Test Automation Meetup – July 2025

Hey, my name is Bas Dijkstra, and I am an independent test automation consultant and trainer.

I have been active in the test automation field for some 18 years now, and have worked on software testing and automation solutions across a wide range of programming languages, frameworks and technology stacks.

I’ve delivered test automation training to dozens of companies and hundreds of conference attendees in the Netherlands as well as abroad, to excellent reviews.

You can find a complete overview of my professional life on my LinkedIn profile. If you want to get in touch, please use the contact form on this site, or email me at bas@ontestautomation.com.

I’m also the developer of RestAssured.Net, a library that is meant to make writing tests for HTTP APIs in C# a breeze.

I live in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, together with my wife and two sons. When I am not at work, I like to go outside for a long bike ride, or to sit down and play a game of chess or read a good book.

Alex ZAP is the visionary Founder & CEO of ZAPTEST, a global leader in full-stack software automation powered by AI. With a career spanning over 20 years, Alex has been at the forefront of test automation innovation—pioneering methodologies and technologies that have reshaped how enterprises approach quality assurance and digital transformation.

Under Alex’s leadership, ZAPTEST has introduced groundbreaking capabilities such as 1SCRIPT cross-platform automation, AI Copilot, and the industry-defining 1CLICK Automation—all designed to empower teams to automate any application on any platform with unparalleled efficiency. His approach focuses not just on tools, but on end-to-end solutions that merge software testing, RPA, and intelligent planning into one seamless experience.

A passionate advocate for eliminating repetitive work and maximizing ROI, Alex believes that if a process can be done manually, it must be automated. With ZAPTEST, he’s delivering on that promise—helping customers achieve up to 10X returns while redefining the future of software automation through AI.

With over 20 years of experience in QA automation, I am a passionate and skilled leader who can design, implement, and manage effective and efficient testing solutions for various domains and technologies. I have a proven track record of delivering high-quality results, reducing costs, and increasing productivity for my clients and employers.

As a Quality Assurance Manager at FreightVerify Inc, I managed a team of 13 SDETs on 1300+ test suites, reviewed and approved GitLab merge requests, provided historical progress reports in Allure, tracked projects and issues in Jira, performed candidate tech interviews, and achieved a quick win of nightly execution of four suites in three environments. Previously, as a Lead Software Test Engineer at Guaranteed Rate, I managed five automation projects with seven SDET resources using a common JavaScript WebdriverIO test framework, optimized manual testers setup time with an RPA custom loan creation tool, and accelerated late night production release with testRigor, a no-code testing tool that enabled me to write tests in plain English and find multiple defects in real time.

I am also an active and recognized contributor to the QA community, as a host and speaker of ZappleTech Test Automation Meetups, a game master of the British Computer Society’s Bug Bash, an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, a conference speaker at Automation Guild and other events, an instructor at the International Institute for Software Testing, and a runner up of the HP White Paper Award Contest for writing a paper on the hidden ROI of automated software testing. I am always eager to learn new skills, share my knowledge, and collaborate with other professionals in the field.