Jonathan Borchardt

About Jonathan Borchardt

I\'m an Engineering Manager at the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) with 25 years of experience building software that makes complex data understandable and beautiful. I lead a team of engineers creating interactive demonstrations that showcase Ai2\'s cutting-edge research to the world, used by researchers globally.My career spans founding engineer to engineering manager: I\'ve built patented 3D visualization systems, shipped search features on Bing to hundreds of millions of users, led the frontend for a TV ad-tech platform through two acquisitions, and designed Varnish — Ai2\'s front-end template adopted across the organization. I hold 11 patents in visualization and advertising technology, and I\'ve been invited to co-author published AI research papers.I bring a rare combination of deep technical skill and strong design instinct. Colleagues describe me as someone who \"takes super complicated and nuanced information and figures out ways to unburden the data and make it usable and even fun.\" I care as much about the people on my team as the products we build.Technical strengths: TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Next.js, Styled-Components, Material Design, D3, data visualization, web application architecture, and AI-assisted development workflows including agentic coding and MCP integrations.I\'m currently exploring opportunities where I can combine my engineering leadership experience with my passion for building products that make complex information accessible.

Experience

1. Lead Software Engineer Engineering Manager

   Ai2

   Jun 2023 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   I lead a team of four engineers on Science Impact Labs (SI-Labs), Ai2\'s internal product studio that transforms cutting-edge AI research into polished, publicly accessible web demonstrations. I own team development, hiring, technical direction, and the delivery roadmap, setting team standards through coaching and design review. My team\'s work is often the first way the world interacts with Ai2\'s research.Key Achievements- Manage a team of four engineers, responsible for hiring, mentoring, performance development, and technical direction- Designed and maintained Varnish (varnish.allenai.org), Ai2\'s front-end template adopted by developers across the organization as the standard for all research demos- Invited as co-author on multiple published AI research papers — an unusual honor for an engineer, reflecting deep collaboration with research teams (semanticscholar.org/author/Jon-Borchardt/32••••74)- Pioneered adoption of AI-assisted development workflows across the team, including agentic coding tools, Claude Code, and MCP-based integrations, accelerating prototyping and iteration- Interviewed and hired four engineers, mentored seven engineers, and promoted two to senior rolesCore Responsibilities- Team Leadership: Coaching and mentorship of engineering staff, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Scoping development efforts, providing timeline estimates, and assigning tasks to ensure project milestones are met on schedule- Architecture and Technical Direction: Designing robust web application architectures for research demos, ensuring scalability, performance, and maintainability across dozens of concurrent projects- Product Development: Spearheading new product concepts from prototype to stakeholder review. Authoring detailed feature designs and contributing to product documentation- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Key contributor in product and development meetings, integrating insights from research scientists, designers, and engineers.

Education

• University of Montana

  Focused in Computer Science, Math, and Physics

  1997 — 1999

• University of Washington

  B.S., Computer Science

  1999 — 2001

Skills

• Xamarin
• Directx
• Ajax
• Json
• Css
• Opengl
• Enterprise Software
• Silverlight
• Opentk
• Saas
• Visual Studio
• Dot42
• C++
• Agile Methodologies
• Software Development
• Scrum
• Microsoft Sql Server
• Linq
• Start-Ups
• User Experience
• Virtual Reality
• Android Sdk
• Web Services
• Software Engineering
• Html5
• Sql
• Nvd3
• Vive
• Web Applications
• D3.js
• Xml
• Javascript
• Dc.js
• Balsamiq
• Mono
• Video Games
• Html
• Java
• Subversion
• Distributed Systems