Quality Assurance (QA) is a systematic process of ensuring that a product or service meets specified requirements and adheres to established standards. Unlike Quality Control (QC), which focuses on defect detection in the final product, QA is process-oriented and focuses on defect prevention throughout the development lifecycle.
QA reduces the cost of poor quality (COPQ). Finding bugs in production is 100x more expensive than preventing them in design. Effective QA builds trust with customers and minimizes the reputational risk associated with software failures.
We do not have a "QA Department" that acts as a safety net for sloppy engineering. Quality is owned by the team. We practice "Shift Left" testing. QA is embedded in the definition of done, the CI pipeline, and the peer review process.