Udeme Jalekun is a Quality Assurance leader, trainer, and advocate for building trust-driven digital products. With a background spanning fintech and social-impact platforms serving millions of users, she has built and scaled QA operations at organisations such as Interswitch and Kippa, helping teams move from reactive issue management to proactive quality engineering.
Beyond industry roles, Udeme is the Director of Professional Training at the Association of Nigerian Software Testers (ANST), where she has trained and mentored hundreds of QA professionals. Her work centres on preventive quality, automation strategy, and embedding user trust, accessibility, and reliability into software systems at scale—especially within emerging markets.
In this exclusive conversation, Udeme reflects on her transition into QA, the business cost of poor quality, the evolving role of AI in software testing, and why trust—not features—is the foundation of sustainable digital products.
You began your career in customer and technical support. What patterns did you start noticing that pushed you toward quality assurance?
I noticed a pattern of approach that was more reactive than proactive. What I mean is this: the customer and technical support teams are contacted only after an issue arises, and usually at that point, the customer is already aggrieved. I wanted to be part of the team that was not just tasked with managing the aggrieved client but preventing the issues from arising in the first place. This is why I chose to transition into QA.
Secondly, I did not see much career progression or growth in customer service, and I really wanted to gain technical skills and knowledge, even though I did not have a computer science background. So this transition opened me to learning and growth opportunities, providing both technical challenges and opportunities to solve them.
You’ve said over 70% of production issues were preventable. What did seeing that up close change about how you view software development?
Software development has greatly changed since I first transitioned. We have moved through phases of automation to AI-augmented development, and with these changes have come a morphing of the problem. While in the past the pace of development was a major challenge, with AI, the question of quality has also shifted from just functionality and test coverage to data integrity and human-centred analysis.
Up close, I learned that requirements are great guides but not the defining boundary for testing. I learned that functionality was not all there was to a great software product; things like performance, accessibility, stability, user journeys, visual appeal, and user experience were key. I also learned how to better appreciate the ‘randomness’ of a new user’s perception of a product, no assumptions, no prior knowledge, just exploratory curiosity.
I also learned how understanding customer personas and their problems can better sharpen a truly effective product, breaking down what ‘This product works’ means by different users (the non-tech savvy, the elderly, the young/fast-paced Gen Zs, the tech bro/sis, the c-suite professional, etc)
Was the transition into QA a deliberate career plan, or did it emerge from solving problems no one else was owning?
It was a deliberate career plan. I recall in one of my one-on-ones speaking with my manager about wanting to take on a more proactive, ‘techy’ role. At the time, I had not decided on QA and was still navigating the options available in tech. The decision to pick QA arose after I debugged a unique customer problem while working at EduTech and communicated the result to the development team. I did not know that the approach and steps I took at identifying the root cause of the issue were termed ‘debugging’ until the then QA Engineer mentioned it. That situation was the major reason I eventually picked QA Engineering, as it naturally resonated with my desire to be thorough, pay attention to details, and problem-solve.
You’ve worked across fintech and social-impact products serving millions of users. What does “quality” really mean at that scale?
Quality means accuracy in results/behaviour, stability/consistency/reliability, and speed. That is, a quality product is one that the customer delights in using because it does what it is supposed to do promptly, is easy to understand, and is always available with minimal downtime or failures.
How do functional and non-functional testing complement each other in systems handling money and trust?
Functionality tends to address much of the core of the developed product/service or system’s ability to solve a problem for users; non-functional testing, on the other hand, digs deeper to check for crucial elements like how safe the system is, whether it is usable by everyone (people with and without disabilities). Because financial products trade in high-risk assets (money and other valuable assets), it’s important that the systems built to support such valuable assets are transparent, reliable, and safe for users to trust and keep using.
Non-functional testing, such as load, security, visual regression, accessibility, etc., when combined with functionality, helps ascertain how scalable (can it be used by a significantly larger customer base), useful (is the system available to all use types and across all available devices), safe, and stable the financial product truly is.
Can you share a moment where QA directly protected revenue or prevented a major business failure?
