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Tech Effect

TestDevLab 34 Episodes Aug 12, 2026

TestDevLab's Tech Effect is a podcast where host Josh explores software engineering and tech innovation through conversations with diverse industry professionals. Covering testing, development, and emerging trends, each episode delivers insights valuable for both technical and business roles—ideal for anyone interested in technology's impact across industries.

Episodes

#39 Dennis Thisner (Rebtel): Code First, AI Second - Why Knowing the Basics Matters More Than Ever Aug 12, 2026 00:54:09 Season 2 Episode #20: Dennis Thisner quit his first job out of pride, called his mom to brag, and realized he had no plan. A friend's tip and some truly terrible bug reports later, he was a QA engineer. Ten years on, he's built quality processes from the ground up across gaming, enterprise SaaS, agency work, and now telecom at Rebtel.We explore what it takes to build QA where none exists,

#38 Fawzi Mesmar: A Burger King Booth to Award-Winning AAAs— 20+ Years in Game Design Aug 10, 2026 01:11:40 Season 2 Episode #19: Fawzi Mesmar wrote "I want to make games in Japan" in kindergarten. That compass took him across five countries and studios like King, DICE, and EA.We explore why leadership is servitude, why defining the problem matters more than judging the idea, and Creative Sobriety, his framework for understanding why thousands of people keep having the same ideas. Fawzi also s

#37 Vaidas Kavaliunas (CUJO AI): Test Inflation, Flaky Tests & How AI Won't Save Test Automation Jul 28, 2026 00:39:38 Season 2 Episode #18: The 2008 financial crisis forced Vaidas Kavaliunas to choose between switching to QA or losing his job. That decision launched a 17-year journey across fintech, insurance, gaming, and cybersecurity, each teaching him something different about quality. We explore what stays the same when you test across radically different domains, what makes a test automation framework succee

#36 Aleodor Tabarcea (Stripe): AI, Burnout, & Why Great Work Doesn't Speak for Itself Jul 24, 2026 01:05:04 Season 2 Episode #17: What happens when a kid whose family wanted him to become a priest falls in love with code and ends up managing engineering teams at one of the world's most respected fintech companies? Aleodor Tabarcea, Engineering Manager at Stripe, shares how curiosity, resilience through 23 failed interviews, and a willingness to burn out and learn from it shaped his approach to leade

#35 Luke Gill (Zego): The Hidden Complexity of Insurance Tech and What AI Makes Possible Jul 17, 2026 00:44:48 Season 2 Episode #16: What happens when a Flash developer with a passion for problem-solving ends up reshaping how an entire insurance company thinks about technology? Luke Gill, Head of Product and Technology at Zego, shares how curiosity, creativity, and a love for talking to customers led him to one of the most data-rich industries in tech.We explore why motor insurance demands a different stan

#34 Tsahi Levent-Levi (BlogGeek.me): The Hidden Infrastructure Behind Every Video Call You've Made Jun 3, 2026 00:54:48 Season 2 Episode #15: Most of us use Zoom, Google Meet, or similar tools every day without thinking about what is actually happening under the hood. Tsahi Levent-Levi, independent consultant and founder of BlogGeek.me, has spent 25 years working on exactly that - the technology that makes real-time communication work.We get into what WebRTC actually is, why building with it is harder than it looks

#33 Kinga Asbóth (YouTube): What Users Say vs What They Do - A Psychologist PM's Perspective Apr 21, 2026 00:45:33 Season 2 Episode #14: What happens when a trained psychologist takes on the fast-paced Tech Industry? Kinga, Product Manager at YouTube, shares how studying human behaviour shaped her approach to building products at global companies like Spotify and YouTube.Kinga also explains how her psychology background helps give her a deeper understanding of what users actually need versus what they say. How

#32 Boban Ljubinoski (Klarna): The "Vibe-Coding" Revolution & The New Technical Skills for PMs Mar 30, 2026 00:42:29 Season 2 Episode #13: What happens when your mother’s career advice, “Have you tried computers?”, leads to a decade-long journey through foodtech and fintech? Boban Ljubinoski, Senior Product Manager at Klarna, shares how he accidentally fell into tech and what he's learned navigating one of the most rapidly changing roles in the industry.We explore what the post-COVID AI boom did to team stru

#31 Fiona Ryder (Bonza Music): From Film School to Music Tech - Building for Creativity in the Age of AI Mar 9, 2026 00:43:58 Season 2 Episode #12: What happens when an entrepreneur with roots in film, music, and physics sets out to solve one of music tech's hardest problems? Fiona Ryder, Co-Founder and COO of Bonza Music, shares how decades of building companies across music, media, and broadcasting shaped her approach to creative collaboration.We explore why existing tools fail creative professionals, how spatial a

