Riaan Roos, Senior Solutions Consultant, Inspired Testing
30-year IT professional brings extensive expertise in emerging technologies and agile methodologies
Inspired Testing is pleased to announce the appointment of Riaan Roos as Senior Solutions Consultant, bringing three decades of IT industry experience to the company's growing team of technology specialists.
Roos's appointment reinforces Inspired Testing's commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions and mentorship in an era of rapid technological transformation.
In his new role, Roos will support the business across multiple critical areas, including resolving complex technical challenges faced by consultants working with clients, contributing to technical presales and sales presentations, and leading internal projects focused on emerging technologies. His responsibilities also encompass executing proof-of-concept (POC) implementations and establishing consulting teams to support client delivery.
"The role for me encompasses all the different aspects of supporting the business to solve difficult technical problems," explains Roos. " Our consultants come back to us when they need help resolving technical issues on site. Most importantly, by continuously asking what’s next, we're running internal projects where we experiment with bleeding-edge tech to keep the business relevant into the future."
Roos brings a wealth of experience that spans the evolution of modern IT, from the early Novell and IBM network management days through to contemporary full-stack development. Over the past 15-17 years, he has concentrated on a distinctive philosophy: writing better software means writing less code.
"The only way to do that effectively is by defining the problem well and then writing suitable tests – and then importantly, writing just enough code to satisfy the tests," he notes. "The way you write less code is by having well-defined test cases before you start writing code."
Having worked for various IT companies and owned his own businesses, Roos most recently served at a large international software testing organisation. However, it was Inspired Testing that offered the opportunity and scope he sought at this stage of his career.
"I reached a point in my career where the opportunities to do what truly inspired me were no longer possible at my previous company," says Roos. "Inspired Testing’s value of exercising collective and reflective wisdom gave me the scope to share knowledge, collaborate, and continue growing alongside others."
Mentorship is particularly important to Roos, who values the platform Inspired Testing provides to nurture emerging talent. "Inspired Testing gives me exposure to young, up-and-coming professionals in internship programmes," he explains. "When you’re teaching others, you never stop learning yourself. I love gathering and curating information, and I dedicate time every day to doing that."
Roos views the current AI revolution through the lens of his extensive experience with technological disruption.
"What's happening right now in the IT industry is the wheel has turned again. With the advent of what generative AI is doing in terms of how we develop systems and software and how this affects people's jobs, we've brought fire into the cave again, and so we're going to have to learn how to tame the fire," he observes.
"What helps companies survive these upheavals is going back to foundational principles – good communication between stakeholders and adapting to change instead of just working a plan."
His work will include advancing Inspired Testing's proprietary VeloAI platform - a testing co-pilot designed to assist testers – and driving the integration of these technologies across the various industries the company serves.
Leon Lodewyks, CTO of Inspired Testing, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Riaan to our team. His free-thinking approach and decades of hands-on experience will inspire confidence in our clients, both locally and internationally. Riaan embodies the agile mindset and commitment to continuous learning that defines our culture."
Based in Durban for the past 20 years, Roos has been married to his wife for 34 years. Outside work, he is an incessant tinkerer who builds his own mechanical keyboards, works with electronics and IoT edge devices, and automates his wife's greenhouse. His escapes include tying size 20 dry flies and fishing the Drakensberg rivers.
