🌲 Forrest Phan

Hi, I'm 🌲 Forrest Phan

🎯 Bridging complex tech architectures with strategic project delivery.

🇻🇳 Vietnam

I'm a Vietnamese Software Engineer specializing in Node.js, React.js, Cloud infrastructure, and microservices. I am deeply passionate about mentoring developers and scaling both robust backend architectures and team capabilities.

About Me

About Me

My core expertise lies in the Node.js and Cloud Infrastructure ecosystem. I thrive on taking products from zero to scale—whether that’s transitioning a monolithic MVP into a robust, high-traffic microservices platform, or bridging the gap between complex technical architecture and strategic project management.

Off the clock, I’m usually mentoring the engineers around me, writing up what a project actually taught me, or pulling a new tool apart to see how it holds up under load.

Side projects, with the reasoning kept in

Each one started from a single hard problem, and each writeup keeps what I decided and what it cost — capacity estimates, protocol choices, the trade-offs that didn't survive.

Lattice

Lattice

A realtime collaborative whiteboard where many people draw on one canvas at the same time, backed by a self-hosted CRDT sync server instead of a realtime SaaS.

TypeScriptNext.jsReactNode.jsExpressWebSocketYjs / CRDTPrismaMySQLNginx
Demo Source
Snipp

Snipp

A URL shortener built as a full system-design exercise — requirements and capacity estimation written before any code, then a Redis cache layer, rate limiting and click analytics measured against those numbers.

TypeScriptNode.jsExpressNext.jsReactPrismaMySQLRedisNginxPM2
Demo Source
View All Projects

Work Experience

  • Open Reach Tech

    Open Reach Tech

    Founding Engineer

    Dec 2022 - Present
    • Split the core platform from a monolithic MVP into Node.js services on AWS (EC2, S3, ELB), drawing service boundaries along the modules that were causing deploy contention between concurrent client workstreams. Added Redis read-through caching and reworked MySQL schemas and indexes on the hot read paths.
    • Chiho — AI-integrated CRM (Dec 2024 - Present): built an internal CRM and task-management product, then extended it into an AI-agent platform. Implemented RAG over internal documentation with Qdrant and LangChain, and function-calling agents that create and assign tasks directly from chat — so a request written in prose becomes a tracked task without anyone opening the CRM.
    • Automated subtitling pipeline (Jun 2025 - Present): architected an end-to-end pipeline for Nojima, a Japanese retail corporation — transcribing product and instructional video with OpenAI Whisper, then post-processing transcripts through an LLM layer that handles industry terminology and Japanese abbreviations Whisper alone gets wrong. Built the admin editor used to review and correct output before publication.
    • CloudLink CRM (2025 - 2026): a metadata-driven CRM replacing Salesforce for a Japanese client. A single column-definition record carries a field’s label, its mapping to a physical column and the flags deciding whether it is searchable, sortable, emailable or change-tracked — forms, list views, search, automation and email templates are all generated from that metadata, so a new business object ships as data rather than as a new screen. MariaDB stays the master store while Elasticsearch serves every list and search query as a synced replica. Record changes emit Kafka events into a flow engine that evaluates JSON criteria trees against old-versus-new values and dispatches create, update and email actions across a dozen worker processes.
    • As the first engineering hire, introduced the engineering process the team still runs on — CI/CD pipelines, a standardised code review protocol and automated testing across the core services — and set the engineering standards as the team grew from 1 to 20+ engineers, running technical interviews and the hiring rubric. Took PMP to coordinate several concurrent client workstreams once scheduling, rather than code, became the bottleneck.
    View Company
  • Kiaisoft

    Kiaisoft

    Software Engineer

    Mar 2022 - Nov 2022 (9 mos)
    • Owned the backend of a car-service booking app end to end, including PayJP payment integration. The app took 1,000+ bookings and over $30,000 in revenue in its first month.
    • Built the matching engine and subscription billing for a cross-border recruitment portal connecting Japanese employers with Vietnamese candidates.
    • Wrote the REST API in PHP (Laravel) and tuned MySQL indexes and query execution plans on the endpoints the mobile client hit most, plus request validation and error-handling middleware.
    View Company
  • ICT4D Vietnam

    ICT4D Vietnam

    Intern Software Engineer

    Dec 2021 - Feb 2022 (3 mos)
    • Built the shopping cart module of an online pharmacy platform, implementing the add / update / remove flows and the handoff into checkout with Laravel on the backend and Vue.js on the frontend.
    • Made carts survive the session by persisting them server-side and merging a guest cart into the user’s own cart on login, instead of discarding either one.
    • Kept cart totals correct under concurrent stock changes, validating quantities against live inventory and recalculating line totals when prices or promotions changed mid-session.
    • Worked inside an existing Laravel codebase as the only intern on the feature — reading conventions before adding to them, and taking API contracts and code review feedback from the senior engineers who owned the module.
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More my Work Experience

Education and Certifications

  • Project Management Institute (PMI)

    Project Management Institute (PMI)

    Project Management Professional (PMP)®

    Sep 2025 - Sep 2028 (3 yrs 1 mo)
    • Validated comprehensive expertise in Predictive, Agile, and Hybrid methodologies to effectively drive project success and align technical execution with business goals.
    • Mastered core management domains, including Resource Allocation, Risk Management, and Agile/Scrum ceremonies, successfully applying them to achieve 100% on-time delivery in complex workflows.
    • Bridged the gap between technical architecture and strategic project management, enabling optimized team productivity and seamless cross-functional collaboration.
    View Certification
  • University of Transport and Communications

    University of Transport and Communications

    Bachelor of Information Technology

    Sep 2019 - Aug 2023 (4 yrs)
    • Achieved a solid academic record with a Cumulative GPA of 3.28/4.0 (8.02/10.0), demonstrating a consistent commitment to technical excellence.
    • Defended the Graduation Thesis with an outstanding score of 9.4/10 (Grade A) by developing a full-stack Nail Salon Booking platform, leveraging PHP (Laravel) for a robust backend and React.js for an interactive user interface.
    • Excelled in AI & Data courses, earning high marks in specialized modules such as Artificial Intelligence (8.9/10 - Grade A) and Data Mining.
    • Mastered Core Software Engineering, achieving Grade A in crucial architectural subjects including Software Engineering (8.7/10), Java Technology (8.5/10), and Oracle Database Management System (8.6/10).
    • Demonstrated strong proficiency in application development with solid performance (Grade B+) in Web Programming and Object-Oriented Analysis and Design.
    View Institution
My Projects About Me