Meet Andrian Budantsov, Hypersequent CEO And Creator of QA Sphere

Tell us about QA Sphere

 

QA Sphere is the first product from Hypersequent, a company I founded in 2023 with a clear mission: make the world’s software more reliable.

It’s a brand-new test management product, created to help software and quality assurance engineers boost the reliability of their software. Entire teams can access the system which helps users plan and organise their tests and creates reports that show how well the software is working, identifying any bugs or glitches. It’s a cloud-based solution which is accessed through a company’s web browser so it doesn’t need any installation, and doesn’t have any unnecessary functions that make other tools slow and complicated.

 

 

How did you come up with the idea for QA Sphere?

 

My journey to creating QA Sphere began with over 15 years immersed in software development at Readdle which I co-founded, and where I was CTO. We built products like PDF Expert and Spark, which were downloaded by hundreds of millions of people and recognised with countless industry awards. Throughout that experience, a fundamental truth became clear to me – reliable software hinges on robust quality assurance (QA).

My professional life has revolved around building software and, like any software developer, I strived for reliability. Early on, I understood that thorough testing is indispensable. While engineering practices – like code reviews and unit tests – contribute to reliability, they cannot replace comprehensive end-to-end testing, where QA teams simulate real-world user interactions.

Having used various test management systems over the years, I consistently felt there was room for improvement – the tools available for QA teams were often inadequate – outdated, bloated, or prohibitively expensive. This disparity between the critical need for effective QA and the limitations of existing tools sparked the initial concept for QA Sphere – I wanted to create a tool that supports QA teams instead of getting in their way.

 

 

What do you think makes QA Sphere unique?

 

QA Sphere is unique because it combines a modern, easy-to-use design with smart AI features and a focus on seamless automation integration.

Many other testing systems are outdated and clunky, but I believe even enterprise tools should feel great to use so we’ve focused heavily on making our user interface (UI) clean, fast, and enjoyable to use – bringing an Apple-style experience to the space.

AI is a solution that’s obviously here to stay and we’re using it in a smart way. We’re not just adding elaborate features for the sake of it, we’re using AI to help teams move faster, without losing control or quality. For example, AI can help write and edit test cases, generate bug reports — handling the repetitive work so your team can focus on what really matters.

We’ve also designed QA Sphere to allow teams to seamlessly integrate their automated tests into the broader QA workflow, meaning it can easily connect with other tools that automatically run tests. We believe that manual testing (where people test the software) and automated testing (where machines do the testing) shouldn’t live in silos – they should be unified in one smooth workflow, like having all your puzzle pieces fit together perfectly.

 

What is your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

 

Firstly, try to solve a problem that people have, not create a product you have to convince people they need. Think about things that bother you, your colleagues, your peers, your friends, and so on – basically, things you hear people complaining about. If you can fix something that’s already broken, you’re on the right track.

Secondly, don’t worry about making everything perfect right away.  Launch your product or service on a small scale – get it into people’s hands, and let the feedback shape what comes next. Most good products are built in the open, not in isolation, and you should focus on building something real and showing people that it works. If you can prove that your idea is good, people will be more likely to trust you.

Finally, make speed and caring about your product or service your advantage against your competitors – move quickly, listen to the people who use what you’ve created, and be passionate about making it the best it can be. Giving a damn can be a rare sentiment in today’s business landscape and if you care, it will show, and people will notice.

 

What most excites you about QA Sphere?

 

What excites me most is seeing the positive effect we’re having on people’s work. When teams say things like, ‘this finally makes sense,’ or ‘it was quick and easy to switch to using the system’ that’s the best feeling – it means we’re solving a genuine problem and making life easier for people, and that’s incredibly rewarding.

Even negative feedback can be a good thing, especially where I can understand and identify exactly how to fix the problem. In a startup, any reaction is valuable, and is an opportunity to take action to improve or enhance your product – the hardest thing is when you don’t hear anything at all. So, talking to users and hearing their thoughts about QA Sphere is a really exciting part of the whole process.

I’m also excited about how we’re using AI and its potential for the future. We’re not trying to replace QA, we’re making it faster and smarter by cutting down on repetitive tasks. It’s still early days, but our work is already having a tangible impact.

 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 

In 2024, we launched QA Sphere with a lean feature set. Since then, we’ve been catching up fast and rapidly expanding the system’s capabilities – adding reports, custom statuses, dark mode, bulk test writing with AI, and much more.

Our team, though small at ten individuals, is focused and fast. Every feature is built by us, and we prioritise this in-house development along with responding to direct user feedback, speaking daily to those that use the system. This approach ensures agility and aligns our product with the evolving needs of our customers.

We’ve done a lot of catching up over the past 18 months since we launched. AI – and the significant opportunities it presents – has been a huge focus for us. It’s such a rapidly evolving area that its research, monitoring and development will continue to be a priority as we move forward.

 

What can we hope to see from QA Sphere in the future?

 

We want to empower companies to test software more effectively and we’re dedicated to reaching our goal of being the best test management tool for modern QA teams.  Our commitment involves significant investments in user experience (UX), intelligent automation, and seamless integrations. We are also expanding our AI capabilities, focusing on delivering practical solutions for real-world QA challenges.

Our long-term vision is to raise the bar of software testing and ensure QA teams receive the recognition they deserve. We are rapidly approaching the milestone of providing 80 per cent of core functionalities, addressing the essential needs of most users. As an example, we’ll very soon be launching ‘parametrization,’ a feature that empowers users to define test cases using variables. This allows for the creation of multiple test scenarios through variable tables, significantly enhancing testing efficiency.

Other aspects of our development roadmap include specialised test management features – which prioritise robust integrations with automation tools to support both code-based and visual scripting platforms – and AI initiatives. Following the successful launch of our AI-assisted test case generation feature, we’ll soon be launching ‘BulkWrite’ with AI. This new tool allows users to input functional requirements, which the system then uses to suggest relevant test cases. Our ongoing development will always be focused on helping real teams solve real problems.