Thomas Cayne

Principal Software Engineer

LinkedIn · Austin, TX 78745

Professional Summary

Principal software engineer with 36+ years building software, including 15+ years delivering modern full-stack and cloud-connected applications across telecommunications, wealth management, labor compliance, and SaaS. Hands-on with Angular, React, Svelte, TypeScript, Node.js, C#/.NET, SQL, Azure, and AWS. Experience includes maintaining an 11-application portfolio, rebuilding more than 2,000 automated tests, migrating legacy systems, and developing reusable libraries, APIs, and data-intensive interfaces. Directs AI coding assistants across architecture, implementation, testing, debugging, and documentation while retaining responsibility for requirements, technical decisions, verification, and code quality.

Technical Skills & Core Competencies

Frontend Engineering: Angular, React, Next.js, Svelte, TypeScript, JavaScript, RxJS, NgRx, NgNeat Elf/Akita, HTML5, SCSS, Tailwind CSS, Figma, WCAG/ADA.

Backend & APIs: Node.js, Nest.js, Express.js, C# ASP.NET Core, RESTful Web APIs, GraphQL, Electron.js, API Integration, AI Workflow Orchestration.

Databases & ORMs: SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Prisma, Drizzle, TypeORM, Sequelize, Stored Procedures, Database Schema Design.

Cloud & DevOps: Microsoft Azure, AWS, Azure DevOps, GitLab Ultimate, GitHub, Docker, CI/CD Pipelines, PM2, Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Testing & Observability: Jest, Playwright, Cypress, WebdriverIO, Vitest, Jasmine, Karma, Microsoft Application Insights, Telemetry, Unit Testing, Integration Testing, Structured Observability.

Methodologies & Core Competencies: AI-Assisted Development (LLM Prompt Engineering, Copilot), Agile/Scrum, Legacy System Modernization, Offshore Team Mentorship, Enterprise Architecture.

Experience

Slashand LLC | Austin, TX

Principal Software Engineer (Founder) | November 2025 – Present

  • Architecting and building Gravity English, an in-progress multi-tenant EdTech platform with subdomain and white-label tenancy, role-based access control, internationalization, and configurable subscription tiers.
  • Designed a server-driven UI course architecture that stores structured course definitions as AST data, using PostgreSQL and Supabase for metadata and AWS S3 for larger JSON and media assets.
  • Built a pluggable AI-provider layer supporting OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and local/OpenAI-compatible models, with encrypted bring-your-own-key credentials, capability routing, health checks, and cost tracking.
  • Developed the core frontend and timeline architecture for Coverlay Studio, a browser-based AI-assisted video-editing application using React, Next.js, and TypeScript.
  • Applied production-grade engineering practices to Gravity English, including automated testing, GitHub Actions CI/CD, Docker-based deployment workflows, structured observability, and accessible responsive interfaces.

LCPtracker | New Braunfels, TX

Software Engineer | November 2024 – October 2025

  • Modernized an Angular 17+ enterprise codebase with significant technical debt, introducing clearer frontend architecture, reusable components, and consistent TypeScript practices.
  • Repaired, refactored, and replaced more than 2,000 unit tests and helped migrate applications away from Karma to a modern testing stack, restoring accurate coverage and reliable CI/CD execution.
  • Built and published a reusable Angular NPM library with custom TypeScript decorators that standardized Microsoft Application Insights telemetry across enterprise applications.
  • Developed data-intensive certified-payroll interfaces using Angular Material Table, multi-column sorting, server-side pagination, and custom cell renderers for labor-compliance records across thousands of public-works projects.
  • Used GitHub Copilot and LLM-assisted workflows for refactoring, testing, and prototyping while mentoring distributed developers in TypeScript standards and code-review practices.

BetaNXT (formerly LSEG BETA+) | Wealth Management Technology – New York, NY

Senior Software Engineer (Contract) | February 2023 – March 2023

  • Built and integrated C# ASP.NET Web APIs with Angular AG Grid interfaces for a wealth-management platform with more than 40 years of operating history, 50M+ retail accounts, and 35M+ daily securities transactions.
  • Applied AG Grid's server-side row model, virtual scrolling, column grouping, and custom cell renderers to provide responsive access to high-volume securities data.
  • Diagnosed performance bottlenecks and delivered UI and API enhancements within an AWS and GitLab Ultimate CI/CD environment using security scanning, peer review, Agile, and ITSM controls.

AT&T | Telecommunications – Austin, TX

Senior Applications Developer | October 2019 - December 2022

  • Developed, modernized, and supported a portfolio of 11 enterprise analytics applications using Node.js, Express, Angular, React, TypeScript, and SQL.
  • Migrated four core applications from Adobe ColdFusion to Node.js and Angular while maintaining business continuity and compliance with AT&T security requirements.
  • Selected and implemented data-grid technologies according to application needs: Handsontable for spreadsheet-style editing and Swimlane ngx-datatable for virtualized rendering of high-volume API results.
  • Built and optimized backend data layers, including complex SQL queries and stored procedures, and managed CI/CD pipelines and production diagnostics through Azure DevOps and Azure App Service.
  • Provided architectural guidance, code reviews, and mentorship to a team of 11 senior developers, establishing consistent Angular, TypeScript, and UI engineering practices.

Park Place Technologies | IT Infrastructure and Network Optimization – Mayfield, OH

Software Developer (Full-Stack) | July 2017 – September 2019

  • Developed and scaled the Central Park Customer Portal using React, ASP.NET Core, C#, and REST APIs, delivering dashboards and service-ticket workflows for 13,000+ customers across 115 countries.
  • Built an internal Angular application that automated IT asset disposition, storage migrations, and relocations across 35,000 data centers. Selected Angular Material Table for lighter dashboards and Swimlane ngx-datatable with virtual scrolling for high-volume datasets.
  • Managed Azure DevOps build and release pipelines, wrote C# unit tests, conducted code reviews, and worked with cross-functional Agile teams to translate requirements and resolve production issues.

Hess Print Solutions | Publishing & Distribution – Kent, OH

List Services Programmer (Software Engineer) | November 2014 - June 2017

  • Designed and built a cross-platform Electron desktop application using Node.js, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and Handsontable. Its spreadsheet-style editing and real-time billing calculations reduced estimation time by 83%, from 30 minutes to under five.
  • Developed a C#/.NET command-line tool integrated with the Electron application to synchronize data across office spreadsheets nationwide, eliminating manual data entry.
  • Automated mailing-data and production workflows using Node.js scheduled jobs, CASS/NCOA processing, and BCC Mail Manager/Monticello, handling remote file updates without data loss and generating postal-production assets.
  • Owned the complete SDLC independently—from requirements and architecture through deployment, documentation, and user support—working directly with department leadership and supporting adoption across multiple offices.

Education & Honors

Colorado Technical University, Colorado Springs, CO
Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Software Engineering | February 2023—August 2024
President's List, GPA 4.0

Colorado Technical University – Upsilon Pi Epsilon
International Honor Society for the Computing and Information Disciplines