TJ Durnford
Principal Software Development Engineer at Microsoft
Dallas, Texas, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolTJ Durnford is a Principal Software Development Engineer at Microsoft with a decade of experience building conversational AI, LLMs, and GPT-driven experiences that reach millions of users. He architects and ships scalable, developer-friendly frameworks—most recently laying the groundwork for the Copilot agent builder and speeding Copilot Studio load times—while balancing UX, performance, and robust engineering. TJ blends full-stack fluency (notably contributions to high-profile Bot Framework projects like BotBuilder-Samples, botbuilder-js, Composer, and WebChat) with a background in data science and financial analytics, giving him a pragmatic, metrics-informed approach to product design. Known for turning prototypes into production features, he focuses on modular, well-documented systems that reduce integration friction and empower teams to adopt advanced AI confidently.
10 years of coding experience
8 years of employment as a software developer
Data Science Immersive, Data Science Immersive at GalvanizeBachelor’s Degree, Mathematics and Computer Science, Bachelor’s Degree, Mathematics and Computer Science at Gonzaga UniversityHigh School Diploma, High School Diploma at Regis Jesuit High School
Stackoverflow
3,662reputation
134kreached
179answers
1question
Github Skills (29)
javascript10
css10
bots10
typescript10
user-interface10
ui-design10
uid10
sdk10
front-end-development10
typescript-types10
googlebot10
bot-framework10
nodejs10
typescripts10
react10
Programming languages (6)
Github contributions (5)
microsoft/BotFramework-Composer
Nov 2019 - May 2022
Dialog creation and management for Microsoft Bot Framework Applications
Role in this project:
Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:361 reviews, 216 commits, 168 PRs in 2 years 6 months
Contributions summary:TJ primarily focused on developing and improving the user interface for the Microsoft Bot Framework Composer application. Their contributions included implementing and modifying features related to the onboarding process, user input, and bot responses. They also worked on styling and design elements, such as fixing border radius and adapting the look of the LG editor. Furthermore, the user was involved in fixing integration tests for the front-end functionality.
chatbotsdialogconversational-aibotdialogue-systems
microsoft/BotFramework-WebChat
Apr 2019 - Oct 2020
A highly-customizable web-based client for Azure Bot Services.
Role in this project:Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:172 reviews, 46 commits, 77 PRs in 1 year 6 months
Contributions summary:TJ primarily worked on enhancing the user interface of the web-based client for Azure Bot Services. They focused on implementing and refining features related to text input, including wrapping, resizing, and handling various input events like "Shift+Enter" and "Enter." The user also contributed to the visual design of the interface by adding new features, such as suggested actions with images and setting background colors for the text box. Additionally, they fixed issues with Adaptive Cards, ensured correct Markdown rendering, and addressed general UI improvements and bug fixes.
conversational-aibotchatazure-bothighly-customizable
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