Lauren Tan

Accomplishments

• Helps build and maintain React Compiler as a member of the React Compiler core team.¹³⁵
• Co-announced React Compiler v1.0, the compiler's first stable release, on October 7, 2025, and presented it in the React Conf 2025 Day 1 keynote.²¹²
• Worked through the compiler's first rewrite, moving it to a Control Flow Graph based High-Level Intermediate Representation.²
• Wrote the React Compiler Beta announcement in October 2024, opening the compiler's Working Group to everyone.¹³
• Presented the State of React and "Forget About Memo" at React Conf 2024.¹⁴
• Created ember-changeset, bringing the idea of Ecto changesets to Ember.js developers.¹⁵
• Built pstack for Cursor's official plugin collection and the open-source agent orchestrator noodle.¹⁶¹¹⁷
• Has given more than 15 conference talks on TypeScript, React, GraphQL, Elixir, and engineering leadership.⁹

From design to engineering leadership

Tan started a career in tech as a UI designer, then, in Tan's own words, found the allure of learning to bring those designs to life too enticing. Through the mid-2010s Tan wrote extensively about Ember.js and Elixir, and in June 2016 introduced ember-changeset, an Ember addon that brings the idea of Ecto changesets into Ember.js, together with a companion addon, ember-changeset-validations.⁸¹⁵

Tan went on to serve as an engineering manager at Netflix and then as a software engineer at Facebook. Along the way Tan gave more than 15 conference talks on TypeScript, JavaScript, React, GraphQL, Elixir and Phoenix, microservices, and engineering leadership, at events from EmberConf and ElixirConf to React Rally, dotJS in Paris, and TSConf, including a 2018 RubyConf talk on building Netflix's studio software. Tan's GitHub also hosts hiring-without-whiteboards, a list of companies and teams that favor interviews resembling day-to-day work over whiteboard trivia.⁸⁹¹⁸

React Compiler

In March 2023 Tan co-authored a React Labs update describing React Forget, an optimizing compiler that makes plain JavaScript in React components automatically reactive, which the team had begun using in production in limited areas at Meta. The React team credits Tan, with Joe Savona, Sathya Gunasekaran, and Mofei Zhang, with the compiler's first rewrite, which moved its architecture to a Control Flow Graph based High-Level Intermediate Representation.¹⁹²

At React Conf 2024 Tan presented the State of React and a talk titled "Forget About Memo." That October Tan wrote the React Compiler Beta announcement, which opened the React Compiler Working Group to everyone and added support for apps on React 17 and later.¹⁴¹³

On October 7, 2025, Tan, Savona, and Zhang announced React Compiler v1.0, the first stable release, which the team describes as battle-tested at Meta and which works with both React and React Native. Tan announced the release in the Day 1 keynote of React Conf 2025.²¹²²⁰

Current work

Tan's GitHub profile describes Tan as a software engineer at xai-org, the GitHub organization of SpaceXAI, and as part of the React Compiler core team. React's team page lists Tan among its working group members as an engineer at Cursor, in the Compiler group. Cursor was acquired by SpaceX on August 14, 2026, and SpaceXSI says Cursor became part of SpaceXSI that day.^3410567

Tan also builds tools for AI coding agents. Tan wrote pstack, a plugin in Cursor's official plugins repository that aims to help developers write less but higher-quality code, and publishes noodle, an open-source Go project for orchestrating agents using skills. Cursor listed Tan, as a Member of Technical Staff, among the Main Stage speakers at its Compile London event, with a talk titled "I Shipped 2,000 PRs Last Month."^161171121

Timeline

1. Mar 3, 2015Spoke at EmberConf on "Ambitious UX for Ambitious Apps."⁹
2. Jun 17, 2016Introduced the ember-changeset addon for Ember.js.¹⁵
3. Mar 8, 2018Spoke at RubyConf in Sydney on building Netflix's studio software.⁹
4. Nov 28, 2018Gave "Learning to Love Type Systems" at dotJS in Paris.⁹
5. Oct 11, 2019Spoke at TSConf on leading by influence and the business value of type systems.⁹
6. Mar 22, 2023Co-authored a React Labs update on React Forget, the optimizing compiler for React.¹⁹
7. May 2024Presented the State of React and "Forget About Memo" at React Conf 2024.¹⁴
8. Oct 21, 2024Published the React Compiler Beta release announcement.¹³
9. Oct 7, 2025Co-announced React Compiler v1.0 and presented it in the React Conf 2025 keynote.²¹²
10. Sep 16, 2026Listed as a Main Stage speaker at Cursor's Compile London event.¹¹²¹

Other documented roles

Roles the sources document that are not confirmed as current.

• Software Engineer, Facebook (Meta)⁸¹
• Engineering Manager, Netflix⁸⁹¹

Where they work

• xAI 5 people in the wiki
• Cursor 4 people in the wiki
• React 1 person in the wiki

Related people

• Byron HsuAlso at xAI
• Xinlei ChenAlso at xAI
• Elon MuskAlso at xAI
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• Satya NadellaBig SI
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