Tampa-Based Test Engineering Manager Serhii Romanov Advances Global Video Streaming Quality
Video streaming problems often surface without warning. A frozen screen, audio that drifts out of sync, or a live channel that suddenly drops. For viewers, the failure feels immediate. For engineers, it reflects a long chain of technical decisions made far from the living room.
Serhii Romanov is among the engineers working behind the scenes on those decisions. Based in Tampa, Romanov has over 15 years of experience in software testing and quality assurance, and he currently serves as a Software Test Engineering Manager at Brightgrove. He is assigned to Pluto TV, a global streaming platform owned by Paramount Global with millions of active users worldwide.
Pluto TV delivers free streaming television to viewers worldwide. Maintaining that level of reliability depends on engineers who understand not only how software works in theory, but how complex systems behave under real-world pressure. That focus has shaped Romanov’s career from its earliest stages.
From Early QA Roles to Streaming Platforms
Romanov began his career as a junior quality assurance engineer after completing a technical higher education. His early work focused on how complex software systems behave under real-world conditions, particularly in terms of performance and reliability.
He later worked with companies such as SoftServe and Red Hat, progressing into automation-focused roles. His career path reflects a steady shift from manual validation to system-level quality engineering.
Over time, Romanov moved into the video streaming domain, where scale and user experience intersect in ways that traditional testing approaches often fail to capture.
Quality Engineering at Brightgrove and Pluto TV
Today, Romanov works at Brightgrove while being embedded with Pluto TV. His responsibilities include defining test strategy, leading automation initiatives, and coordinating quality engineering teams across Europe, North America, and South America.
This structure allows testing to continue nearly around the clock. When one region finishes its workday, another region continues feature testing and stream monitoring.
Romanov has said that “one of my core principles is that quality should be built into systems at the design stage, not checked at the end.” That principle shapes how testing is planned for platforms where failures are not always apparent but can quickly impact millions of viewers.
Building Automation for Video Streaming Quality
One of Romanov’s most significant technical contributions is the development of an automated testing framework and an HLS Analyzer explicitly designed for video streaming services.
The tool monitors video streams in real time and flags quality degradation before it becomes visible to viewers. It supports industry-standard streaming formats such as HLS and DASH, which are commonly used across major platforms, including those documented by Apple.
Romanov’s analyzer integrates with AI APIs to help detect anomalies that traditional testing tools often miss. “In the field of video streaming, this meant developing custom frameworks and validation approaches, as off-the-shelf tools were simply insufficient,” he says.
Addressing the Complexity of Streaming Systems
Testing streaming platforms involves more than checking individual features. A single stream may rely on encoding pipelines, digital rights management, content delivery networks, playback devices, and real-time traffic patterns.
Romanov has explained that these dependencies make quality assurance especially demanding. A stream can technically function while still delivering a poor experience, leading viewers to leave.
“Throughout my career, I’ve focused on understanding how complex platforms work from the inside out and developing testing strategies that reflect real user behavior, not ideal scenarios,” he says.
This approach reflects a broader industry shift toward quality engineering, where reliability is built into systems rather than evaluated only at the final stage.
Publications and Technical Writing
Romanov is the author of “Frame by Frame: Expert Strategies for Video Streaming Quality”, a professional book outlining scalable, real-world approaches to maintaining high video quality across global streaming platforms. This book examines practical methods for measuring and improving key user-perceived metrics such as startup time, buffering, and image quality, and covers modern tools and techniques for testing video streaming using automated testing frameworks for HLS and DASH-based systems.
He also publishes technical articles on software testing and AI-assisted quality engineering on the DEV Community and DZone, global platforms for software professionals.
Together, these publications establish a public record of Romanov’s technical work and his contributions to the testing and maintenance of large-scale streaming systems.
Supporting Hackathons and Tech Education in Florida
Beyond his professional role, Romanov contributes to the technology community by serving as an in-person judge at major hackathons. These include Horizon AI Hackathon 2025, HackUSF 2025, and ShellHacks.
The University of South Florida hosts HackUSF, bringing together students and professionals working on artificial intelligence and data-driven projects. As a judge, Romanov evaluates submissions based on technical depth, reliability, and real-world applicability.
His involvement connects Tampa’s academic institutions with international industry professionals who work on large-scale production systems.
Views on AI in Software Testing
Romanov sees artificial intelligence as an increasingly important part of software testing, but not a replacement for engineers.
“Artificial intelligence will become a powerful assistant. Generating test ideas, analyzing large volumes of telemetry, identifying anomalies, and helping teams focus on the most significant risks,” he says.
At the same time, he emphasizes that defining quality standards and user expectations remains a human responsibility.
Looking Ahead from Tampa
Romanov’s work continues to focus on strengthening how large-scale streaming platforms are tested and maintained, particularly as AI becomes more integrated into quality engineering. His priorities include expanding research, publishing technical findings, mentoring engineers, and developing testing systems that reflect how real users experience video at scale.
“The future of testing belongs to professionals who understand both the technologies they are testing and the intelligence they use for testing,” Romanov says.
Based in Tampa, Romanov is part of a broader shift in how global streaming platforms approach reliability, moving quality engineering closer to system design and long-term performance rather than relegating it to last-stage validation.
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