TACON is an annual specialist conference for test automation that brings together practitioners from medium-sized and large companies for a professional exchange. Around 130 participants meet for two days in Leipzig. Practical reports from user companies form the core of the content, supplemented by networking and an evening program. The next edition will take place on September 16 and 17, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- TACON is a specialist conference exclusively for test automation, deliberately kept small at around 130 participants so that personal exchange and real networking remain possible.
- All presentations come directly from user companies: Practical reports show not only successes, but also stumbling blocks, because this is precisely what has the greatest learning effect for others.
- The evening program is considered the most important part of the event, according to participants, because more confidentiality is created there than in any technical lecture.
- In addition to TACON, there is a Community Day for quality assurance managers from larger companies, which takes place every six months in Leipzig and deals directly with specific problems faced by participants.
- The next TACON will take place in Leipzig on September 16 and 17, 2026.
A specialist conference narrowed down to test automation
TACON is a specialist conference for test automation that takes place annually in Leipzig. The focus is narrow and that is intentional. It is essentially about test automation, not about the whole range of quality assurance.
Adjacent topics are covered, but only as a side track: test management, test data, agile approaches, test processes. The focus remains on automation.
Over the course of two days, this results in an intensive pressure refueling on a single focus. Anyone who automates tests in their daily work will not find a scattering of other disciplines here, but depth in their own.
Andre Köhler, who is co-organizing the conference, classifies the discipline itself as permanent: “I do believe that test automation is a discipline that we will have permanently.”
Why a small conference enables more exchange
With around 130 participants, TACON deliberately remains manageable. This size hits a sweet spot between too anonymous and too confusing.
In two days, nobody manages to talk to everyone. At the same time, the group is small enough to avoid an anonymous trade fair feeling. Participants describe the atmosphere more like a big family.
This is an advantage for professional exchange. You can quickly get into conversation because the setting is close and personal. If you want to build up a network of experts, you can make lots of relevant contacts here in a short space of time.
The practical benefits extend beyond the two days. After the conference, you have a full address book and can simply call through if you have a specific question about your own project and get some inspiration.
Practical reports beat glossy presentations
The presentations at TACON come directly from the companies. The organizers go to the IT departments and test automation teams and ask people what they are currently working on and whether they would like to present it.
There is a clear assumption behind this: you learn the most from the reports of those who are actually doing it. Theory at a high level of abstraction is less helpful in everyday life than a comprehensible case.
The honesty of the contributions is crucial. Nobody stands up on stage and claims that everything works perfectly for them. The speakers show what they have achieved in the past year, but also what didn’t work and where the stumbling blocks were.
It is precisely these stumbling blocks that provide valuable information. Those who are not yet ready can avoid a known mistake and benefit from the experience of others instead of repeating it themselves.
Who is the target group at TACON
TACON is aimed at people who are responsible for test automation in the company or who implement it operationally. This includes members of test automation teams as well as test automation experts in agile teams.
The common thread is the question of how test automation can be improved in-house. It’s about practitioners, not observers.
The participants typically come from medium-sized to large organizations. Insurance companies, banks, car manufacturers, authorities and the public sector are strongly represented.
The most valuable part takes place in the evening
The evening program is unofficially considered the most important part of the event. During the day, people take away specialist information from the presentations, but the real action takes place in the evening.
During the breaks, there are one-to-one conversations in which things are shared that would not be shared in a lecture. This is where things go one step deeper.
At the evening event, this shifts again. Over a glass of wine, the conversation becomes more confidential, and with the right conversation partners, this is where you take away the most.
The gaming area is a new format and is in friendly competition with the lectures. Tetris, Pac-Man and a Jenga tower made of large wooden blocks provide entertainment, but challenge the organizers to guide the participants back to the specialist lectures in good time.
Why AI is the current focus topic
Artificial intelligence is currently dominating the discussion in test automation. The community is in a phase of trial and error, in which initial experience is being gathered and it is becoming clear what works and what doesn’t.
This phase will shift. In a year’s time, contributions are likely to be about concrete cases with measurable results, rather than about initial trials.
Hype topics change regularly in this discipline. The current topic is followed by the next one and the one after that, and it is precisely this change of topic that keeps the conference format alive.
An event lives from the input of its community
Feedback and suggestions are expressly encouraged. Immediately after the presentations, participants add points so that the organizers can see how a contribution is received.
What also counts is the content. Anyone who would like contributions or a workshop on a specific topic for the next edition can submit this and the organizers will try to actively include such topics in the agenda.
There are online meet-ups between the face-to-face events. A lecture that has been canceled will be made up for in an online format, for example, so that the exchange is not tied to the two days of the conference.
How TACON fits into a larger conference framework
TACON is part of a series of specialist conferences along the software lifecycle. There are also formats for requirements management, security, governance, software architecture and enterprise architecture management.
There is also a smaller Community Day format for testing. Around 30 quality assurance managers from larger companies meet here, also for two days in Leipzig, every six months or so.
This format is deliberately closed. Nothing is recorded, the door remains closed and it is possible to talk openly. Anyone who brings along a specific problem from their own department can work on it together with the others.
The difference to TACON lies in the focus. While TACON provides impetus through presentations, the Community Day serves as an intensive session for quality management, in which the discussion takes precedence over the presentation program.
The next TACON will take place on September 16 and 17, 2026 in Leipzig.
