Dr. Marcel Tella-Amo is a PhD engineer and ICF-certified coach working at the intersection of engineering, human performance, and leadership. He spent over six years in software engineering at PTC, working on Vuforia Engine, software verification, SDK testing, benchmarking, and engineering research. Today, through Engineering Peak Impact, he helps high-performing technical professionals improve clarity, judgement, and execution as engineering becomes increasingly shaped by AI and automation.
Speech: What If We Tested the Tester?
We test the systems we build. But who tests the system operating them?
As AI increasingly automates testing and engineering work, the quality of human judgement becomes more important, not less. The question is no longer only whether a system can produce the right output, but whether the humans directing, verifying, and delegating that work are operating reliably themselves.
In this talk, I explore five human failure modes that affect engineering judgement: trust, judgement, autonomy, identity, and verification. I introduce ALIGNED, a practical framework for examining these dimensions and developing the human qualities required for effective leadership in AI-assisted and increasingly autonomous teams.
The central question is: what makes a system worthy of autonomy? And before we give more autonomy to machines, should we first test the humans responsible for them?
