SOFTECAsia 2026 in Pictures

by | Sep 23, 2026

A full Conference Hall 1 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre as SOFTECAsia 2026 opens.
Contents hide
1 Day 1: three keynotes
2 The TDC 2.0 champions on stage
3 Day 1 afternoon: concurrent sessions, Kahoot and the closing panel
4 Between the sessions
5 Day 2: ten workshops, hands on

SOFTECAsia 2026 brought the software quality community to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 14 and 15 September, under the theme SQA Without Boundaries. Here are some of the moments from both days.

Conference Hall 1 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre before the doors opened, the stage screen lit.
Conference Hall 1, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, before the doors opened.

Day 1: three keynotes

The conference opened with Welcome Remarks by Puan Azizah Hamzah, Director of MSTB, followed by three keynotes:

  • Keynote 1: Dr. Klaudia Dussa-Zieger (President of ISTQB, Germany), “Testing in the Intelligence Era: How AI is Changing the Rules of Quality”
  • Keynote 2: Werner Henschelchen (Founder and CEO, GASQ, Germany), “Beyond the AI Hype: The Next Shift in Learning and Work”
  • Keynote 3: Tariq King (CEO, Test IO, USA), “Beyond Judgment Day: Testing Without Boundaries in the AI Era”
Dr. Klaudia Dussa-Zieger delivering Keynote 1 at SOFTECAsia 2026.
Keynote 1: Dr. Klaudia Dussa-Zieger, President of ISTQB.
A packed hall watching Keynote 2 at SOFTECAsia 2026, seen from the back of the room.
Keynote 2: Werner Henschelchen, Founder and CEO, GASQ, to a packed hall.
Tariq King at the lectern beneath the Beyond Judgment Day title slide, Keynote 3.
Keynote 3: Tariq King, CEO, Test IO.

The TDC 2.0 champions on stage

Before lunch, the top three teams of TDC 2.0, MSTB’s challenge for university testers, were honoured on the SOFTECAsia stage: Champion Shift 2 T.Left (UiTM Shah Alam), Runner Up 1 TestXcel (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) and Runner Up 2 Young & Broke (Sunway University). The finals themselves are in TDC 2.0 in pictures.

TDC 2.0 champions Shift 2 T.Left of UiTM Shah Alam holding their award on the SOFTECAsia 2026 stage.
TDC 2.0 champions Shift 2 T.Left (UiTM Shah Alam), honoured at the SOFTECAsia 2026 prize giving.

Day 1 afternoon: concurrent sessions, Kahoot and the closing panel

The afternoon ran two rounds of concurrent sessions in three rooms, with Nithin SS, Tomotaka Asagi, Vipin Jain, Pricilla Bilavendran, Paul Gerrard and Lalitkumar Bhamare. A Kahoot quiz followed, then the closing panel, “SQA Without Boundaries”, moderated by Nithin SS with Klaudia Dussa-Zieger, Tariq King, Lalitkumar Bhamare and Paul Gerrard.

Paul Gerrard, arm raised, presenting Concurrent Session 5 in Conference Hall 1.
Concurrent Session 5: Paul Gerrard, Gerrard Consulting.
Delegates smiling over their phones during the Kahoot quiz, a full hall behind them.
The Kahoot quiz brought the whole hall onto their phones.
The closing panel, SQA Without Boundaries: a moderator and four panellists on stage.
The closing panel: SQA Without Boundaries.
Klaudia Dussa-Zieger, Tariq King, Lalitkumar Bhamare, Paul Gerrard and Nithin SS on stage after the closing panel.
The closing panel: Klaudia Dussa-Zieger, Tariq King, Lalitkumar Bhamare and Paul Gerrard, moderated by Nithin SS.

Between the sessions

Delegates at the morning break buffet along the glass corridor, city greenery outside.
The morning break, along the glass corridor at KLCC.
Six SOFTECAsia 2026 speakers giving a thumbs up at the photo backdrop.
Six of our speakers at the photo backdrop during the afternoon break.

Day 2: ten workshops, hands on

Tuesday was for practice: ten workshops across five rooms, a morning and an afternoon session in each, with delegates working through the material at their own laptops.

A full workshop room of delegates working at their laptops on Day 2 of SOFTECAsia 2026.
Day 2, Workshop 5A: hands on with Tomotaka Asagi, AI-driven test automation.
Nithin SS leaning in at a delegate table during the Debugging Self-Advocacy workshop.
Day 2, Workshop 4A: Nithin SS, Debugging Self-Advocacy.
Delegates smiling over their laptops in the Playwright + AI workshop, MR306.
Day 2, Workshop 5B: Playwright + AI, with Pricilla Bilavendran.

Thank you to every delegate, speaker and partner who joined us in Kuala Lumpur. SOFTECAsia 2027 takes place on 7–8 September 2027 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre: register your interest.