Only 16 percent of companies think their software testing is efficient

A new survey of 401 tech professionals from Leapwork shows that only 16 percent of businesses think their current testing practices are efficient.

Interestingly, AI could be making this worse, although 85 percent of total respondents have integrated AI apps into tech stacks in the past year, most (68 percent) have experienced issues with their performance, accuracy, and reliability.

The lack of sufficient testing processes is having a detrimental impact on the usability of AI apps, which are becoming more and more widespread. For C-Suites, which accounted for half of the overall survey, this perception is even higher at 73 percent, compared to 62 percent for software engineering or technical leads, which made up the other half of the sample. This has made the need for thorough software testing greater than ever.

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"For all its advancements, AI has limitations, and I think people are coming around to that fact pretty quickly," says Robert Salesas, CTO at Leapwork. "The rapid automation enabled by AI can dramatically increase output, but without thorough testing, this could also lead to more software vulnerabilities, especially in untested applications. It makes sense that C-Suite executives would be especially sensitive to this because of the implications for customer experience and negative publicity. There's an opportunity here for cross-industry collaboration to ensure more testing tools are up to scratch for the challenges of the modern world where AI apps are more and more widespread."

The most common bugs in AI apps identified by respondents were integration failures (21 percent) and security vulnerabilities (23 percent). The three top challenges while trying to integrate AI into their software are seen as resistance to change within the organization (20 percent), inconsistent performance and reliability of AI applications (19 percent), and managing the rapid pace of AI advancements and updates (19 percent).

It's no surprise then that 77 percent now see testing of AI as essential, but notable gaps exist in testing resources and practices. Nearly a quarter of organizations (24 percent) do not have a dedicated team or individual responsible for testing AI apps, and over a quarter (26 percent) do not have a commercial testing platform. Nearly a third (30 percent) believe their current testing processes cannot ensure reliable AI apps.

You can get the full report from the Leapwork site.

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