Lance Willett
Chief Quality Officer at Automattic, the company behind WordPress and WooCommerce. Responsible for maintaining quality at scale across Automattic's products and services.
Best podcasts with Lance Willett
Ranked by the Snipd community
Aug 3, 2025 • 1h 11min
63: Being Intentional About Quality with Lance Willett
In this engaging conversation, Lance Willett, the Chief Quality Officer at Automattic, shares his journey from web designer to quality leader. He dives into the complexities of measuring quality in distributed teams and the importance of fostering a positive feedback culture. Willett emphasizes the balance between craft and care in product development, while discussing innovative practices that enhance collaboration between QA and engineering teams. He also highlights strategies for cultivating a culture of quality that empowers team members and values trust.
Jul 23, 2025 • 53min
Automattic Chief Quality Officer, Lance Willett, on What It Takes to Power 45% of the Web and Learning from a $250K Mistake
Lance Willett, Chief Quality Officer at Automattic, brings insights from overseeing quality for WordPress and WooCommerce. He discusses Automattic's evolution in open source culture and the challenges of maintaining quality at scale. The conversation dives into the significance of AI innovations like support bots and contextual UI while balancing speed and governance. Willett shares lessons learned from a critical launch failure and emphasizes the importance of tools like Linear for effective quality management and the need for open communication in risk management.
