Michaël Pilaeten
Michaël is the chair of the ISTQB Advanced work group, Product Owner of the ISTQB-CTFL 4.0 and ISTQB Agile Tester. I’m an accredited trainer for different ISTQB and IREB courses, an author and international keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
Breaking the system, helping to rebuild it, and providing advice and guidance on how to avoid problems. That’s me in a nutshell. With over 20 years of experience in software consultancy in a variety of environments, I have seen the best (and worst) in software development. I’m responsible for guiding consultants, partners, and customers on their personal and professional path towards excellence.
Michaël Pilaeten
Michaël is the chair of the ISTQB Advanced work group, Product Owner of the ISTQB-CTFL 4.0 and ISTQB Agile Tester. I’m an accredited trainer for different ISTQB and IREB courses, an author and international keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
Breaking the system, helping to rebuild it, and providing advice and guidance on how to avoid problems. That’s me in a nutshell. With over 20 years of experience in software consultancy in a variety of environments, I have seen the best (and worst) in software development. I’m responsible for guiding consultants, partners, and customers on their personal and professional path towards excellence.
Michaël Pilaeten
Michaël is the chair of the ISTQB Advanced work group, Product Owner of the ISTQB-CTFL 4.0 and ISTQB Agile Tester. I’m an accredited trainer for different ISTQB and IREB courses, an author and international keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
Breaking the system, helping to rebuild it, and providing advice and guidance on how to avoid problems. That’s me in a nutshell. With over 20 years of experience in software consultancy in a variety of environments, I have seen the best (and worst) in software development. I’m responsible for guiding consultants, partners, and customers on their personal and professional path towards excellence.
CALENDAR
Keynote
27 October
An Awkward Truth About Software Quality
Another framework. Another buzzword. Still buggy software. What really improves quality, and what’s just hype?
For decades, we’ve tried it all, Agile, DevSecOps, automation, UML, pair programming... and yet, software still breaks. In this honest and research-backed talk, Michaël shares what he’s learned after blueprinting countless organizations and digging deep into empirical studies on what actually works.
You’ll explore:
- Why popular solutions often disappoint;
- The missing role of scientific evidence in quality improvement decisions;
- Surprising truths about what boosts—or undermines—software quality.
If you’ve ever asked yourself “Why isn’t this working?”, this session will challenge assumptions and help you refocus on what truly matters.
Workshop Sessions
Full Day
26 October
Aligning business goals with a structured and actionable quality vision is essential. This workshop guides participants through the complete journey from defining a compelling quality vision to operationalizing it through strategic, tactical, and practical implementations.
Starting with the foundations - such as content scope, stakeholder engagement, and mission alignment - attendees will explore how to translate these high-level concepts into context-aware, adaptable quality strategies.
The session delves into crafting quality strategies that align with development and DevOps practices, incorporating elements like KPIs/OKRs, stakeholder influence, and strategic types suited for varying organizational contexts.
Calendar
Keynote
27 October
An Awkward Truth About Software Quality
Another framework. Another buzzword. Still buggy software. What really improves quality, and what’s just hype?
For decades, we’ve tried it all, Agile, DevSecOps, automation, UML, pair programming... and yet, software still breaks. In this honest and research-backed talk, Michaël shares what he’s learned after blueprinting countless organizations and digging deep into empirical studies on what actually works.
You’ll explore:
- Why popular solutions often disappoint;
- The missing role of scientific evidence in quality improvement decisions;
- Surprising truths about what boosts—or undermines—software quality.
If you’ve ever asked yourself “Why isn’t this working?”, this session will challenge assumptions and help you refocus on what truly matters.
Workshop Sessions
Full Day
26 October
Aligning business goals with a structured and actionable quality vision is essential. This workshop guides participants through the complete journey from defining a compelling quality vision to operationalizing it through strategic, tactical, and practical implementations.
Starting with the foundations - such as content scope, stakeholder engagement, and mission alignment - attendees will explore how to translate these high-level concepts into context-aware, adaptable quality strategies.
The session delves into crafting quality strategies that align with development and DevOps practices, incorporating elements like KPIs/OKRs, stakeholder influence, and strategic types suited for varying organizational contexts.
