Akshay Barve

At Cigniti Technologies, I spearheaded quality assurance efforts for a significant SAP migration project at Holt Renfrew, a renowned luxury retailer. My responsibilities included managing system integration testing, overseeing EDI integration, and providing regular updates to stakeholders. I collaborated closely with business users to gather requirements, define project scope, and develop detailed test scenarios. I conducted thorough end-to-end testing, ensuring the robustness of implemented solutions across key business areas. Additionally, I established TestRail as a centralized hub for testing artifacts, incorporating over 200 reusable test scenarios to optimize execution cycles. This dedication to excellence earned accolades from the client, solidifying our partnership with a stellar 4/4 star rating.

At Oracle, I closely collaborated with business users at UBS/MUFG Alternate Fund Services within the Oracle OFS division. My role involved implementing QA standards and processes, enhancing testing standards, and facilitating smooth transitions during data center migration projects. As a QA specialist, I developed regression suites for 12 applications amidst a complex architecture, ensuring quality despite accelerated timelines due to business acquisitions and migration initiatives. I also aided in onboarding new QA members, bolstering the testing capabilities of the UBS/MUFG division. This experience highlights my adeptness in navigating complex projects and delivering exceptional results.

Myplanet was a startup in 2012, mainly working on open-source website development using Drupal CMS. I was their first QA professional hired as a QA specialist to implement QA standards and processes across their project teams. My role in this company was challenging; I had to work with each project/agile team to understand their development process and then deliver a testing strategy for testing the applications. I hired and onboarded QA resources based on the project/client budget for the project. In my tenure of three years, I helped Myplanet mature their QA processes and win and sustain some of their prestigious clients, such as Apple, New Balance, Travelopia, and CenturyLink.

Engaged via Toptal, I led testing and QA for Casper's Salesforce cloud migration. I developed 60 test cases covering key functionalities and collaborated with SFCC and OMS teams, expanding the QA team to ensure comprehensive coverage. My work also included managing testing artifacts and defect cycles, orchestrating testing cycles, and overseeing the POS system migration to the PredictSpring iOS app post-launch. I earned client praise for two years of QA excellence.

As a QA specialist at Toptal, I collaborated closely with Tontine LLC on their groundbreaking MVP project—a cutting-edge A/B testing app tailored for the Shopify marketplace. My role involved conducting meticulous reviews of the product backlog, release plan, and design mock-ups to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the app's functionality. I led comprehensive exploratory and regression testing across the web platform and multiple test Shopify stores, utilizing advanced methodologies to track and address defects efficiently in Jira. Additionally, I developed and executed innovative payment test scenarios, ensuring seamless integration with Stripe for flawless transaction processing and robust payment security. I established and maintained a robust test suite for regression and release testing, optimizing QA processes for efficiency and effectiveness. In weekly meetings, I advocated for QA best practices and process enhancement, demonstrating leadership and strategic vision to drive project success and deliver quality-driven outcomes.

As a QA specialist at Toptal, I collaborated with Facerent Technologies Inc. on their MVP NFT social media app. My responsibilities included reviewing the product backlog, MVP release plan, and design mock-ups, enriching user stories with acceptance criteria and test scenarios for sprint testing. I formulated a comprehensive test strategy for current and future releases, ensuring thorough testing coverage. Rigorous payment test scenarios were designed and executed to ensure seamless integration with Stripe. I conducted extensive exploratory and regression testing across multiple platforms, tracking and managing defects in Jira. Additionally, I maintained a comprehensive test suite for regression and release testing, advocated for QA best practices in weekly meetings, and orchestrated end-to-end testing activities before the beta launch.

At Cigniti Technologies, I led the QA strategy and automation efforts for Aecon Construction’s enterprise-wide SAP ECC landscape. This involved automating over 700 regression test cases across key modules, including SCM, HCM, FICO, and MM. I collaborated directly with business stakeholders in elicitation sessions to understand evolving business processes, refactor outdated test cases, and align them with real-world operations. I also designed reusable functions within HP-UFT and implemented a robust BPT framework to enhance automation efficiency. My role included leading a cross-functional QA team (1 onsite, 4 offshore), driving peer reviews, and overseeing end-to-end integration testing with non-SAP systems like Primavera P6 and Hard Dollar. This project not only improved testing maturity and speed but also strengthened client trust, positioning our team as a long-term strategic QA partner.

Led and contributed to QA across three enterprise GenAI initiatives at PwC Canada: Proposal Agent, Multi-Document Extraction Agent, and an ESG Sustainability Disclosure Decoder.

For Proposal Agent, led QA across six releases and 14 sprints, mentoring a three-member QA team as the platform expanded from 400 to over 4,000 users. Supported growth in proposal volume from 15–18 per month to over 450 per week through regression testing, business UAT, and production release sign-offs.

For the Multi-Document Extraction Agent, designed a tailored QA strategy, evaluation benchmarks, and positive and negative test datasets across eight document types to assess extraction accuracy, contextual understanding, and response consistency.

For the ESG application, supported an IFRS-aligned disclosure analysis solution that reduced effort from approximately 600 hours per client to 50–60 hours. Facilitated UAT with 10 auditors, secured full sign-off, and supported rollout to 50 audit professionals and analysts, followed by four weeks of hypercare.

Across these initiatives, collaborated with business and development teams to define AI evaluation metrics, manage defects in Azure DevOps, and recommend prompt tuning and AI guardrails.