On May 26, 2026, the ITERA company conference hall hosted another educational day for IT students of Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University (KNEU) and the College of Information Systems and Technologies. The event became the fifth meeting within the framework of cooperation during the current academic year, implemented with the support of the Head of the Department of Computer Science at KNEU, Bohdan Oleksandrovych Tishkov, and the management of ITERA.

The organization of such events is an important element of practice-oriented training for students, as it allows them to become directly acquainted with modern technologies, professional tools, and current trends in the IT industry.

From the Department of Computer Science, the event was attended by Associate Professor, Candidate of Technical Sciences, and guarantor of the educational and professional program “Artificial Intelligence Systems,” Liudmyla Volodymyrivna Vasylieva.

During the lecture part of the educational day, students from the 1st to 4th years of the “Computer Science” program, master’s students of the “Artificial Intelligence Systems” and “Information Control Systems and Technologies” programs, as well as students of the College of Information Systems and Technologies of KNEU specializing in “Software Engineering,” took part in the event.

Within the framework of the event, two open lectures were held, dedicated to modern practices of test automation and the use of AI tools in software development.

The first lecture, “Test Automation Overview,” was delivered by a leading specialist of ITERA, Oleksiy Gruba.

During his presentation, the lecturer provided a comprehensive overview of modern automated software testing, explaining its role in the lifecycle of digital product development. It was emphasized that in conditions of rapid development and constant functionality changes, test automation ensures product stability, quality control, and the ability to release updates quickly.

The main focus of Oleksiy Gruba’s presentation was web application test automation—one of the most popular areas of modern QA engineering. The lecturer noted that such applications run in a browser, and their testing requires specialized tools to simulate user scenarios and verify correct functionality.

Oleksiy Gruba provided a detailed overview of leading web interface automation technologies, including: Playwright; Selenium; Cypress; WebdriverIO.

The features and application areas of each tool were explained. Special attention was given to Playwright as one of the modern end-to-end testing frameworks that allows a single test codebase to be used across different browsers.

The lecturer explained the basic principles of automated testing, demonstrating how test code interacts with the browser through libraries and browser control mechanisms. The general test execution model was discussed: from writing a test scenario, launching a browser, simulating user actions, sending commands, to verifying expected results.

A separate section of the lecture was devoted to API testing, which plays an important role in verifying server-side logic and interaction between software components.

Oleksiy Gruba explained that API testing allows work without a graphical user interface, directly sending requests to the server and analyzing responses. This approach enables faster verification of application business logic, service stability, and integration correctness.

Among popular API automation tools, Postman, REST Assured, Playwright (for API requests), and Karate were discussed.

The lecturer emphasized that a modern QA specialist must not only possess UI automation skills but also understand network requests, the HTTP protocol, REST architecture, and server-side interaction principles.

The second lecture was delivered by Oleksandr Skachkov, an experienced Frontend Team Lead at ITERA, a specialist with many years of experience in web development, enterprise solutions, and IT project management.

During a previous meeting, the lecturer introduced students to low-code and no-code concepts. This time, the topic was one of the most relevant trends in the modern software industry—Vibe Coding.

Within the lecture, Oleksandr Skachkov explained the essence of this approach, which is rapidly gaining popularity due to the development of generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted development.

It was explained that Vibe Coding involves building software products with active use of AI tools, where a significant portion of code is generated, analyzed, and improved by intelligent assistants. The developer’s role shifts from writing every line of code to forming ideas, defining tasks, providing architectural vision, and ensuring quality control.

Oleksandr Skachkov discussed several modern platforms and environments actively used in this new wave of AI-oriented development: Cursor, Windsurf, Lovable, Bolt, and Replit.

The features of each tool, their functionality, and their potential application in practical development were described.

Special attention was given to the Design + AI concept, where artificial intelligence is used not only for code generation but also for interface design, architectural decision-making, user experience creation, and acceleration of the digital product development cycle.

During the lecture, the advantages of Vibe Coding were analyzed in detail. Key benefits included: faster development processes; rapid prototyping and MVP creation; reduced time spent on routine tasks; increased team productivity; faster launch and testing of business ideas.

At the same time, Oleksandr Skachkov emphasized that the use of AI tools also has certain limitations and risks. The following challenges were discussed: insufficient quality control of generated code; possibility of hidden errors; security and maintainability issues; dependency on AI tools; the need for deep technical understanding to verify results.

The lecturer stressed that artificial intelligence does not replace fundamental knowledge of programming, algorithms, architecture, and engineering thinking. On the contrary, effective use of modern AI tools requires a high level of professional competence and the ability to critically evaluate generated outputs.

Students showed particular interest in discussing the future role of developers in the context of rapid AI advancement and changing software development approaches.

The educational day at ITERA became another important step in strengthening the partnership between business and university education.

During the event, students gained up-to-date knowledge about modern test automation practices, AI-oriented software development approaches, and a deeper understanding of the requirements of the modern IT job market.

We sincerely thank ITERA, its management, and lecturers for their professional approach, meaningful presentations, openness to cooperation, and support in the practical training of future specialists in the field of information technologies.