Top 9 Most Influential Testers

The software testing industry is still a relatively small, close knit community which has acted as an incubator for some of the best minds in the IT industry. The experts below are just a few of the leading minds in the testing industry. Whether you are looking for a new blog to read or someone new to follow on twitter, the 9 influencers below are sure to inspire the next wave of young testers.

---

Richard Bradshaw

(@FriendlyTester) - Author and Director of the widely popular blog The Friendly Tester, with 10 years of testing experience, Richard definitely has an undying passion for software testing. Even though he claims to not be guru on his site, that title would not be waisted on this twitter loving friendly tester.

---

David Burns

(@AutomatedTester) - This author of two Selenium Books and creator of the blog The Automated Tester, David Burns is one serious test engineer. Anyone in the testing community has either seen David around or read one of his articles at some point. David's twitter feed is littered with hilarious memes and both testing and pop culture. This guys is worth the follow.

---

Dominik Dary

(@DominikDary) - When it comes to having a conversation about test automation and test engineering experts, Dominik's name is always going to be thrown out there. Dominik is the creator of Selendroid, the author of Hands on Mobile App Testing and still keeps up with his blog at dary.de. This guy is a testing powerhouse and someone you definitely need to be keeping up with.

---

Jim Evans

(@jimevansmusic) - Microsoft, Selenium, Saleforce, Jim Evans' resume is a full stack with over 20 years in IT and Testing experience. From open source testing to building out whole testing automation frameworks, Jim knows what to do, when to do it, the why and the how. Jim is a regular on twitter and always happy to engage in test talk with anyone asking questions, plus we hear he is a pretty good musician as well.

---

Dave Haeffner

(@TourDeDave) - If there was a Selenium Guidebook this guy would be the author. Oh wait, Dave is the author of The Selenium Guidebook as well as Elemental Selenium, his Selenium Tips Newsletter ready by thousands of industry professionals every week. Automated acceptance testing is definitely David's niche, but what we like most of all is his Arrgyle job description of "Helping people learn how to test software better."

---

Jason Huggins

(@Hugs) - Describing himself as an International (robot) Arms Dealer this Sauce Labs co-founder is leading the field in automated testing. If for not other reason than the sweet robot pics and videos he posts, you should be following Jason's Twitter feed. With experience in scaling automation and building out testing frameworks, Jason is an all around testing leader worth keeping your eye on.

---

Diego Lo Giudice

(@dlogiudice) - With a concentration in software testing, Diego might be the best example of an all around agile and devops expert. With 28 years in the field and as a Principal Analyst at Forrester Diego guides some of the worlds biggest Business Technology leaders on their IT transformations and application deployment methodologies. Be sure to check out Diego's CD and DevOps blog and follow him twitter for industry news.

---

Nathan Wilson

This Gartner Principal Research Analyst is living the Lean and Agile lifestyle, and he wants you to as well! The idea of true DevOps is probably as far-fetched as trying to define the term all together, but Nathan believe there is a way through automated and continuous integrated test techniques, and we agree. Keep up with this experienced lean tester on his blog at http://blogs.gartner.com/nathan-wilson/

---

Alan Richardson

(@eviltester) - Experienced software professional is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Alan Richardson. Authoring such books as "Selenium Simplified" and "Java For Testers", Alan is a true renaissance consultant in the testing industry. If you aren't catching one of Alan's keynotes soon be sure to check out his blog EvilTester and follow him on Twitter for constant webinar and article updates.