Taylor Clay
Software Engineer building AI-first web solutions with React, Next.js, and a business-minded approach.
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About Me
Work
I'm a Software Engineer and attempted indie hacker. I build things. I love business. I'm driven by a pragmatic, product-first mindset: code is always a means to an end, never the end itself. I'm passionate about building software that genuinely solves problems, focusing intensely on user experience, quick iterative delivery, and continuous improvement through A/B testing everything. My workflow is deeply integrated with AI, not just as a tool, but as a core enabler for efficiency and innovation.
Personal
A few things that keep me busy outside work:
- Finances: I'm an active trader and saver. I like to stay on top of macroeconomic trends and how they impact the markets.
- Education: We're on a homeschooling journey, researching how technology, especially AI, can create more personalized and effective learning paths for my kids.
- Sports: I enjoy following NCAA and NFL football or professional golf.
My AI-First Approach
Utilizing AI for boilerplate code generation, test stub creation, and preliminary code reviews.
Employing AI notetakers for meeting summaries and efficient information synthesis to extract key details and refresh context.
Leveraging agentic search for comprehensive web queries and long-form research.
My Professional Journey
Staff Software Engineer at Stitch Fix
Architecting and migrating incentive-driven UI layers with React, Next.js, and GraphQL, leading front-end development on a dynamic growth team, and optimizing client retention through A/B testing.
Senior Software Engineer at Atlassian
Implementing significant web performance enhancements for Confluence, including lazy loading and module deduplication, and actively monitoring/reducing JavaScript bundle sizes.
Team Lead & Senior Software Engineer at Oracle (Cerner)
Leading greenfield project development, defining API contracts, and guiding front-end engineering teams for virtual health surveillance platforms.
Indie Hacking & Side Projects
Ask me about my latest projects!
Expertise in full-stack development using TypeScript, React, Next.js, Postgres, Redis, Stripe, Cloudflare, and Vercel.
Implementing effective programmatic SEO strategies to help small businesses rank higher on Google and drive cost-efficient lead generation.
Developing solutions for seamless account, subscription, and payment management (Stripe) for online communities.
Crafting web apps for social sharing of AI-generated images.
Developing browser automation tools with Node.js and Puppeteer.
My Tech Stack
Word Soup
Languages & Frameworks
Testing
DevOps & Observability
Databases & Infrastructure
AI / LLM / GenAI
Extensive practical experience across various tools and integrations for development and workflow enhancement.
Community & Leadership
- Guest Speaker for the EECS Department at the University of Kansas.
- Conference CFP Reviewer, TechTalk/Lightning Talk Speaker, and Happy Hour Organizer.
- Recruiting and Intern Ambassador, Career Fair Representative.