problems requires judgement, context and an understanding of how people actually use technology.
Human oversight is also necessary when evaluating the outputs produced by AI. A testing tool may confidently generate incorrect assumptions or fail to account for rare but serious risks.
Companies therefore need staff who can question the technology, check its conclusions and decide when automated results should not be trusted.
Nadine du Toit, Managing Executive at Inspired Testing, said software testing involves more than following a development cycle and requires continuous learning, adaptation and improvement.
She said sharing practical experience could help strengthen the quality-assurance profession as the technology landscape changes.
Cape Town’s Technology Community Continues To Grow
The gathering also reflects Cape Town’s expanding software and digital-services sector.
The city supports a broad technology ecosystem that includes financial technology, online retail, software development, cloud services, cybersecurity and international business-process operations.
Large organisations such as Shoprite Group maintain substantial internal technology teams, while specialist firms provide services to local and overseas clients.
Community events give professionals a chance to compare approaches and learn from failures that companies may not normally discuss publicly. They can also help younger professionals understand the skills required for roles in testing and quality engineering.
The event is open to experienced testers as well as people at earlier stages of their careers. The organisers say quality engineers, automation specialists, performance engineers, developers and technology managers may also find the discussions useful.
Attendance is free, but registration is required and space is limited.
The Cape Town Software Testing Community Meet-up takes place on Thursday evening at the Shoprite Group’s Home Office Studio in Brackenfell. The programme is scheduled to run from 18:00 until 21:00, although organiser information shared through social media indicates that networking may begin earlier.
A related event will take place in Durban on 25th June, followed by further gatherings in Centurion and Johannesburg in September.
Q&A
What is the Cape Town software-testing event about?
The event focuses on AI-native testing, chaos engineering, system resilience and the challenge of testing complex digital platforms.
Where is the event being held?
It takes place at the Shoprite Group’s Home Office Studio in Brackenfell.
When does the event take place?
The programme is scheduled for Thursday evening, from 18:00 to 21:00.
Who is speaking at the event?
Speakers and panellists include Willem Mouton from Shoprite Group, Hennie Francis from Silicon Overdrive, and Leon Lodewyks and Jéhan Coetzee from Inspired Testing.
What is AI-native software testing?
It refers to testing approaches that use artificial intelligence throughout the quality-assurance process, including generating tests, analysing failures and identifying possible risks.
What is chaos engineering?
Chaos engineering involves deliberately introducing controlled failures into a system to test whether it remains stable and can recover from disruption.
Is the event free?
Yes. Attendance is free, but registration is required and available space is limited.
Who can attend?
The event is aimed at software testers, developers, quality engineers, automation specialists, test leads, managers and other technology professionals.
SAI Search Summary
Cape Town software professionals will meet in Brackenfell to discuss how artificial intelligence and complex digital systems are changing software testing. The Inspired Testing event at Shoprite Group’s Home Office Studio will include sessions on AI-native testing, chaos engineering and resilience. Speakers from Shoprite Group, Silicon Overdrive and Inspired Testing will share practical lessons on adopting AI, introducing controlled system failures and testing platforms that depend on cloud services, external providers and older technology. The free event is aimed at testers, developers, quality engineers and technology leaders and runs on Thursday evening.
Source: ITWeb – Issued by Inspired Testing; Inspired Testing – Nadine du Toit, Managing Executive; Shoprite Group – Willem Mouton, QA Engineering and Testing Practice Lead; Silicon Overdrive – Hennie Francis, AWS Technical Account Manager
