#30 Nikolaj Tolkačiov (Nord Security): We Are All Selfish: Game Theory, Trust, and Building Better QA Teams

Season 2 Episode : In this episode of Tech Effect, we meet Nikolaj Tolkačiov. Nikolaj is an Engineering Manager at Nord Security, an Independent QA Consultant, and an Executive Board Member at LTSTQB with extensive experience in software quality assurance and engineering leadership. Join us as Nikolaj shares his unconventional journey from QA to leading engineering teams and the hard lessons learned from an ambitious leap to CTO that didn't work out. He reveals insights from game theory about why we're all naturally selfish and how leaders can build cooperation through trust and incentives. We also explore the art of balancing quality with delivery speed when shipping features with known bugs, the security challenges of testing zero-knowledge architecture at Nord Security, and his advice for QA professionals on building their skills before relying on AI. 👉 Hit "Follow" on our podcast page to receive updates on future episodes of "Tech Effect," where we bring you the latest news, trends, and expert insights from the world of technology. Together, let's unlock the potential of software solutions and embrace the future of innovation. 🔔 Follow TestDevLab for more technology & software related content: LinkedIn: Facebook: Instagram:

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#30 Nikolaj Tolkačiov (Nord Security): We Are All Selfish: Game Theory, Trust, and Building Better QA Teams is an episode from Tech Effect by TestDevLab.

This episode is 00:44:38 long.

This episode was published on Feb 24, 2026.

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