Quality Engineering • AI/GenAI • Test Automation

Harshal
Dharmadhikari

Independent Quality Engineering Consultant
QA Strategy | AI-Native Quality Engineering | Test Automation | Quality Transformation | QA CoE

✉ harshalsd@gmail.com ☎ +91 9619393111 in LinkedIn Profile

Consulting Profile

Independent Quality Engineering Consultant

I help product and engineering organizations strengthen software quality, modernize testing and build scalable Quality Engineering practices using practical, outcome-focused approaches.

With 20+ years of experience across product engineering, SaaS, healthcare, fintech, e-commerce, insurance, telecom and semiconductor environments, I work with leadership teams to assess current quality maturity, define pragmatic roadmaps and improve delivery confidence.

My consulting focus includes QA strategy, test automation, AI/GenAI testing, AI-native quality engineering, quality governance, CI/CD quality gates, API, performance and security testing, QA CoE setup and team capability development.

20+ Years of software quality experience
60% Manual test creation effort reduction
80% Automated regression coverage achieved
50+ Microservices governed in cloud-native delivery

Consulting Services

Practical guidance from strategy to implementation

QA Strategy & AssessmentQuality maturity assessment, current-state review, target operating model and roadmap
AI-Native Quality EngineeringAI-assisted testing, LLM evaluation, RAG validation, prompt testing and adoption roadmaps
Test Automation TransformationAutomation strategy, framework assessment, tool selection, coverage and ROI improvement
Quality GovernanceKPIs, quality gates, release governance, risk management and executive reporting
QA CoE & Operating ModelStandards, processes, communities of practice, capability models and enablement
CI/CD Quality EngineeringShift-left testing, continuous testing, pipeline quality gates and DevOps integration
Non-Functional QualityAPI, performance, security and accessibility testing strategy and implementation
Team & Capability DevelopmentSkills assessment, mentoring, upskilling, role definition and engineering practices

Professional Experience

Leadership experience & independent consulting

Quality Engineering Consultant

Self-Employed · Independent Consultant
Aug 2026 – Present
  • Provide independent consulting on QA strategy, Quality Engineering transformation, test automation and AI/GenAI-enabled testing.
  • Help organizations assess quality maturity, identify improvement opportunities and build practical, prioritized transformation roadmaps.
  • Advise engineering and product leadership on automation strategy, quality governance, release readiness, CI/CD quality practices and risk management.
  • Support adoption of AI-native testing practices including LLM-assisted test creation, intelligent failure analysis, RAG validation and AI quality evaluation.

Associate Director – Software Quality Control

Thinkbridge Software Pvt. Ltd., Pune
Nov 2022 – Jul 2026
  • Direct a 28-member QA organization across Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore, including capability development and career progression.
  • Orchestrate AI-enabled quality programs across 8+ QA teams supporting 120+ developers.
  • Accelerated testing productivity by approximately 60% using LLM-assisted test creation and intelligent failure analysis.
  • Govern QA delivery for cloud-native environments spanning 50+ microservices and drive release readiness.
  • Drive CI/CD quality engineering with approximately 70% test automation coverage and risk-based prioritization.
  • Integrated SAST/DAST into deployment pipelines and identified 150+ potential vulnerabilities.

Manager – Quality Analyst Track

Perennial Systems Pvt. Ltd., Pune
Oct 2021 – Nov 2022
  • Led a 15-member QA team across 8 concurrent projects.
  • Established a Test Automation CoE across 3 delivery centers.
  • Reduced post-release issues by 35% and testing cycle time by 25% through quality dashboards, shift-left testing and automation.
  • Reduced infrastructure maintenance overhead by 35% through Azure test-suite migration.

Manager – Quality Engineering

PNQ Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Pune
Aug 2018 – Sep 2021
  • Managed an 18-member QA team supporting 12 concurrent product-development programs.
  • Implemented continuous testing through Jenkins, achieving approximately 80% automated regression coverage.
  • Improved early-stage defect detection by approximately 20% through shift-left QA.
  • Led performance testing across 8 critical services and mobile quality engineering for iOS and Android releases.

QA Manager

Adapty Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
Apr 2015 – Jul 2018
  • Managed a 12-member QA team supporting a SaaS HR platform serving 500+ enterprise customers.
  • Established a Selenium-based automation framework achieving approximately 70% test coverage.
  • Drove QA planning, execution and release-quality activities across product delivery cycles.

Education & Credentials

M.S. Electrical Engineering

University of Texas at Arlington, USA · Dec 2004

B.E. Electronics Engineering

University of Mumbai, India · Dec 2001

Scrum Fundamentals Certified · 2021 Intermediate Certificate in Software Testing – ISEB · 2013 ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) · 2011

Need help improving software quality?

QA strategy · AI-native testing · Automation transformation · Quality governance

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