Welcome back to the Ambassador Spotlight. Each post in this series hands the mic to one of the people holding up the Cypress community, including where they started, what they believe about testing, and what they've picked up along the way. Curious about the program itself? Learn more here.
This week we're highlighting Ibukun Micheal Popoola, who led his QA team's move from manual testing to Cypress automation and now spends his time making that same jump easier for interns, junior testers, and anyone stuck on a flaky spec. We learn about the Cypress feature he loves most, the practice he builds every suite around, and the line he comes back to when something looks too big to start.
What motivates you to be a Cypress Ambassador?
What motivates me to be a Cypress Ambassador is my genuine passion for building quality software and empowering others in the QA community. Cypress has significantly improved how I approach automated testing, its speed, developer-friendly design, and debugging tools have made my work more effective and enjoyable.
I want to give back by sharing what I’ve learned, mentoring others, and creating resources that help testers adopt Cypress with confidence. Being an ambassador is not just about representing a tool, it's about fostering a culture of quality and collaboration in tech.
How do you currently help others that are either using Cypress or interested in using Cypress?
I currently help others using or interested in Cypress by sharing practical knowledge through mentorship, training sessions, and real-world examples. I host workshops and walkthroughs for QA interns and junior testers, guiding them on how to write effective test cases using Cypress. I also create easy-to-understand documentation, reusable test scripts, and share insights via social media and QA communities.
Whenever someone faces a challenge, like test flakiness, selector issues, or CI setup, I walk them through the solution or share useful resources to help them grow confidently with Cypress.
What is your favorite Cypress feature?
My favorite Cypress feature is the real-time test runner.
What is your favorite "Cypress Best Practice" and why?
My favorite Cypress best practice is using the Page Object Model. It keeps tests clean, organized, and reusable, making maintenance easier and helping teams scale test coverage with confidence and clarity.
Outside of work, what are your favorite things to do (hobbies, passions, etc.)?
I like to play football, I enjoy playing soccer mobile games (eFootball), I like listening to music, and I like to watch movies.
What is one professional milestone you are proud of?
One professional milestone I’m proud of is leading the successful transition of my QA team from manual testing to Cypress automation. It reduced regression time by 60% and earned internal recognition for driving quality and efficiency.
For new users - what is the best way to "get started" with Cypress?
For new users, the best way to get started with Cypress is to:
- Visit the official docs at docs.cypress.io. They’re beginner-friendly and well-organized.
- Install Cypress in a test project using npm install cypress --save-dev.
- Run npx cypress open to explore the interactive test runner.
- Start writing simple tests (e.g., visiting a page, checking text) to understand the syntax.
- Join the Cypress Discord community or follow community tutorials for support and examples.
What is your favorite quote or saying?
Every count starts from "1", no matter the circumstance, the key is to simply begin.