Why AI-native Testing Redefines Quality? Featuring Alex Martins

The AI mandate is real. Boards and executives are demanding that software organizations move faster, embrace AI, and deliver without breaking trust. Development velocity is accelerating at machine speed, but testing has not kept up. The question every QA leader faces today is simple: will quality keep pace, or will it become the bottleneck?

This is where the shift from automation to AI-native testing comes in. Traditional test automation, whether writing scripts, recording steps, or dragging components, was a huge leap forward in its day. But let’s be honest: it is still humans doing the heavy lifting. It is automation, not intelligence.

AI changes that equation. AI-native testing does not just run what humans script. It generates coverage dynamically, adapts to changes in real time, and aligns testing with what actually matters: how your users, human or AI agents, interact with your application.

Scripts are busywork. Intelligence is strategy.

Traditional automation is human-driven. Someone writes a script, records a flow, or drags and drops components. Machines then execute exactly what they’re told. Think about it: humans manually creating automation. That’s not innovation. That’s busywork.

AI-driven testing flips the model. Instead of brittle scripts, AI observes real user behavior and generates tests automatically. It adapts as your app changes and flags new journeys worth testing.

This redefines QA. No more chasing maintenance. No more coverage gaps. AI-powered testing delivers living coverage that evolves with your product.

At Quality Horizon this season, we're discussing exactly that. More specifically:
🎯 How AI can become a co-tester
🎯 The role of human-in-the-loop
🎯 Guardrails to keep teams fast, agile, and confident

You can watch recordings of previous seasons there that will help you keep up with the AI mandates in your organization. Save your spot here: https://katalon.com/webinars/quality-horizon

Reality beats the “happy path”

Back in my product management days, we often built and tested only the “happy path.” But reality rarely matched the script. Users took unexpected turns, uncovered alternate flows, or ignored features entirely.

TrueTest captures what users actually do. It maps real journeys and reveals blind spots you never anticipated. QA teams can then align coverage with what truly matters to customers. And those insights don’t just help QA, they influence product roadmaps and business priorities.

AI isn’t magic.

Simply dropping an AI tool into a team rarely works. Testers cling to old habits because they don’t trust the output.

The fix comes down to integration and trust. Integration means embedding AI into the workflows testers already use. Trust comes from enablement. Show testers how AI works, what inputs it uses, and how to validate results. When they understand it, AI stops being a black box and starts being a partner.

Incremental adoption is key. Rip-and-replace hype fails. Incremental wins stick.

Testing for agents, not just humans

Here’s the next frontier: AI agents. We’ve already seen it firsthand. Some of our webinar registrations came through ChatGPT, not people. Agents now book flights, shop online, and navigate applications differently than humans.

If you only test human flows, you’re blind to agent flows. And every failed agent interaction means lost revenue.

TrueTest closes that gap by capturing both human and agent behavior, then generating tests for each. Agent traffic is already becoming a meaningful share of usage. This isn’t a future problem. It’s here.

Testing what really matters

Code coverage looks good on a dashboard, but it doesn’t guarantee quality. You can hit 100 percent code coverage and still ship bugs. Coverage isn’t about lines of code, it’s about user experience.

AI-native testing blends requirements coverage, user journey coverage, and code-level checks where they add value. That’s the coverage that protects your business.

The takeaway

If you’re a QA leader, you don’t need to overhaul everything tomorrow. Start with high-traffic flows. Compare AI-generated tests against your scripts. Invest in training. Share user insights with product teams. And yes, start testing for agents.

AI-driven testing is not hype. It’s practical intelligence. It transforms QA from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage. The future of quality isn’t scripts. It’s intelligence. And it’s happening now.