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In the summer of 2024, Alex Rodionov was on sabbatical when he had a realization: while LLMs were revolutionizing many aspects of software development, test automation was getting left behind. As a tech lead for Selenium, the most widely used open-source tool for automating web browsers, Alex grew frustrated with the brittle and repetitive nature of test automation. So he began building Alumnium, an AI-powered browser test automation framework that helps users offload that “automation” part of test automation so that they can focus on testing.
Just months later, Alumnium would be accepted into Catalyst, OCV's sponsorship program that provides funding and mentorship to open source authors and maintainers. Now, having completed the three-month program, Alumnium has transformed from a personal side project into a promising and rapidly maturing open source framework.
In Catalyst, Alumnium kickstarted its growth going zero-to-one. At the start, Alumnium had 29 stars and 2 contributors driving development. Today, the community has grown to 12 contributors, over 400 stars, and more than 1,200 downloads per month. Most significantly, established companies are now experimenting with Alumnium in their testing workflows.
Automating test automation
Traditional test automation requires developers to manually write code that tells the browser exactly which elements to locate and how to interact with them. When websites change, often through redesigns or updates, tests often break, requiring maintenance and updates.
Alumnium takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of writing precise automation code, developers give Alumnium high-level instructions in natural language that it executes intelligently. The AI examines the browser state, correlates instructions with what it sees on the page, and dynamically performs the required actions.
What makes Alumnium unique is its focus on complex, real-world test automation suites. Unlike other AI testing tools that work as simple demos, Alumnium is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing testing ecosystems like Selenium, Playwright, and Appium to handle the nuanced requirements of production applications.
During the Catalyst program, Alex expanded beyond web automation to include mobile platforms. "It felt to me like we had tapped into every community we could," Alex noted. "The core idea could be translated to mobile platforms like iPhones, Android. So I thought, ‘okay, maybe we should add mobile support and go into mobile testing communities.'"
Catalyzing the community
For Alex, the most transformative aspect of the Catalyst program wasn't just the funding or mentorship—it was being forced to step outside his comfort zone as a developer.
"My comfort zone is to write code and let people take it and do whatever they want, less than trying to build a community and things like that," Alex said. "The program definitely had me step out of my comfort zone and focus on these things. The growth and the contributor gain—this all has happened due to the program."
The shift from a sole development focus to community engagement revealed unexpected insights about his target market. Alex discovered that while he expected testing professionals to embrace AI-powered automation, they were actually more conservative relative to AI enthusiasts than anticipated as a result of their responsibility for ensuring quality.
"The reality of testing communities is that they're very conservative," Alex explained, "So in order to convince anyone to start using something new, it takes way more effort compared to other communities.”
Catalyst’s structured approach proved crucial to Alumnium's success. Weekly goal-setting sessions with the OCV team provided both accountability and strategic guidance. But other open source project authors in the Catalyst community provided unique value to Alumnium during the program.
“There were a lot of useful tips that people shared on how to grow their projects,” Alex noted, “I used as much as I could from this and it definitely helped. There were people with different experience, knowing what works and what doesn't work—it was definitely helpful”.
The impact of structured accountability
As the Catalyst program concludes, the project now supports both web and mobile automation, has attracted contributors from various testing ecosystems, and is being evaluated by established companies for production use.
For other open source creators considering applying to Catalyst, Alumnium demonstrates what's possible when technical excellence meets strategic community building. The program's combination of funding, mentorship, and structured accountability can transform projects.
"I think it's a great program,” Alex concluded, “I haven't seen anything like it... It was way more engaging, more demanding, more useful, and, you know, result-oriented. I've never seen a program like that—it was very cool to be part of."
OCV's Catalyst program provides funding and mentorship to open source authors and maintainers to catalyze project growth over three months. The program aims to support open source projects with commercial viability by helping maintainers increase project usage, revitalize project activity, grow community contributions, and develop relationships with experienced open source experts.
If you have an open source project with commercial potential, Catalyst could help you achieve similar growth. If you are an open source maintainer or author interested in the Catalyst program, you can apply for sponsorship here: Apply Now.