I have seen QA help save revenue loss in so many ways. Once, a test revealed that users could enter negative amounts and still be credited for the input. Another time, a test revealed how a single request credited a user multiple times. Other examples include fraud detection through security flaws in authentication and authorisation, brute force attacks, missing features (discovered during regression runs) that meant revenue from that feature would have been completely lost, broken onboarding flows that would have impacted new user signups, and many more issues that QA testing helped spot either during development, before deployment, or post-deployment.
You’ve transformed QA operations at companies like Interswitch and Kippa. What’s usually broken first when QA isn’t taken seriously?
Customers’ trust in the product/service. There’s only one chance to give a first impression (for first-time users) and only so many second chances you can ask of returning customers. Customers lose trust and eventually seek alternatives when a software product does not consistently do what it promises.
How do you introduce automation in teams that are still struggling with basic testing discipline?
Ensure the team has a good foundation in manual testing. I first assess the teams’ manual testing capabilities, train them in areas where there is a knowledge gap, and infuse the lessons from the training into their OKRs so that they not only apply their learnings to the current product but also measure the impact they bring from its adoption. Then, based on the organisation’s automation needs, which depend on the stack, application architecture, the presence or absence of an automation suite, and the team’s budget, I can ease the team into automation through phased training and implementation sessions.
You’ve led and mentored teams of up to 16 people—what makes a great QA engineer beyond technical skill?
Effective communication and collaboration. A great QA Engineer understands that to be successful, they need to express themselves clearly, professionally, and with mutual respect. Great QA engineers know they are an asset to the team and work with developers and the product/business team to effectively represent customer interests. Excellent QAs are not at loggerheads with their developers but have mastered the art of firmly standing up for quality without compromising a good working relationship.
As Director of Professional Training at ANST, you’ve trained hundreds of QA professionals. What skill gap do you see most often in early-career testers?
A rush to learn tools without mastery of the fundamentals of software testing, and the onus is not entirely on them, as they seem to have dropped face in, to a system where manual testing roles are seldom advertised and almost all job ads are requesting a long list of tools and frameworks. There are fewer entry-level and junior roles, and less patience/opportunities for budding testers.
Why is it important for QA professionals to “think like owners” rather than executors?
Ownership shows that the QA has a stake in the product’s success or failure and doesn’t view the position as a job or a paycheck. Ownership will ensure thoroughness in gaining knowledge, researching opportunities for improvement, checking against competitors, and measuring the product’s growth and end-user satisfaction. For QA engineers, ownership means paying attention to the standard, process, and journey, not just the final result or destination.
What role does mentorship play in building sustainable tech ecosystems in Africa?
I think mentorship is needed now more than ever due to the rapid evolution of emerging AI technologies. Many new QAs don’t understand the progression and cannot appreciate the evolution of things, so foundational concepts are being obliterated.
Mentors have the hindsight and foresight to provide a rounded view of what a complete tester should look like, having both sufficient knowledge and skills to leverage emerging technologies. Mentors can provide significant guidance and share learnings that help new testers grasp concepts and lessons more quickly through real-life examples.
In this time of information overload, a mentor is crucial for testers to help sift out the noise and keep them grounded in what really matters, without stunting the drive and passion of new testers.
QA work is often invisible, and women in QA even more so. How have you navigated recognition and influence in your career?
Having gone through the unique challenges of multitasking and wearing many hats that come with being a woman, I firsthand understand the struggle of managing work-life balance as a wife, mother, and career woman, while still maintaining one’s own sense of self.
As a result of this understanding, I actively engage with and encourage other women and girls on the career path by providing advice, skill training, CV reviews, referrals, internship and learning opportunities whenever I can. I actively work with women-focused platforms such as Women in Software Testing, Women Coding Community, Herven MIT (Mothers in Test), The Coding Mum, and the Tech Eagle community.
How have you managed the expectations and challenges of balancing career growth, family responsibilities, and personal priorities?
I transitioned into QA not long after having my first child (or, rather, children). I had twins, and honestly, I didn’t consider my gender in all of this. I did what every professional does: kept learning, kept seeking opportunities to be better, and gave my voice to solving problems where I could.
