QualGent: The AI Copilot Transforming Mobile App QA
In the fast-paced world of mobile development, maintaining product quality while accelerating release cycles has become a monumental challenge. Bugs that slip through testing phases cause real damage—crashes that tank app store ratings, broken purchase flows that drive away users, and regressions that sneak past supposedly “green” CI pipelines.
Traditional tools like Selenium, Appium, and Espresso rely on brittle scripting and are often inadequate at catching real-world user experience issues. Visual regression tools may detect UI anomalies but frequently miss functional bugs. And hiring large in-house QA teams is both costly and unsustainable for growing startups and agile teams alike.
This is where QualGent enters the scene—a revolutionary AI-powered QA agent that eliminates the need to choose between speed and quality. Designed specifically to mimic real human testers, QualGent helps engineering teams test mobile apps at scale without the overhead of manual QA processes.
How did QualGent come to life?
The inspiration behind QualGent was born from the frustrations experienced firsthand by its founders, Shivam Agrawal and Aaron Yu, during their tenure at Google. Having built and shipped products like Android XR, Stadia, Quick Share, and foldable device interfaces, they intimately understood the trade-off between fast iteration and ironclad quality assurance.
At Google, Shivam led engineering efforts on Android XR’s 3D system UI, delivering at five times the speed of Apple’s VisionOS, while also developing simulation tools that dramatically improved developer productivity. Aaron, a robotics olympiad medalist and UC Berkeley prodigy, led cross-functional teams across mobile, connectivity, and AI/ML initiatives, gaining deep exposure to the system bottlenecks that plagued mobile development.
Together, they recognized that as AI accelerates the speed of software creation, QA remains a stubborn bottleneck. Their solution? Build an AI-native tool that simulates real user interaction to find bugs early, reliably, and scalably.
What is QualGent, and how does it work?
QualGent is an AI Mobile App Quality Assurance Tester that runs on real devices in the cloud. Instead of relying on brittle scripts or manual QA labor, it uses large language models and computer vision to behave like a human tester would:
- You describe a test case in natural language, such as:
“Sign up as a new user, go to settings, change the theme to dark mode, and check if it persists after restarting.” - QualGent interprets this prompt, runs the scenario on actual Android and iOS devices, and mimics user behavior:
- Tapping buttons
- Swiping screens
- Typing text
- Handling pop-ups and errors
- Speaking or listening if needed
- It then provides a detailed report:
- Test video playback
- Logs
- Bug snapshots
- Error traceback
This drastically reduces test flakiness and coverage gaps while enabling non-engineers (PMs, QA leads, designers) to write and execute meaningful tests with ease.
Why is QualGent different from traditional QA tools?
QualGent redefines the idea of automation in mobile testing. Here’s how it sets itself apart:
- No Code Required
Tests are written in plain English, which lowers the barrier to entry and enables collaboration across teams. - Real Device Testing, Not Emulators
Most testing platforms use emulators or simulators. QualGent tests on actual hardware to uncover real-world issues. - Self-Healing Agents
The AI agent can recover from unexpected UI changes, like modified layout hierarchies or transient pop-ups, that would otherwise break scripted tests. - Scalable Cloud Infrastructure
Since the system operates in the cloud, QA processes are not bound by device availability or local setup issues. - High Signal Test Results
Rather than overwhelming teams with red herrings, QualGent focuses on surfacing the bugs that matter.
In short, QualGent moves QA from a reactive, high-effort chore to a proactive, automated advantage.
Who benefits from QualGent?
QualGent is purpose-built for mobile-first product teams, especially those scaling rapidly and releasing frequently. This includes:
- Engineering Leaders (CTOs, Directors of Engineering) who need velocity without sacrificing stability.
- QA Managers who are tired of brittle automation and overworked manual testers.
- Startup Teams that want to build reliable apps without hiring full QA departments.
- Product Managers who want to validate end-to-end user journeys with minimal friction.
One early adopter of QualGent improved their release velocity significantly—and rose to #3 in the Education category on the App Store thanks to their improved app stability and user satisfaction.
What is the vision behind QualGent?
QualGent’s long-term goal is to close the loop on software creation. The AI revolution has already accelerated code generation—tools like Copilot and GPT-4 are making engineers 10–100x more productive. But that productivity risks being wasted if bugs still block the release process.
By eliminating the QA bottleneck, QualGent unlocks a future where:
- Engineers write code and receive instant, trustworthy feedback from AI agents.
- Testing is no longer a separate team or function—it’s seamlessly embedded into the workflow.
- Apps are continuously validated against real-world scenarios without manual effort.
- New features can be shipped daily, not monthly.
This is the beginning of truly scalable software development, where build, test, and deploy are fully AI-driven.
Who are the minds behind QualGent?
Shivam Agrawal, CEO of QualGent, is a builder at heart. At Google, he was known for his speed and customer obsession. His most-used internal tool—a C++ simulator—made Android XR development 10x faster. He’s now solving what he calls the “biggest pain of his career”: slow, ineffective mobile QA.
Aaron Yu, CTO, brings a rare combination of deep research pedigree and production-grade engineering. With experience at Nvidia and Google, and a CS degree completed in just three years at Berkeley, he is laser-focused on turning the QA process into a seamless AI-first experience.
Together, they form a powerhouse duo committed to reshaping mobile development with intelligence, empathy, and efficiency.
What’s next for QualGent?
Having launched with strong early traction and support from the Y Combinator Spring 2025 batch, QualGent is poised to expand quickly. Immediate goals include:
- Broadening device support to include tablets, foldables, and other edge cases
- Integrating deeper analytics to help teams track QA improvements over time
- Enhancing multilingual testing capabilities
- Providing tighter integrations with CI/CD pipelines, project management tools, and bug tracking platforms
More than just a product, QualGent aims to become the default AI QA copilot for every mobile engineering team in the world.
Why does QualGent matter now?
The demand for faster, safer mobile shipping is at an all-time high. With millions of users depending on seamless app experiences, even a minor regression can have major reputational and financial consequences.
QualGent arrives at a moment when:
- Mobile usage is surging
- App stores are more competitive than ever
- AI is finally ready to handle complex real-world interactions
By bridging the gap between speed and quality, QualGent gives developers back their confidence—and gives users better apps.
In Summary:
QualGent is not just another testing tool. It’s a rethink of the entire QA paradigm. With AI that acts like a real user, on real devices, and without the scripting headaches, mobile teams can finally ship like the best, without breaking like the rest.