ISTC 2026 – Preliminary Program

Shaping the Future of Software Quality

Welcome to the preliminary program overview for ISTC 2026 – Istanbul Software Testing Conference.

We are excited to share the confirmed content structure of ISTC 2026, including our accepted talks and hands-on tutorials. While the detailed agenda (including session times and room allocations) is still being finalized, the program content below represents the officially accepted sessions that will shape ISTC 2026.

🗓 Dates: May 21–22, 2026

📍 Location: Istanbul, Türkiye (Elite World Grand Küçükyalı Hotel)

🎓 Format: Tutorial Day + Conference Day

🌍 ISTQB Conference Network Member

All Tutorial Day workshops will be delivered in English. The majority of Conference Day sessions will be in English. Simultaneous translation (Turkish ↔ English) will be available throughout the Conference Day

Tutorial Day – May 21, 2026

The Tutorial Day is dedicated to deep, hands-on learning. These interactive workshops are designed to provide immediately applicable skills, practical frameworks, and real-world techniques that participants can take back to their teams.

Alex Cusmaru 🧑‍🏫

Roll the Marbles! Not Only Good Architecture Helps Us to Test Better Half Day
Almudena Vivanco González 🧑‍🏫

Architecting for Resilience: Hands-on Chaos Engineering Half Day
Ard Kramer & Szilard Szell

Ard Kramer
&

Szilard Szell
🧑‍🏫

The Change Game of Quality Full Day
Kari Kakkonen
&

Marko Rytkönen
🧑‍🏫

How to Lead Testing at the Organizational Level Full Day
Razvan Vancea 🧑‍🏫

Scratch to Smart: Building a Scalable Playwright Framework with AI Agents and MCP Server Half Day
Rik Marselis 🧑‍🏫

Amplified Prompt Crafting for Quality Engineers Half Day

Conference Day – May 22, 2026

The Conference Day brings together global thought leaders, experienced practitioners, and innovators to explore the future of software testing and quality engineering. Sessions span AI-driven testing, leadership, DevEx, ethics, architecture, and continuous quality practices.

Anastasia Simou

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

Feedback as Fertiliser: From Sht to Quality Transformation*
Ard Kramer

Why Mental Power Is Essential for Working with AI
Bart Knaack

The Darker Side of Testing
Burak Tuzlutaş
&

Ethem Utku Aktaş

Exploring Chaos Engineering in Microservice Architectures
Burcu Ergün

SPL Testing at Industrial Scale: Minimal Configuration Selection
Davrondzhon Gafurov

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

Anastasia Simou

Fusion Forward: Let AI Be Your Partner, Not Your Replacement
Dr. Hasan Yükselten

Fluid Testing: Continuous Quality in Motion
Hayrullah Öztürk

Surviving the Avalanche: Zero Defects at 8× Load
Hilal Rakıcı

Quality Engineering: From Tools to Leadership Decision
Kari Kakkonen
&

Marko Rytkönen

Taking Action to Lead Software Testing
Marta Firlej

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

Putting the Q in DevEx
Mesut Durukal

Using Mutation Testing to Expose Your Tests' Hidden Weaknesses
Phil Royston

Old Dogs, New Tricks?
Richard Seidl

Testing Is a People Business - Why Quality Fails Without Human Connection
Risko Ruus

Lessons Learned from AI-Powered Visual Reasoning
Seda Yıldız & Enes Akın

Seda Yıldız
&

Enes Akın

From Chaos to Control: Centralizing Test Automation
Vitaly Sharovatov

Cost of Quality: Where QA Ethics Meets Economics

Detailed Agenda Coming Soon

We are currently finalizing:

Session times and durations
Room and track assignments
Keynote placements and panel sequencing

The full conference agenda will be published very soon. The content above already reflects the confirmed program scope and speaker lineup for ISTC 2026.

Join ISTC 2026

ISTC 2026 brings together 400+ software testing and quality professionals from Türkiye, Europe, and beyond for two days of learning, inspiration, and meaningful connections.

View tickets & registration details

Where Testing Excellence Meets Innovation