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

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.


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.


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
Keynote
Ard Kramer
Why mental power is essential for working with AI
Keynote
Marta Firlej
Behind the Scenes: A Software Tester’s Journey in Understanding the Business
SESSION SPEAKERS
Session
Anastasia Simou
AI-Generated Data: Guardians of Privacy or a Trojan Horse?
Session
Anaïs van Asselt
Feedback as Fertiliser: From Sht to Quality Transformation*
Session
Bart Knaack
The Darker Side of Testing
Session
Bryan Jones
Hit the Ground Running Testing and Assuring AI-Based Systems
Session
Burak Tuzlutaş
Exploring Chaos Engineering in Microservice Architectures
Session
Burcu Ergün
SPL Testing at Industrial Scale: Minimal Configuration Selection
Session
Davrondzhon Gafurov
Transforming Traditions in Testing: Treating Usability as a First-Class Citizen
Session
Elanur Coskun
Fusion Forward: Let AI Be Your Partner, Not Your Replacement
Session
Enes Akın
From Chaos to Control: Centralizing Test Automation
Session
Ethem Utku Aktaş
Exploring Chaos Engineering in Microservice Architectures
Session
Dr. Hasan Yükselten
Fluid Testing: Continuous Quality in Motion
Session
Hayrullah Öztürk
Surviving the Avalanche: Zero Defects at 8× Load
Session
Kari Kakkonen
Taking Action to Lead Software Testing
Session
Marko Rytkönen
Taking Action to Lead Software Testing
Session
Martijn Goossens
Putting the Q in DevEx
Session
Mesut Durukal
Using Mutation Testing to Expose Your Tests’ Hidden Weaknesses
Session
Nithin SS
Move Fast and Break Silos: The Product-Minded Tester
Session
Phil Royston
Old Dogs, New Tricks?
Session
Risko Ruus
Lessons Learned from AI-Powered Visual Reasoning
Session
Seda Yıldız
From Chaos to Control: Centralizing Test Automation
Session
Vitaly Sharovatov
Cost of Quality: Where QA Ethics Meets Economics
TUTORIAL SPEAKERS
Tutorial
Alex Cusmaru
Roll the Marbles! Not Only Good Architecture Helps Us to...
Tutorial
Almudena Vivanco González
Architecting for Resilience: Hands-on Chaos Engineering
Tutorial
Ard Kramer
The change game of quality
Tutorial
Kari Kakkonen
How to lead testing at the organizational level
Tutorial
Marko Rytkönen
How to lead testing at the organizational level
Tutorial
Razvan Vancea
Scratch to Smart: Building a Scalable Playwright Framework...
Tutorial
Rik Marselis
Amplified Prompt Crafting for Quality Engineers
Tutorial
Szilárd Széll
The Change Game of Quality
What happend in 2025?
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