How Do Tech Companies Handle QA?

In the world of software development, ensuring quality is an ongoing challenge. But how do companies actually do it in practice? The answer depends on the size, culture, and needs of each team. Here, we break down the different ways to approach Quality Assurance (QA), their pros and cons, and why keeping a focus on quality is always key.

QA Models: a variety of approaches

1. Dedicated Manual QA Teams

In many companies—especially those with formal processes or highly critical products—there’s a dedicated QA team.
These teams are typically made up of manual testers who:

• Test new features before releases
• Run test cases covering various scenarios
• Report bugs and help document any issues found

Manual testing is essential for catching problems that automated tests might miss, such as usability issues, visual bugs, or edge cases.

2. QA Automation: robots that test

Other organizations choose to automate much of their testing process.
A QA Automation team develops scripts and tools that run tests continuously:

• Validate that new changes don’t break the app (regression)
• Simulate critical and repetitive user flows
• Save time and help catch bugs early in the development cycle

Automation enables faster and more consistent testing—but it can’t fully replace the human eye.

3. Developers as quality owners

In small startups or agile teams, software engineers themselves are often responsible for QA.
That means:

• Writing unit and integration tests
• Doing thorough code reviews with an eye for quality and robustness
• Using controlled deploys, feature flags, and active monitoring

This approach promotes shared responsibility and can speed up delivery cycles, though it may lose depth if the team doesn’t make time for testing beyond what’s automated.

Manual testing: bug bashes and exploratory sessions

Even though automation is key for scaling, manual testing remains essential.
Activities like bug bashes (also called “bug hunts”, “test fests”, or “exploratory testing sessions”) gather the whole team to hunt for issues, think up unexpected scenarios, and make sure the real user experience is solid.

These sessions are great for:

• Catching complex or rare bugs
• Improving collaboration and communication across teams
• Fostering a culture of shared quality

What’s the best strategy?

There’s no single recipe for success.
A blend of manual testing, automation