Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
For Chris Meja this idea from Tolstoy is something he thinks about, as he flexes to the rapid rethink underway in the world of software testing.
And this instinct to adapt, to evolve, to “upgrade himself”, in his words, has underpinned his career.
It was in accountancy roles at large businesses like BT and Vodaphone where he first saw software engineers deliver change at scale.
“I then did a degree in electronic engineering,” he says. “I realised all electronics require software, so I stayed on and did another degree in software engineering.”
Based in Dublin at the time, Chris emerged from uni just as the Celtic Tiger was licking almost fatal wounds.
“I was attending interviews and employers were now looking for Master’s degrees,” he says. “It was very competitive.”
Knowing he couldn’t change the world, he continued to change himself.
“I then did a Master’s in project management part time.”
Even with four degrees, he worked for six months at HP for free to build his capacity.
His experience grew with senior software QA roles at TDS before moving to Massachusetts to work at machine learning specialists Ascend Robotics.
“I came to Belfast as it was cheaper to live here and I worked at Modern Democracy as a lead test engineer, which was a step toward test manager,” he says.
“That was an amazing experience. And yes, we got to see the results of elections early. It was very exciting.”
No, you don’t understand. You cannot test your own code – that would be like marking your own homework.
Chris Meja
Since joining Cranmore in 2022, Chris has evolved his test manager role, with the adoption of automation using Playwright.
“I learnt Playwright from scratch. Now I’m training the guys that come in as testers,” he says. “Automation means we can fix over 1,000 test cases with the click of a button – it’s amazing to see all those errors vanish.
Chris explains he’s “drawn to details”, and refuses to trust “what I see.”
“I like to look for gaps,” he says before adding that, when not in work, he reads newspapers with just as much diligence.
“I’ll sit and read the full newspaper, every word,” he explains. “Then I’ll set it down and read another, and then another.”
But there is creativity in his role too, with Chris telling us he offers optimisation ideas to the development teams.
“So you do some software development as well?” we ask. But he recoils.
“No, you don’t understand. You cannot test your own code – that would be like marking your own homework.”
What details then does he have for upcoming testers.
“Move into automation,” he says. “Soon only a small part of software design and testing will be manual.
“Software keeps evolving, so keep reading and upgrading your skills. AI is taking over – I’m already using AI a lot.”
Having already helped Cranmore meet the changing times, Chris believes the flux brought by AI is far from over.
“It’s a scary time for people in software,” he says. “The world is changing.” But whether AI brings war or peace, we know Chris is ready to change.
