Chapter 4: Evolving Roles and Responsibilities

Quality ownership is spreading across delivery teams. This chapter benchmarks how QA focus is shifting toward analytics, governance, and orchestration, and how developers and business analysts are increasing involvement in test creation. 

The Shift in QA Team Focus 

QA teams are evolving into Quality Engineering teams.  

Benchmark 

41% report QA prioritizing quality analytics and governance. 39% report QA focus on orchestration across pipelines, environments, and data. In addition, 87% agree that AI will move engineers toward intent and system design rather than syntax and manual scripting. 

What it means 

As execution becomes more automated and distributed, QA value shifts toward measurement, risk management, and enabling repeatable delivery practices. 

Recommendation 

Update the QA charter explicitly to include analytics, orchestration standards, governance, and enablement for engineering teams. 

Developer and Business Analyst Involvement 

Testing is becoming a shared responsibility. 

Benchmark 

53% of developers report directly authoring tests. 38% of organizations report increased involvement of business analysts in test creation. 

What it means 

Developer ownership can improve feedback speed. Business analyst involvement can improve alignment between test coverage and business requirements, but only if standards and review processes are clear. 

Recommendations

• Empower Developers: Encourage developers to create unit and component tests, allowing QA to focus on analytics and strategic oversight.  
• Engage Business Analysts: Involve them in test creation to ensure alignment with business logic and customer needs.