Automation8 min read
Building Self-Healing Automation Frameworks
Learn how to create automation frameworks that automatically fix flaky tests using AI and intelligent retry mechanisms.
2024-12-15Read More →
Available for opportunities
Hi, I'm Akash Aggarwal
QA & Automation Leader
Staff Engineer – Quality Engineering | SDET Architect
Bengaluru, India
14+
Years Experience
120+
Engineers Led
90M+
Users Impacted
0
Prod Defects
About Me
Innovative QA & Automation Leader with 14+ years of experience architecting enterprise-grade automation systems, scaling quality engineering organizations, and driving quality strategy for high-traffic, global platforms in e-commerce, fintech, payments, and ad-tech.
Expert at building end-to-end test automation platforms, designing AI-driven test intelligence, and leading SDET teams to deliver defect-free, high-reliability releases for systems serving 90M+ monthly users.
Proven Track Record:
Designing distributed, self-healing automation frameworks
Reducing execution time by 50% and manual effort by 70%
Achieving 0 production defects & preventing revenue leakage
Leading global QA orgs of 10–120+ engineers
Innovating with AI to improve refactoring, documentation, stability & test generation
Education
MCA
GGSIPU Delhi
BCA
GGSIPU Delhi
Certifications
AWS ArchitectingDevOpsMicroservices Architecture
Professional Experience
14+ years of driving quality transformation across global tech companies
🏢
Rakuten
Staff Engineer, QA (Automation & Quality Engineering Leader)
May 2023 – Present
Tokyo, Japan
Leading automation, quality engineering strategy, and SDET org for Rakuten's global Affiliate Marketing ecosystem (Ichiba, Travel, Mobile, GORA, Books, Kobo).
Automation & Innovation
- Architected distributed, cross-platform automation frameworks (Web, API, microservices)
- Built AI-driven test data platform ensuring deterministic commission validation & eliminating manual data dependency
- Delivered 70% automation-led reduction in regression workload
- Developed self-healing test suites reducing flaky tests by 35%
- Introduced intelligent tagging & impact-based automation for faster release cycles
Quality Leadership
- Achieved 0 production defects and zero revenue/GMS loss across multiple releases
- Implemented observability-based testing with Grafana & Kibana for anomaly prediction
- Drove 15%+ uplift in affiliate revenue via precision tracking validation
Team & Strategy
- Lead & mentor a 10+ member SDET/QA team
- Partner with engineering & product leadership to define QE roadmap and automation initiatives
💳
Paytm Payments Bank
Senior QA Manager (UPI & Payments Automation)
Nov 2022 – Apr 2023
India
Led QA & automation strategy for UPI platforms including UPI Lite, AutoPay, and 123Pay.
Key Contributions
- Managed 50+ QA/SDET engineers across mobile, backend, and payments systems
- Introduced automated validation pipelines for UPI flows to improve release reliability
- Implemented early detection systems reducing critical incidents
🛒
Tokopedia
Technical Architect, Test Engineering
Oct 2019 – Nov 2022
Indonesia
Automation Architect for Indonesia's largest e-commerce platform (90M+ MAU).
Automation Impact
- Designed enterprise-grade automation frameworks for Web, Mobile, API, gRPC, GraphQL
- Built distributed, parallel execution system → 50% faster automation runs
- Developed 3 internal automation IPs increasing coverage & reducing maintenance overhead
Leadership
- Mentored 120+ engineers, driving test engineering excellence
- Awarded Top 1% Engineer for innovation and impact
📱
Paytm / Paytm Mall
QA Lead (Automation & Org Scaling)
Jun 2016 – Oct 2019
India
Built the QA organization from scratch as the first QA engineer.
Key Contributions
- First QA engineer → built full QA & Automation org from scratch
- Established automation for web, mobile, API, and CI/CD systems
- Supported 400M+ monthly transactions with high reliability
- Led a 16-member Mobile QA & Automation team
🏷️
Snapdeal
QA II, Mobile Automation
Apr 2015 – May 2016
India
Mobile automation specialist for one of India's leading e-commerce platforms.
Key Contributions
- Built Appium automation for Android & iOS from scratch
- Delivered apps with 99.8% crash-free rate, validated via automated pipelines
🏠
Sopra Steria
Software Engineer QA
2014 – 2015
India
QA automation for IoT products.
Key Contributions
- Built SeeTest automation for British Gas Hive IoT smart-home products
📲
LeewayHertz
Software Engineer QA
2012 – 2014
India
Started professional career in QA and automation.
Key Contributions
- Delivered QA and automation for enterprise & consumer mobile applications
Technical Skills
Languages
PythonJava
Automation Tools
PlaywrightSeleniumAppiumRest Assured
Frameworks
PyTestTestNGJUnitCucumber
API & Microservices
RESTgRPCGraphQLCharlesPostman
DevOps
JenkinsGitHub ActionsDockerKubernetes
Observability
GrafanaKibana
AI Tools
ChatGPTGitHub CopilotClaudeCursorGemini
Core Competencies
Automation Leadership
Automation ArchitectureSDET Team BuildingCoding StandardsFramework InnovationCross-Platform Test Strategy
Quality Engineering
Test GovernanceRelease QualityDefect PreventionRCAQuality MetricsFlakiness Reduction
Technology & Tools
PythonJavaPlaywrightSeleniumAppiumRest AssuredPyTestJUnitTestNG
DevOps & Scalability
CI/CDGitHub ActionsJenkinsDockerKubernetesAWS
AI in Testing
Self-Healing TestsAI-based Test GenerationIntelligent Test SelectionAuto-RefactoringPredictive Analytics
Key Achievements
0
Production Defects
Across multiple global product lines
50%
Faster Execution
Reduction in automation execution time
70%
Less Manual Work
Decrease in manual regression effort
25%
Revenue Uplift
From improved affiliate quality
35%
Flaky Test Reduction
With AI self-healing capabilities
120+
Engineers Led
Across global organizations
90M+
Users Served
By test systems architected
400M+
Transactions
Supported monthly
AI Engineering Impact
Leveraging AI to transform test engineering
30%
Faster Releases
Via AI-assisted refactoring & auto-correction
60%
Documentation Reduction
Using LLM-based automation
35%
Higher Coverage
Through AI-generated tests
System & Automation Architecture Expertise
Distributed parallel automation (Docker-based)
CI/CD-driven automation pipelines
Microservices testing automation (REST, gRPC, GraphQL)
AI-driven automation (self-healing, auto-generation, intelligent selection)
Observability-integrated test systems (Grafana/Kibana)
Test Data Platform architecture
End-to-End automation for Web, API, Mobile, Payments
Latest Blog Posts
AI & Testing12 min read
AI in Test Engineering: A Practical Guide
Practical applications of AI in test automation, from test generation to intelligent test selection.
2024-12-01Read More →
Leadership10 min read
Scaling QA Organizations: Lessons from 14 Years
Key insights and strategies for building and scaling quality engineering organizations.
2024-11-20Read More →
YouTube Videos
15:30
Introduction to Playwright Automation
A comprehensive guide to getting started with Playwright for web automation testing.
10K views2024-12-10
22:45
Building Distributed Test Systems
How to design and implement distributed test execution systems for enterprise scale.
8K views2024-11-28
18:20
AI-Powered Test Generation
Using AI tools to automatically generate test cases and improve test coverage.
15K views2024-11-15
Let's Connect
I'm always open to discussing new opportunities, collaborations, or just having a chat about test automation and quality engineering.