#30 Nikolaj Tolkačiov (Nord Security): We Are All Selfish: Game Theory, Trust, and Building Better QA Teams Feb 24, 2026 00:44:38 Season 2 Episode #11: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Nikolaj Tolkačiov. Nikolaj is an Engineering Manager at Nord Security, an Independent QA Consultant, and an Executive Board Member at LTSTQB with extensive experience in software quality assurance and engineering leadership.Join us as Nikolaj shares his unconventional journey from QA to leading engineering teams and the hard lessons lea

#29 Gunnar Brune (Tricolore Strategy): Beyond ChatGPT Hype & Building Real AI Value Feb 3, 2026 00:51:10 Season 2 Episode #10: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Gunnar Brune. Gunnar is a Business Strategy Consultant, Founder, and AI expert with over 2 decades of experience. He is the author of "AI Today" and founder of Tricolore strategy and Narrative Impact, a storytelling company for brands and organizations. Join us as Gunnar takes us through his journey from marketing consultant t

# 28 Uldis Tēraudkalns (NexPay, OkoRide): Leading Tech Innovation: Fintech, AI, & Beyond Jan 12, 2026 00:55:43 Season 2 Episode #9: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Uldis Tēraudkalns. Uldis has extensive experience in fintech and crypto, having worked on projects that merge cryptocurrency with traditional banking systems. He previously held management roles at Nexpay and is now building OkoRide, a ride-hailing fleet focused on maximizing car utilization through technology. Join us as Uldis takes us

# 27 Varun Singh (Daily): Building Real-Time Communication & The Future Of Voice-AI Dec 12, 2025 01:03:30 Season 2 Episode #8: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Dr. Varun Singh. Varun is the Chief Product Technology Officer at Daily, with over 2 decades of experience in software development. His career spans from hardware engineering on smartphone cameras to founding callstats.io, which was acquired by 8x8. Varun has contributed to WebRTC standards built into major browsers and now works at Dail

# 26 Danny Preussler (SoundCloud): From Android to Full Stack & Everything In-between Nov 24, 2025 00:48:46 Season 2 Episode #7: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Danny Preussler. Danny has over 25 years of experience in software development and is a full-stack engineer at SoundCloud. Which many people know as the online audio and music streaming platform that allows users to upload, share, and listen to music, podcasts, and DJ sets. Danny’s time in the software development scene has seen him jump

# 25 Pekka Pönkänen (Wolt): Maintaining Quality While Scaling: Wolt's Experience Oct 10, 2025 00:43:34 Season 2 Episode #6: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Pekka Pönkänen. Pekka has 10 years of experience in software testing and is the QA Competence Lead at Wolt. A Global, Helsinki-based technology company that has developed a local commerce platform that connects people looking to order food, groceries, and other goods. Pekka has been touring Europe, talking at tech conferences to explain

# 24 Chris Woods (Ex-BeReal, Operations VP at Prelude): Solving Problems For Fast-Growing Companies Aug 25, 2025 00:26:02 Season 2 Episode #5: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Chris Woods. Chris has over 16 years of experience in the delivery of global executive search & selection assignments for high-profile blue-chip clients, having worked for the likes of Santander, Vodafone, Saudi Aramco, Dell, Omio, and BeReal. He has also made the transition from Tech Talent Lead to VP of Operations at Prelude, a com

# 23 Ģirts Graudiņš (Ex-Twilio, Investor & Expert): Breaking Into US & Global Markets As A Startup Jul 25, 2025 00:47:37 Season 2 Episode #4: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Ģirts Graudiņš: A Latvian-American technology entrepreneur, who is an expert in building and running engineering teams at Silicon Valley startups as well as an active investor in the Baltic early-stage startup ecosystem - individually, as a Venture Partner at Change Ventures, and an Investment Committee member at BADideas.fund. Join us a

#22 Goda Go (AI Productivity Hub): The Value Of Data & AI Implementation For All May 14, 2025 00:46:40 Season 2 Episode #3: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Goda Go: An AI Advocate and founder of AI Productivity Hub. Goda is also a content creator on YouTube, reaching 3,4 million people globally. Join us as Goda takes us through her journey, discusses the triumphs and challenges of AI implementation, the importance and value of data, and how AI can help even the smallest business gain a comp

#21 Ursula Koski (AWS-CTO): Building AI models that work for everyone Apr 7, 2025 00:37:53 Season 2 Episode #2 :In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Ursula Koski: A technology leader with over 28 years of experience and the CTO for Nordics Partners at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Join us as Ursula takes us through her journey and offers insights into AI and how it can be used to enhance digital accessibility.👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates on future epis

Tech Effect - Trailer Mar 27, 2025 00:00:23 TestDevLab's Tech Effect is a podcast where host Josh explores software engineering and tech innovation through conversations with diverse industry professionals. Covering testing, development, and emerging trends, each episode delivers insights valuable for both technical and business roles—ideal for anyone interested in technology's impact across industries.

