This Was Supposed to Be About Testing

This was supposed to be about testing.Instead, it turned into a conversation about burnout, money, leadership, community, AI, and what it actually takes to build a sustainable life in tech.Richard and Vernon kick off 2026 reflecting on what they’re changing, what they’re rebuilding, and how testing and quality fit into a future shaped by intention rather than hustle.

Links to stuff we mentioned during the pod:

• 05:19 - The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
• 14:59 - The $1k Challenge by Ali Abdaal Vernon took part in last year
• 17:23 - The video from Daniel Pink on how to have a successful year
  • Here's where Daniel talks about having a Challenger Network (but the whole video is 😙🤌🏾)
• 18:46 - Toby Sinclair
  • Toby's website
  • Toby's LinkedIn
• 19:24 - Keith Klain
  • Keith's blog
  • Keith's podcast
  • Keith's LinkedIn
• 19:25 - Agile Testing Days conference
• 35:45 - What is Model Drift?
• 41:06 - Glue work
  • Tanya's Glue Work presentation which you can read or watch
  • Vernon's talk about how glue work impacts Quality Engineers, Testers, etc.
• 48:06 - Gary "GaryVee" Vaynerchuk
  • Gary's website
  • Gary's YouTube
    
    

00:00 - Intro

00:54 - Greetings & where have we been?

01:32 - The holidays

02:34 - Rest & mood

04:00 - Routines for success

05:59 - Push-up challenge!

08:35 - Dopamine detox

10:28 - THE EPISODE BEGINS!

10:29 - What are our personal 2026 themes (rather than resolutions)?

10:59 - Rich's 2026 themes

13:10 - Vern's themes

17:58 - Friendship, loneliness, and being the initiator

21:28 - Rich has a two itches. One about writing...

21:56 - ...and another about hats

25:23 - Vern's leadership focus and testing foundations

31:06 - AI work: data mindset, agents, and the vibe coding divide

40:11 - Rant about AI testing being stuck in the past

46:37 - Do "cool" shit and "talk" about it. How to stand out from AI Slop

50:10 - Our podcast themes for 2026

What is The Vernon Richard Show?

Vernon Richards and Richard Bradshaw discuss all things software testing, quality engineering and life in the world of software development. Plus our own personal journeys navigating our careers and lifes.