Perforce puts agentic functions in test scripts
AI ubiquity is driving every vendor worth its salt to detail new functions in its platform.
Where we (as the IT industry) were once obsessed with AI, then retrieval augmented generation and then (most recently perhaps) agentic functions, next year’s 2026 AI hype cycle is as-yet defined.
So then, more agentic messaging it is.
Latest to the front of the class this week is Perforce Software, with its agentic AI testing that sports the ability to turn plain language inputs into execution-ready test actions.
Users can now validate applications across web, Android, and iOS – without object locators, code or maintenance.
The model, available within Perfecto’s existing mobile testing platform, adapts in real-time to UI changes, failures and evolving user flows without the brittleness of traditional test logic.
DevOps blocker
Perforce suggests that testing continues to be a “main blocker” in DevOps and the automation of application delivery.
Siloed tools, flaky tests, UI instability, test data bottlenecks and triage delays create unsustainable costs and inefficiencies. Many testing companies have turned to AI copilots, which generate scripts based on prompts. But those scripts still require frameworks, setup, and constant maintenance… often amplifying the very maintenance burden teams are trying to eliminate.
Taking out the maintenance in testing opens teams up to deliver applications much faster with better customer experiences.
“Perforce Intelligence is transforming how enterprises approach quality,” said Stephen Feloney, VP of product management at Perforce. “With this release, developers can create a test before any code is written – true Test-Driven Development (TDD) – contextual validation of dynamic content like charts and images, and triage failures in real time – without the legacy baggage of scripts and frameworks. Unlike AI copilots that simply generate scripts tied to fragile frameworks, Perforce Intelligence eliminates scripts entirely and executes complete tests with zero upkeep – eliminating rework, review and risk.”
The company insists that Perfecto AI meets teams “where they are” on their AI journey, integrating into existing CI/CD pipelines and enabling new testing powered by AI, with zero maintenance across desktop, web and mobile.
Legacy support
Perforce supports teams still running legacy frameworks while enabling full AI-driven automation.
According to Don Jackson, technical evangelist at Perforce, in order for a solution to qualify as being agentic AI, that solution needs “agency”, or as more definitively described, “artificial intelligence systems capable of acting autonomously to achieve specific goals, making decisions and taking actions without constant human intervention”.
“In the context of testing, that means that it needs to be able to make decisions and take actions based on the state of the AUT (Artifact Under Test) in order to achieve the objective passed into the solution from the user via the prompt,” said Jackson. “For example, providing an instruction to the test automation solution to book a one-way flight for next Monday in business class from San Francisco to New York… and say that you prefer a window seat, if not available, then an aisle seat. An agentic AI solution would then navigate through the AUT, doing all the necessary actions to achieve the objectives specified, understanding the semantics and nuance of the prompt.”
With AI-driven testing requiring no scripts, frameworks, or maintenance, teams can streamline their workflows, improve cross-functional collaboration and reduce the risks associated with siloed tools and complex testing environments.
Perfecto AI is part of the Perforce Continuous Testing Platform.