#20 Dan Tyre: Journeys & Lessons For Successful Products & Services Mar 26, 2025 00:37:07 Season 2 Episode #1: In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Dan Tyre: Angel investor, HubSpot veteran, & start-up trailblazer. With 46 years of experience under his belt, Dan takes us through his journey and the lessons he learned on what it takes to build quality products, develop winning teams, and get angel investor attention.👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates

#19 How to launch a Bank? The Technical Journey of INDEXO Bank - Gints Ozoliņš Oct 24, 2024 00:41:11 In this episode, we are joined by Gints Ozoliņš, the CTO of Indexo. Gints brings over 19 years of experience in IT management, having worked with major organizations like Tele2, Tieto and Cognizant. Now, as CTO of Indexo, he’s leading the development of innovative technologies behind Latvia’s newest bank. In today’s episode, we’ll dive into the technical challenges of launching a bank, the innovat

#18 CTO (Former Co-CEO), ISO Impact, and Work-Life Balance: A Glimpse into Mapon - Ingus Rūķis Oct 2, 2024 00:51:58 🤩 In this episode, we’re joined by Ingus Rūķis, CTO and former Co-CEO of Mapon, to discuss his career journey, the impact of ISO certifications on business growth, and the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. From his early days in Latvia’s leading social network to his leadership role at Mapon, Ingus shares valuable insights on navigating the tech industry and leading a fast-gro

#17 Product Quality and Marketing - Friends or Foes? - Vytis Bareika Aug 28, 2024 00:46:52 In this episode of Tech Effect, we explore the relationship between product quality and marketing strategies with Vytis Bareika, Founder of Defined Chase Digital Marketing Agency. Drawing from his extensive background in marketing and his journey from working in various agencies to launching his own company, Vytis shares his insights on how product quality and marketing can either support or under

#16 Competitive Intelligence: An Underrated Element to Market Dominance Jun 18, 2024 00:47:14 🤩 New tools and products are constantly entering the market, making competitive intelligence crucial for strategic planning to gain an advantage. From general research to deep dives into technological advancements, competitive intelligence encompasses it all. But how can you obtain even more critical data to pinpoint your direction? By leveraging QA and testing practices to gain technical insights

#15 Bluetooth Codecs: A Tester's Perspective Feb 6, 2024 00:55:54 Join us in this episode of Tech Effect as we dive into the world of Bluetooth codecs with Esam Ali-Halil from TestDevLab. We cover the essentials of Bluetooth technology, including codec basics, the impact of bandwidth, audio quality factors, and future trends. Perfect for tech enthusiasts and anyone interested in the science behind wireless audio. Tune in to demystify Bluetooth codecs and enhan

#14 Manual Testing of Audio/Video Software Nov 30, 2023 00:40:51 Our latest episode delves into the intricate world of manual testing for audio and video software quality. Learn from our expert tester - Edgars Mičulis, about the intricacies of manual audio & video testing, the significance of these methods over automated testing, and specific equipment and tools used in such testing. Tune in now and stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of software quality

#13 Ins and Outs of Test Leading - Kristaps Freimanis Sep 28, 2023 00:55:53 In the latest episode of our "Tech Effect" podcast, we explore effective test management and leadership. Tune in as our expert Kristaps Freimanis draws from experience to provide valuable insights on excelling as a test lead. 👉 Subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to receive updates on future episodes of "Tech Effect," where we bring you the latest news, tren

#12 The Future of OpenAI Features & Products - Mati Roy & Anete Dowling Jul 14, 2023 00:52:18 ⚡️ Welcome to the 12th episode of "Tech Effect"! In this episode, join us as we delve into the latest developments in the world of AI and uncover the inside scoop straight from an OpenAI Project Management Support Mati Roy and Anete Dowling, a Machine Learning Engineer at TestDevLab. 👉 Subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to receive updates on future episodes of "

#11 The Essence Of Accessibility Testing - Elīna Šiškeviča Jun 19, 2023 00:48:13 🎧 Join us for an eye-opening podcast as we dive into the world of software accessibility testing with the incredible Elīna Šiškeviča, Accessibility Testing Department Lead at TestDevLab! Discover why accessibility testing is so important and how it can transform user experiences while ensuring legal compliance. Get ready to explore various testing types tailored for diverse impairments and uncover

