Five Minutes With Stephen McGarry: Building the Future of Assessment at TestReach

1. You've recently joined TestReach as VP of Product & Engineering. Can you tell us a little about your background and what brought you to TestReach?

I have a deep technical background, from my early career as a developer through DBA, project management, process definition, technical architecture, and executive leadership roles. Most recently I've focused on Enterprise Application leadership with multinational organizations across Europe and North America. What drew me to TestReach was the chance to work on a product where the technical challenge really matters - assessment integrity, scale and candidate experience aren't abstract requirements here, they're central to the product. Meeting the leadership team and hearing their thinking on where the product is headed made the decision straightforward.

2. What stood out to you most about TestReach when you first got under the bonnet of the platform?

What struck me early on was the maturity of the architecture. This is a comprehensive enterprise level platform built to scale and forward looking. The breadth of what the product already handles - delivery, proctoring, and support as one connected system rather than separate applications built or acquired over time and then joined together - is a unique and genuinely strong foundation to build on.

3. Having spent time getting to know our customers, what do you think they're really looking for from an assessment platform today?

Confidence, above all, that the result reflects what the candidate actually knows. That depends on a platform that is secure, reliable and resilient, particularly as concerns around AI continue to grow, and a candidate experience that is seamless and intuitive. Increasingly it also means visibility. Institutions want to understand what's happening across their assessment programme, not just receive a score at the end.

4. One area you've spoken about internally is the opportunity to make better use of data. Why is that such an exciting area for you?

We already have access to rich, detailed data across multiple areas of the platform - delivery, proctoring, operational systems, candidate journeys - each telling part of the story. I see a significant opportunity for us to consolidate this data into clear operational dashboards and meaningful insights for our customers. When these data points are connected, test owners can move beyond reacting to individual cases and start to see patterns: where candidates spend time, where support demand is concentrated and, uniquely within TestReach, where combined assessment and proctoring data provides a more complete view of potential integrity risks.

5. What do you think makes TestReach different from other assessment platforms on the market?

TestReach offers a unique solution combining in-house proctoring and support, exam delivery, unified workflows and crucially a centralized data repository. This allows TestReach to offer institutions a single view - business insights, unified reporting, operational dashboards, security analytics - instead of disconnected products. Data forensics is the sharpest example: pattern analysis that helps proactively identify concerns, not just flag it after the fact.

6. Without giving too much away, what areas of product innovation are you most excited to work on over the next few years?

I'll stay high-level given competitive sensitivity, but the direction is clear and exciting: applying AI where it genuinely improves outcomes rather than as a buzzword, smarter workflows that cut manual overhead, richer insights from combined proctoring and assessment data surfaced automatically, and continued investment in usability and accessibility so every candidate has a positive experience.

7. If you could pick one thing you hope customers will say about TestReach in three years' time, what would it be?

That we make assessments straightforward to manage while delivering innovative, industry leading features - and that TestReach felt like a genuine partner in getting there, not just a vendor.

8. Finally, what's one thing people might be surprised to learn about you outside of work?

I try to challenge myself every year with an adventure activity. In previous years I have completed triathlons, half-marathons, adventure runs and kayaking the Great Lakes. This year I hiked part of the Inca trail in Peru ending in Machu Picchu. Along with the physical challenge I enjoy the camaraderie of each event, training and competing with friends and having that shared support to get through the tougher moments. For my next challenge I've signed up for a Spartan run, which seemed like a good idea at the time.