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ISTC 2026: 𝗙𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 – Transforming Traditions in Testing Shaping the Future of Software Quality

Welcome to ISTC 2026Turkey’s premier software testing conference, where time-tested traditions fuse with cutting-edge innovations.

Building on ISTC 2025’s explosive success (350+ professionals, 20+ sessions, 6 hands-on workshops), join 400+ global innovators on May 21-22, 2026, in vibrant Istanbul.

Curated by Program Chair Tanja Vos (EuroSTAR 2025 Chair, TESTAR.org Lead), experience Tutorial Day (May 21) + Conference Day (May 22) – bridging research, industry, and AI-powered futures.

Program Chair of ISTC 2026

Professor of Software Engineering | Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain & Open Universiteit, The Netherlands

We are honored to have Professor Tanja Vos as our Program Chair for ISTC 2026. With over 25 years of experience in software testing research and education, Tanja brings exceptional expertise to curate a world-class program that bridges cutting-edge research with practical industry applications.

As Program Chair of EuroSTAR 2025, Tanja has demonstrated her ability to create compelling conference experiences. She leads the TESTAR.org open-source project for intelligent GUI testing and has pioneered the concept of Critical Testing Literacy (CTL) as a fundamental component of AI literacy.

Her passion for connecting research, industry, and education communities makes her the ideal architect for ISTC 2026’s program, ensuring our conference delivers both theoretical insights and practical solutions.

Tanja Vos
Chairman

Learn more about Tanja’s innovative approach in her TEDx talk.

Program Committee Members of ISTC 2026

Principal Quality Consultant at Sogeti and ISTC 2025

Rik Marselis

Rik Marselis is a Principal Quality Consultant at Sogeti Netherlands, with over 40 years in IT and 25 years specializing in quality engineering and testing. A dynamic presenter, trainer, author, and coach, he has empowered numerous organizations with practical tools and insights. Accredited in TMAP, ISTQB, and TPI, Rik co-authored “Quality for DevOps Teams” and “Testing in the Digital Age – AI Makes the Difference,” contributing significantly to www.TMAP.net.
Honored with the ISTQB Software Testing Excellence Award (2022) and EuroSTAR Testing Excellence Award (2023), Rik is a global speaker, having keynoted at ISTC 2024 and EuroSTAR eight times. As ISTC 2025 Program Chair, he leads a tutorial on Day 1 and delivers the opening keynote on Day 2, blending his GenAI expertise with hands-on quality engineering guidance.
Program Chair @ ISTC / Founder @ Padran Information Technologies

Okan Çakmak

Head of IT Governance and Quality Management @ KKB Kredi Kayıt Bürosu

Evrim Şen Kayıboğlu

Industrial engineer with an MBA degree , having over 20 years experience with record of success in banking/technology sector, 2 years as an AUDITOR, 19 years as a BUSINESS/SYSTEM ANALYST, PROJECT MANAGER and IT MANAGER.

Industrial engineer with an MBA degree , having over 20 years experience with record of success in banking/technology sector, 2 years as an AUDITOR, 19 years as a BUSINESS/SYSTEM ANALYST, PROJECT MANAGER and IT MANAGER.
Being Certified Business Analysis ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) by International Institute of Business Analysis is an evidence of depth-in knowledge on Business & System Analysis.

Being TOGAF® 9 Certified( The Open Group Arhitecture Framework) by Open Group is a validation of depth-in knowledge on Enterprise Architecture.
Being PMP® Certified by Project Management Institute is an evidence of depth-in knowledge on Project Management.

Test Director @ Aktif Bank

Hüseyin Erdem Oğuz

Test Director @ Koç Digital

Dr. Hasan Yükselten

Hasan works as a Test Manager at KocDigital, a leading IoT company in Turkey. He has more than 20 years of experience in the SW testing area in the fields of telecom, defense, IoT, and has managed many testing teams. He enjoys talking about the social aspect of testing and has spoken at many different testing conferences. He studied for a PhD in Philosophy of Technology.
In 2013, Hasan received the EuroSTAR Quality Star of the Year Award.
In 2014, Hasan's team received the TESTA Test Team of the Year Award.

Speakers

Meet the experts driving the future of software quality

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Ard Kramer Keynote

Ard Kramer

Why mental power is essential for working with AI

Marta Firlej Keynote

Marta Firlej

Behind the Scenes: A Software Tester’s Journey in Understanding the Business

SESSION SPEAKERS

Anastasia Simou Session

Anastasia Simou

AI-Generated Data: Guardians of Privacy or a Trojan Horse?

Anaïs van Asselt Session

Anaïs van Asselt

Feedback as Fertiliser: From Sht to Quality Transformation*

Bart Knaack Session

Bart Knaack

The Darker Side of Testing

Bart Knaack Session

Bryan Jones

Hit the Ground Running Testing and Assuring AI-Based Systems

Burak Tuzlutaş Session

Burak Tuzlutaş

Exploring Chaos Engineering in Microservice Architectures

Burcu Ergün Session

Burcu Ergün

SPL Testing at Industrial Scale: Minimal Configuration Selection

Davrondzhon Gafurov Session

Davrondzhon Gafurov

Transforming Traditions in Testing: Treating Usability as a First-Class Citizen

Elanur Coskun Session

Elanur Coskun

Fusion Forward: Let AI Be Your Partner, Not Your Replacement

Enes Akın Session

Enes Akın

From Chaos to Control: Centralizing Test Automation

Ethem Utku Aktaş Session

Ethem Utku Aktaş

Exploring Chaos Engineering in Microservice Architectures

Dr. Hasan Yükselten Session

Dr. Hasan Yükselten

Fluid Testing: Continuous Quality in Motion

Hayrullah Öztürk Session

Hayrullah Öztürk

Surviving the Avalanche: Zero Defects at 8× Load

Kari Kakkonen Session

Kari Kakkonen

Taking Action to Lead Software Testing

Marko Rytkönen Session

Marko Rytkönen

Taking Action to Lead Software Testing

Martijn Goossens Session

Martijn Goossens

Putting the Q in DevEx

Mesut Durukal Session

Mesut Durukal

Using Mutation Testing to Expose Your Tests’ Hidden Weaknesses

Nithin SS Session

Nithin SS

Move Fast and Break Silos: The Product-Minded Tester

Phil Royston Session

Phil Royston

Old Dogs, New Tricks?

Risko Ruus Session

Risko Ruus

Lessons Learned from AI-Powered Visual Reasoning

Seda Yıldız Session

Seda Yıldız

From Chaos to Control: Centralizing Test Automation

Vitaly Sharovatov Session

Vitaly Sharovatov

Cost of Quality: Where QA Ethics Meets Economics

TUTORIAL SPEAKERS

Alex Cusmaru Tutorial

Alex Cusmaru

Roll the Marbles! Not Only Good Architecture Helps Us to...

Almudena Vivanco Tutorial

Almudena Vivanco González

Architecting for Resilience: Hands-on Chaos Engineering

Ard Kramer Tutorial

Ard Kramer

The change game of quality

Kari Kakkonen Tutorial

Kari Kakkonen

How to lead testing at the organizational level

Marko Rytkönen Tutorial

Marko Rytkönen

How to lead testing at the organizational level

Razvan Vancea Tutorial

Razvan Vancea

Scratch to Smart: Building a Scalable Playwright Framework...

Rik Marselis Tutorial

Rik Marselis

Amplified Prompt Crafting for Quality Engineers

Szilárd Széll Tutorial

Szilárd Széll

The Change Game of Quality

What happend in 2025?

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