#10 Discussion with OpenAI: How ChatGPT changed the AI industry - Quan Nguyen May 16, 2023 01:23:39 🔥 Join us for an engaging discussion with Quan Nguyen, an AI expert from OpenAI & Alvaro Laserna Lopez, the Head of Research at TestDevLab, as Tech Effect explores ChatGPT's revolutionary impact on the AI industry! Discover how ChatGPT has transformed AI, paving the way for exciting advancements. Don't miss out! 🔍🎙️ WATCH TECH EFFECT ⁠YouTube⁠ LISTEN TO TECH EFFECT: ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ ⁠⁠App

#9 Automation for Flutter Apps - Kārlis Vējš Apr 6, 2023 00:39:36 Are you ready to automate your Flutter apps? In our latest podcast episode, joined by episode guest Kārlis Vējš, we discuss the ins and outs of automation for Flutter apps. We start with the basics of Flutter, including its architecture and benefits, before diving into the pros and cons of using one framework for multiple applications. We then explore the differences between automating native and

#8 How & Why to Switch to Engineering Management - Evgeny Kot Mar 15, 2023 01:05:33 As a manager, you work to help the company's culture and environment. When starting, don't be afraid to make mistakes. They're expected, but don't forget to focus on goals and customers and keep improving. Get more insight into engineering management and making the switch from a technical role to a management position in the IT field by tuning into the latest Tech Effect podcast episode with

#7 Cybersecurity Testing: The Key to Keeping Safe from Hackers Feb 2, 2023 00:53:23 This episode is all about software security and its testing. From SQL injections, DOS and DDOS attack penetration testing to server-side request forgery and other cybersecurity & penetration testing practices. Don't miss this informative episode with Agris Krusts and our host Adrian Miņins! Tune in now on your favorite podcast platform. Tech Effect is a podcast dedicated to software engineerin

#6 Load & Performance Testing - Alekss Ļitvīnovs Jan 18, 2023 00:43:20 This week, we sit down with Alekss Ļitvīnovs, an experienced software engineer and Quality Assurance Lead at Loadero. In this episode, we discuss the importance of software load and performance testing and how Loadero can help with testing scenarios and simulating participants. We also delve into the difference between load testing and stress testing and go over the various types of load testing.

#5 Software QA and Business Management in 2022 and 2023 - Ervins Grinfelds Dec 23, 2022 00:41:12 Tech Effect's holiday special episode is here! What does it mean to be a business leader? What are the dos and don'ts of the job? How was 2022 for software quality assurance providers? What will be the biggest challenges for IT companies in 2023? Welcome to the latest episode of Tech Effect! In this episode, we are joined by Ervins Grīnfelds, co-CEO of TestDevLab, a trusted software quality assura

#4 SDK - Edijs Gorbunovs Dec 7, 2022 00:27:28 In this Tech Effect episode, we're discussing the topic of SDK. Together with podcast host Adrians Miņins & episode guest Edijs Gorbunovs we talked about what makes a good SDK, how to create, maintain & test them, as well as their advantages, possibilities, disadvantages, and limits. See the links below to check it out! Tech Effect is a podcast dedicated to software engineering. Joined by

#3 Artificial Intelligence - Alvaro Laserna Lopez Nov 4, 2022 00:59:08 In this episode, we're talking about artificial intelligence together with podcast host Adrians Miņins and topic expert Alvaro Laserna Lopez. Alvaro has worked in the IT and research industry for several years, extending his expertise. Currently, Alvaro is working at TestDevLab as the Head of Research and Development. Artificial intelligence is a topic that's been gaining interest day by day, bein

#2 Project Management In the QA Industry - Roman Nikolayev Oct 6, 2022 00:35:59 In this episode, we're talking about project management in the software quality assurance industry together with podcast host Adrians Miņins and topic expert Roman Nikolayev. Romans has worked in the IT industry for several years, extending his expertise as a project manager. Currently, Romans is working at TestDevLab as an IT Project Manager. Project management is an essential part of any QA serv

#1 Audio & Video SQA Explained - Deniss Ločmelis Sep 1, 2022 00:31:20 It’s our first Tech Effect podcast episode and we're diving into the audio & video software quality testing field together with podcast host Adrians Miņins and topic expert Deniss Ločmelis. Deniss has worked in the SQA field for over 10 years, gaining vast experience and knowledge about the industry and leading some of the largest projects in TestDevLab. Audio & video software quality test

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