Headline

QA Manager | AI-Augmented Test Automation & Quality Engineering Leadership | Built QA Functions from Zero, Cut Release Defects ~70% | Scaling & Mentoring QA Teams | Selenium, JMeter, Burpsuite and Playwright

About

Quality doesn't have to be the thing that slows a release down. I've spent 13+ years proving it can be the thing that speeds one up. I'm a QA Manager at ANSR, currently leading AI-augmented test automation and quality engineering for a multi-product HRMS suite. My path here wasn't linear — I've worked across legacy Java/SOAP enterprise systems (IBM) through to modern AI-powered testing pipelines (ANSR), at companies including Pristyn Care, Ayko Digital, and IBM India, serving enterprise clients like Best Buy, McDonald's, ArcelorMittal, and Mercedes-Benz India. My work sits at the intersection of: 1. AI-augmented test automation and quality engineering 2. Release governance and quality-gate infrastructure 3. Building QA functions from zero and scaling teams 4. Enterprise client trust and technical escalation I don't just report defects — I've built the systems that catch them before they ship. At ANSR, I authored AI agent skills that cut test-case and automation-script generation time 94% and delivered ₹24L in cost savings. Earlier in my career, at Pristyn Care, I scaled a QA team from 3 to 15 engineers in 18 months and built a regression framework that took testing from 3 days to 6 hours. Across roles, I've built QA processes from scratch three separate times — because most orgs don't inherit a good one, someone has to build it. Beyond the technical work, I care about how teams get there. I've turned around underperforming engineers through structured coaching rather than replacing them, and I mentor QA engineers on both the craft and the confidence to challenge product requirements before they become production bugs. I'm looking to bring this same approach — AI-augmented quality engineering paired with hands-on team leadership — to organizations building enterprise-scale platforms, particularly in the GCC and quality-engineering leadership space.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

claude code

cursor

gemini

hugging face

langchain

langgraph

Work experience

Quality Assurance Manager at ANSR, Apr 2026 - Jul 2026 · 4 mos, Bengaluru, - Own QA operations for 4 of 7 products in ANSR's HRMS suite (client recruitment demand, post-hire HRMS, post-offer candidate engagement), directing AI-augmented manual + automated testing for full workflow coverage before every release. - Manage a 2-tier QA org: 2 Senior QA Engineers (direct reports) who run sprint-level test planning and mentor junior/contract engineers. - Primary technical escalation point for enterprise clients (Best Buy, McDonald's, ArcelorMittal) — resolved 80+ critical escalations, cutting customer-facing defects 70% and lifting adoption 25%. - Own vendor selection for a 6-month automation tooling contract; hold decision authority on testing tech (Playwright, Auriseg security partnership); input on hiring/budget planning. - Present QA policy and quality standards to VP of Products and Director of Engineering. - Built AI agent skills (ANSR's AI-augmented SDLC) that review PRDs/tech designs to flag gaps and generate test cases, then auto-generate and run Playwright scripts at pre-prod, logging bugs and issuing QA release notes. Impact: ₹24L cost savings (3 hires eliminated), 40% higher test coverage, execution time 8hrs → 45min (94% faster). - Orchestrated cross-team (Dev/DevOps/Product) release coordination: cut release cycle 4 weeks → 2 weeks (50% faster), improved stability 35% via 80% microservices API coverage (55% fewer prod issues), 90% security compliance via Auriseg. - Own production support across functional/API/integration layers — debugging via ELK, PostgreSQL/MongoDB, AWS S3, Linux; built New Relic dashboards from JIRA data for proactive issue triage.

Lead Automation Engineer at ANSR, Jun 2023 - Apr 2026 · 2 yrs 11 mos, New Delhi, 1. Delivered 50% reduction in testing cycles across 3 enterprise products through strategic Selenium automation, accelerating release velocity and reducing time-to-market 2. Designed scalable automation infrastructure using Selenium and Playwright with CI/CD integration, improving product stability by 35% while reducing manual testing overhead 3. Spearheaded security testing partnership with Auriseg, achieving 90% compliance with industry standards and mitigating vulnerabilities across all releases 4. Engineered streamlined release process reducing deliverable turnaround time by 50% from 4 weeks to 2 weeks 5. Established strategic vendor partnerships with TestVagrant to enhance automation capabilities and Aelum Consulting to streamline quality processes through ServiceNow integration

Lead QA Engineer at AYKO, Sep 2021 - Feb 2023 · 1 yr 6 mos, New Delhi, I successfully led QA initiatives that transformed testing processes and improved client satisfaction. • Created an automation environment using WebdriverIO with TypeScript, reducing testing efforts by 45%. • Established standardized QA processes, cutting project onboarding time from three weeks to one. • Achieved 100% SLA compliance for four high-profile clients through comprehensive test strategies.

Lead Quality Assurance Engineer at Pristyn Care, Dec 2019 - Aug 2021 · 1 yr 9 mos, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, 1. Spearheaded comprehensive quality management initiatives, establishing robust QA frameworks across multiple high-profile client projects 2. Successfully delivered zero-defect production launches for 4 clients including Mercedes Benz, maintaining brand reputation standards and ensuring flawless deployments 3. Achieved 45% reduction in testing effort through strategic WebdriverIO automation framework with TypeScript and Cucumber, accelerating release cycles 4. Architected CI/CD pipeline integration with automated testing triggers, reducing production bugs by 25% and enabling continuous quality validation

Software Engineer at IBM, Jan 2018 - Dec 2019 · 2 yrs, Bengaluru Area, India, As part of the India Software Labs team, I had the following contributions 1. Architected comprehensive test automation strategy using Selenium, Cucumber, and RestAssured, successfully automating 75+ functional and regression test cases to enhance testing coverage and reliability 2. Pioneered the organization's first Cypress automation framework with TypeScript, establishing foundational testing infrastructure and setting new standards for modern test automation practices 3. Delivered measurable quality improvements achieving 24% reduction in functional bugs within 3 months through strategic automation implementation and enhanced testing processes

QA Engineer at Autoninja, Apr 2016 - Jul 2017 · 1 yr 4 mos, Bengaluru, 1. Established robust quality assurance frameworks ensuring maximum product quality and compliance across all deliverables 2. Designed comprehensive QA program that maintained highest quality standards while optimizing testing processes for efficiency 3. Built automated testing system reducing testing time and costs for new product releases

Testing engineer at Infosys, Jul 2015 - Mar 2016 · 8 mo, Bangalore, Automated 32 test cases using HP UFT

System Analyst at Sonata Software, Jul 2013 - Jun 2015 · 1 y 11 mo, Bangalore, Automated 90 test cases using Selenium Java

Education

Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Information Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology

Bachelor of Technology (BTech), Infor, Mother's International School, Delhi

Public links

github: https://github.com/rahul-sharma4132