A Long List of Failed E2E Test Automation Hypes I Foresaw

Lessons from Two Decades of Predicting What Doesn’t Work in E2E Test Automation

In 2025, I marked 20 years in the field of End-to-End (E2E) Test Automation and Continuous Testing — the backbone of CI/CD, Agile, and DevOps.

These fields have been filled with hype for decades. To cut through it, you only need to ask two simple questions:

1. How does your team actually perform system (functional) testing, especially regression testing?
   My guess of your answer: Manual testing.
2. Has your team truly achieved Continuous Delivery (to production, every working day or sprint) as defined by Agile principles?
   My guess of your answer: No.

Were my guesses correct? If so, then little has truly changed in the last two decades. Keep in mind, the primary target of E2E testing — web applications — has barely changed over the past 20 years.

My writing is grounded in years of successful, hands-on test automation experience. Unlike many so-called ‘experts,’ I’m not afraid to make predictions, challenge overhyped ‘new’ trends, and so far, my track record (listed below) has been 100% accurate.

• Record-n-Playback
• Headless Testing