Have you considered transitioning to a developer role if you enjoy writing automated tests?

Transitioning to development is a natural path for many who are passionate about test automation, but it is not necessarily the only or mandatory one. If you enjoy writing automated tests, you can develop towards test architecture, creating frameworks, integrating with CI/CD, which requires deep knowledge of programming and systems.

However, if you want to work more with business logic, algorithms, and create new features, then moving into development is a logical step. It is important to understand that skills gained in test automation greatly help in development, especially in writing clean, testable code.

Ultimately, the choice depends on personal interests and career goals: you can remain an expert in automation and a high-level QA engineer or expand your competencies towards development.