Web Summit 2025: AI Leads the Future, But User Experience Sets the Direction

November 26 12:27 2025 by Tetyana Lykhitska Print This Article

Hard to believe a whole year has passed since we shared our impressions from Web Summit 2024 – and yet here we are, already bringing you a fresh press release from Web Summit 2025. This time, we collected no less powerful takeaways from the event, and we’re excited to share them with you. Keep reading to learn what we discussed with forward-thinking innovators, which moments stood out the most, and which insights we gathered to strengthen and evolve our QA service.

Our Delegation

Anton Yefimenko — Delivery Director

Kristina Smereka — Product Growth Advisor

Our team visits Web Summit with one mission: to understand where the industry is heading and how we can strengthen our service along the way.

Across Four Days at Web Summit

We were genuinely happy to return to Web Summit and experience it from our own perspective once again. This year, the event showcased an impressive number of new solutions clearly aimed at the near future: smarter automation, deeper personalization, stronger ecosystems, and adaptive technology.

And yes, the topic of AI echoed everywhere: both in discussions and on stage. (At this point, we’ve already gotten used to it being a traditional guest at every major tech event 😄). Here are our top three sessions our team attended:

“The Age of Agentic Testing” – Asad Khan. A look at how AI agents are reshaping QA by introducing adaptive, self-optimizing testing models.

“The Internet Is Closing. Where Does That Leave You and Your Customers?” – Dan Gardner. A talk that underscored a key market insight: companies accelerate AI adoption, yet many still fall behind in customer experience.

“Build Fast, Play Faster” – Dáire Bohan. A session on how rapid iteration and community-driven design are redefining modern product development.

What stood out to us this year compared with our previous visit? The event welcomed a noticeably larger number of investors. Also, among the attendees, we saw far more engineers, product teams, and creators of new digital solutions. Our delegation had the opportunity to hold many meaningful conversations with them about their products, ideas, and challenges they face. These dialogues became the foundation of many insights we brought home.

And now, to what never changes at Web Summit: the vibrant atmosphere and the wonderful people who come here. That’s exactly what we value most about this event and the reason we return year after year.

When AI Grows, User Experience Must Lead

As AI becomes integrated into nearly every new product – as clearly reflected across the solutions showcased at the event – it naturally becomes one of the central themes of the Web Summit. Yet the discussions weren’t about the advantages of Artificial Intelligence, but about the need to rethink the purpose behind using it.

Dan Gardner, during his session, highlighted a point that resonated with many teams: companies are rapidly integrating AI into their products, but the focus often remains on efficiency and automation rather than on creating meaningful, human-centered experiences. And while AI can accelerate processes, true product success still depends on how well users interact with it. That’s why the focus of AI adoption needs to shift toward genuinely enhancing the user journey. This perspective resonated strongly with product teams and continued to spark thoughtful discussions throughout the event.

We fully agree that user experience is the accurate measure of product success. But AI can enhance that journey only when it behaves reliably and consistently, delivering outcomes users can trust every single time. This was exactly what we discussed with teams during our networking conversations. They shared that at the quality stage, they often encounter challenges such as unpredictable AI behavior, hallucinations, and inconsistent outputs. So, we explained how we address these issues by combining traditional QA practices with AI-tailored testing.

The Challenges Teams Face Today

Throughout the networking at the event, many teams openly shared the challenges they face today. AI tools are becoming a core part of modern products because they accelerate processes, automate routine tasks, and unlock new capabilities.

However, even the most advanced AI solutions still require oversight and continuous validation. This is where companies face a new difficulty: they need QA specialists with a strong understanding of business logic, system architecture, and the ability to interpret AI-generated results and to evaluate their impact on the product as a whole. These competencies come only from real, hands-on experience, which is why they are primarily concentrated among senior QA engineers. As teams admitted, this creates a significant market demand for such experts, making them increasingly scarce.

During our conversations, we explained how we help companies address this challenge by providing independent QA support from specialists with the right skills and hands-on experience. They know how to conduct effective validation of AI tools, focusing not only on whether the feature functions correctly but also on the strategic impact of its outputs on the product and its business logic. This gives our clients the confidence that their AI-driven features behave predictably, support core system logic, and contribute to the product’s long-term stability and success.

What Web Summit Left Us With

We were genuinely glad to have such warm and practical conversations throughout the event. Thanks to these talks, we returned from Lisbon with a clearer sense of direction – where the industry is heading, what product teams will prioritize next, and what real challenges they’re facing right now. We’re ready to apply the insights to refine our processes, sharpen our priorities, and strengthen the support we deliver to our partners.

And if we didn’t manage to speak during the event, or if we started a conversation that requires a follow-up, you can reach us anytime. We’re always here, always open to a thoughtful conversation, and always happy to discuss your product to help you address any quality challenges. Also, follow us on LinkedIn to stay tuned for all future updates and industry insights!