I do acknowledge that there are significantly more expectations placed on married women than on men regarding work-life balance, especially on the home front. The expectation that she has it (family, children, faith, career or business, etc.) all covered is an illusion. There are days I have felt overwhelmed and insufficient, but what has helped me is creating a structure that deliberately factors in the key things that matter to me: Faith, Family, and Career.
I worked on creating a trusted support system that I can rely on for help. I have a very supportive husband, parents, and siblings who have been of great help over the years and have allowed me to continue working on my career while balancing other areas of life. Learning to delegate responsibility effectively so I can spend quality time with family and develop my career has been key to maintaining the strides I have made.
What systemic changes would help more women thrive and lead in technical quality roles?
Learn deep and wide. You need to be an authority in your field, which means you need to have both depth and knowledge of what is trending in your sector. Build domain knowledge and grow into specialised learning, but do not forget to keep up with emerging technologies.
Leverage mentors to achieve this in quick succession. Be open to opportunities, and confidently step into them even when afraid. I have occupied very scary positions and have learned that they are opportunities to stretch, and that they hold the growth that will unlock the next phase of your career. Finally, develop good people management skills. You need to be able to manage people effectively, as your career is directly or indirectly shaped by how well or poorly your relationships are.
How do you use your platform to reshape how QA is perceived within engineering teams?
I am a firm believer in upskilling and developing others, and across my leadership roles, I have ensured this by providing training and learning opportunities for team members, working through their skill levels, and guiding them with resources on what they need to know to move to their next learning phase.
Also, I actively mentor aspiring testers, newbies to tech, junior and mid-level testers across platforms such as ADPlist, Laddertech, Testify, Women Who Code, etc. I have equipped many testers who are currently thriving at different organisations, driving them toward professional development and growth. Testers have been trained to use new tools and frameworks, received guidance on career progression and promotions at work, and been taught clear strategies for measuring impact in their respective organisations. I also speak at events across different platforms on the importance of Software testing to the development of quality-first products and services.
Through community-focused engagements on platforms like The Bug Detective, Association of Nigerian Software Testers, Scandium Test Drive, Testers Quarters, etc. Emphasising the need for testers to participate and integrate in the development process and vocalising their multifaceted role as product, customer, and development champions representing real user needs and communicating technical decisions.
You’ve written and spoken about AI in software testing. What excites you most—and what concerns you?
The advent of AI reminds me of the shift that came with search engines, which made knowledge easier to access and organise. AI enhances, refines, and translates inputs into results. It can also do this more quickly, saving humans something we never seem to have enough of: time. But my concerns with AI centre on ethical use and accountability.
Just like data on the web, not everything is true, and with AI, the data is only as elaborate and accurate as the dataset it is trained on. My concern is chiefly with the impact of the lack of due diligence in verifying results against hallucinations, biases, and inconsistencies. Now more than ever, critical thinking, verification, and analysis are needed to test and validate AI outputs for correctness, safety, and consistency.
How should QA professionals adapt as AI automates more testing tasks?
Testers now more than ever need to be grounded in their understanding enough to spot hallucinations and inconsistencies. It only takes someone who knows what a noun is to spot when an incorrect definition or example is given for it.
That said, there’s a need for in-depth testing of AI models to achieve more accurate results. QA should view AI as any other tool that relies on their expertise and skill to deliver accurate results. The tool does not replace the tester, but can, through the guidance of the tester, improve efficiency
What advice would you give someone transitioning into QA from a non-traditional background?
Get a mentor. There is so much to learn and too many resources out there. A mentor will save you time (which you don’t have) wasted on trial and error, confusion, or cluelessness.
Learn and master the basics. Learn deep first, then spread out.
Take things a step at a time, learn and practice. Work on a project or two to show the practical implementation of your learnings. In this way, you build both a portfolio and a trail of your learnings, making it easy to track your growth.
Look out for opportunities, join communities, volunteer to apply your learning for impact
Finally, what does “building trust in software” mean to you, personally?
It means building a product or system that is always quick, reliable, stable, and enjoyable to use.
Thank you for talking to us
Thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure.
