A common ethos (sometimes misdirected, often not) percolates corporate America: executives are out of touch with teams. They expect too much, and then provide too few resources to achieve predetermined goals. Not great.
Software testing and quality assurance are especially susceptible to this sentiment. Our latest research report, The 2026 Software Testing Vibe Check: Agentic AI Edition, surfaced this along with other valuable findings for software testing teams and leaders of any size. While the report primarily focuses on the impact and use of agentic AI, a leading stat sets the stage for a larger issue: 61% agree that top leaders don't understand what it takes to test software successfully.
Let that sink in. How can we expect leaders to make the correct decisions about big-ticket items like AI investment if they don’t understand the problem they’re trying to solve? This article provides concrete solutions to help you build deep trust and understanding of successful software testing so that you and your executive leadership can be on the same page.
Misalignment between leaders and teams has a rippling effect that can soon become existential. Current AI technology absolutely still requires a human in a loop because it messes up. A lot. Our research shows that nearly everyone has experienced a setback with AI.
But how do companies treat and view mistakes? Unfortunately, our research found that 60% of leaders say employees bear the brunt of blame when AI makes mistakes, not the AI providers or programmers. This creates a precarious environment where those closest to the technology shoulder disproportionate responsibility for its failures.
Solution #1: Start speaking the same language
If you’re a team lead reporting to an executive, you’ll want to reframe the conversation than if you were speaking to your team. Executives focus on budget, risk, revenue, and customer experience, not just bug counts and test cycles.
Stop reporting only on technical metrics (e.g., number of test cases run, pass/fail rate). Instead, consider creating dashboards that show:
Cost of Quality (CoQ): The expense of fixing defects in production vs. in the early stages ("Cost of a bug found late is 10x the cost of a bug found early").
Time-to-Market: How test automation and efficiency contribute to faster, more predictable releases.
Risk Reduction: Quantify the business risk prevented by testing (e.g., "Critical security vulnerabilities detected and resolved, preventing potential revenue loss of $___").
Customer Experience: Link testing directly to user-facing quality metrics (e.g., production defect density, negative app store reviews, or customer support ticket volume).
Focus on the "Why," Not the "How." When presenting to leadership, summarize the outcome and implications first. For example, instead of saying, "We finished regression testing on 400 cases," say, "Regression testing completed, ensuring zero high-severity defects will impact our critical e-commerce checkout flow this release."
Visual Communication: Executives love high-level, interactive dashboards and simple, visual reports (like infographics) that tell a clear story in minutes.
Solution #2: Get everyone involved early on
Early involvement in the feature planning phase—even before testing begins—is crucial. QA testers should attend early sprint and product planning meetings. This allows them to challenge requirements, identify ambiguous areas, and flag major risks before development starts, immediately demonstrating their value as proactive risk mitigators. This also allows any issues to be bubbled up to executives and leaders.
Quality assurance is not merely a final gate-check by one team, but an activity shared across the entire software development lifecycle (e.g., developers writing better unit tests, business analysts writing clearer stories). This elevates the importance of testing beyond the QA department. Executives should be present in early discussions to champion this cultural shift and ensure quality is embedded from the outset.
Solution #3: Educate often
Directly address the lack of executive knowledge head-on. You don’t have to delve into the minutiae of testing strategies but if there is no concerted effort to provide ongoing education and as much context as possible, the disconnect will likely only grow.
Consider creating "Testing 101 for the C-Suite.” Host short, high-level sessions for leadership that explain modern testing practices, like:
The most important difference between manual and automated testing.
The role of non-functional testing (performance, security, visual) in protecting the brand.
The strategic value of testing in an Agile/DevOps environment (incorporate the metrics outlined in the first solution).
Use analogies to everyday business risks or processes they already understand.
Show, Don't Just Tell (Demos): Demonstrate a failed test or a near-miss scenario and quickly contrast it with a smooth-running system, clearly linking the testing effort to the positive outcome. A quick demo of your automation suite running or a security scan identifying a vulnerability can be far more impactful than any spreadsheet could be.
Solution #4: Foster Collaborative Partnership
Work to build trust and a sense of shared ownership with executives and product managers.
Risk-Based Testing (RBT) Buy-in: Involve executives in defining which product areas carry the highest business risk (e.g., "The payment gateway," "User sign-up," etc.). That way QA aligns its work directly with executive concerns by focusing testing efforts on these high-priority areas first.
Celebrate Prevention (Publicly): When a strong testing process prevents a major outage or security breach, make sure the executive team is aware of the averted crisis and how the QA team's proactive work was the saving factor. This highlights the value of quality as a protective measure.
Takeaways
The disconnect between software testing teams and executives is a challenge that can be overcome through strategic communication, early involvement, education, and collaborative partnerships. By speaking the language of business, demonstrating value through metrics that matter to leadership, and fostering a culture of shared responsibility for quality, testing teams can build trust and ensure their critical work is understood and supported at the highest levels.
For a deeper dive into these findings and more, download the full research report, The 2026 Software Testing Vibe Check: Agentic AI Edition. Or join us for our upcoming Devops.com webinar where we'll further explore these insights and provide actionable strategies to bridge the executive-testing gap.
