Binh Khiem Nguyen

Before coffee, there were late-night deadlines.

Before I worked in coffee, I studied computer science. I later moved into photography and design, spending many late nights finishing projects and meeting deadlines. Coffee kept me company through those nights. That familiar cup beside my work became my first inspiration to explore the coffee business.

I still carry that creative experience with me. Photography and design taught me to think about what people see and feel, while my IT background helped me look at how things work behind the scenes. Coffee brought those interests together around something I enjoyed every day.

Learning the craft, then studying the operation.

I began as a barista at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in 2018. In 2019, my work at Black Bottle Coffee in Vietnam included menu setup and store operations. My journey continued through coffee businesses of different sizes, with practical work in roasting and barista training.

I travelled to coffee farms and roasteries across Vietnam, learning through cupping, conversations and exploration of green-coffee processing and roasting. Sharing my own coffee was part of that journey. I was learning about the product and the people behind it, from its origins to the moment it reached a guest.

Working in coffee brought a new set of questions. With my IT background, I kept asking myself: “Could I make this task easier? Could I make that task faster?” The questions came from the daily operation, where a good drink depends on more than the recipe: a clear order, the right ingredients, a prepared team and records the business can understand.

After COVID-19, I explored these questions more deeply. I studied ways to improve how work was organized and how a business could operate, looking at the connections between ordering, payment, preparation, inventory, staff and reporting. I wanted fewer repeated steps and clearer handoffs between people. That search led me to develop the Kalim Ecosystem.

The ecosystem grew from the combination of those experiences: a foundation in computer science, a creative career in photography and design, and practical work in coffee. Coffee gave me the setting and the questions; my IT background helped me turn them into a connected system.

In early 2026, I supported Marius Dobré with the opening of Dobré Café at Westbrook CTrain Station in Calgary and with staff training. I have applied my experience in Vietnam and Canada to completing the Kalim hospitality apps and preparing the first Kalim Coffee location.

The observation behind Voice Order.

In the United States and Canada, I noticed how much everyday life revolves around driving, including the coffee stop. I wanted ordering ahead to fit that routine more naturally. Voice Order grew from that observation: express a drink request, review the available choices and confirm checkout with Apple Pay on the guest’s device before pickup.

My experience behind the counter shaped what follows: the confirmed order needs to reach the team clearly. Read my Voice Order story →

More ways to order. More people included.

I also want Voice Order to make coffee ordering easier for people who are blind or have low vision. Being able to say what you would like can reduce the need to find every drink option on a screen.

On iPhone, Apple’s VoiceOver reads screen content aloud and supports navigation without relying on sight. My goal is to bring spoken ordering and accessible order review together, with the guest in control of confirmation and payment.

I want to carry this purpose beyond coffee by building more practical apps for people who face accessibility barriers in everyday life. Feedback from people who use assistive technology will help shape that work.

The question behind the ecosystem.

What does a coffee chain need beyond accepting an order? A barista needs clear drink instructions. A team needs workable schedules and training. Managers need reviewed time and tip records. Stock needs to reflect what drinks use. The business needs reporting that distinguishes a sale, a cost, a cash movement and a forecast.

I committed time and effort to designing these connections around the coffee operation I want to build. My goal is to reduce repeated entry and disconnected decisions, while giving guests, employees, managers and investors their own appropriate view.

Modern POS platforms can already offer extensive management tools and integrations. My reason for building is the ability to shape an operating model around my coffee business, including the relationships between service, people and financial information.

One iced latte. A connected journey.

1. Kalims · The guest’s choice

   The guest chooses a store, explores its menu and customizes a drink. Kalim Assistant can help express an order through voice, while the guest reviews the actual drink options and total before paying. Progress, receipts, history and Drops rewards keep that purchase connected to the guest’s account.

2. Kalim · The store’s work

   The confirmed order becomes a preparation task in the store, with progress that the guest can follow. Configured recipes connect drink sales with ingredient usage and costs. Menu management, stock receiving, purchasing and reports support the operating work behind the cup.

3. KalimStaffs · The people making it happen

   Employees have a workspace for their assigned stores, schedules, recorded attendance, learning, tips and pay information. Managers review time records and cash-tip counts. Newly collected tip-jar cash is distinguished from tips already on receipts, helping avoid recording the same money twice.

   Payroll preparation retains approval by an authorized Admin or Accounting user. Actual automated bank payment remains a separate integration in progress.

4. Kalim Invest · Understanding the business

   Authorized investors can follow permitted operating figures, approved plans and company updates. Reports use recorded sales and available costs; missing information remains visible. Forecasts stay separate from recorded results, and cash-ledger activity is not presented as a bank balance.

These connections explain the depth of the project. The apps serve different people, but the relationships between their work are part of the same design.

Care in the details.

Recipes and barista learning connect my coffee experience with the software. Store assignments and permissions connect the system with real responsibilities. Staff purchase benefits relate to approved team records; investor access requires authorization. A connected ecosystem still needs clear boundaries.

The design also distinguishes an estimated wage from a reviewed statement and a confirmed bank payment. It distinguishes test orders from recorded trading activity. Those are practical operating decisions, as much as software decisions.

Building the next chapter in Calgary.

The four hospitality apps are complete and ready for store use, with public app launch planned for January 2027. As the sole founder, I am now seeking funding to open the first Kalim Coffee location in Calgary, recruit a team and put the system into daily service. Site, financing and opening arrangements remain in preparation.

The coffee voice-order journey illustrates my intended service journey. I chose Apple Pay for guest checkout. At the counter, Apple granted the Tap to Pay on iPhone entitlement on 6 October 2026, and I completed a real card payment through Stripe using a paired iPad POS and iPhone customer counter. These are distinct payment flows; NFC Wallet membership and automated bank payroll still depend on the relevant approvals and provider connections. A physical drive-thru and longer-term robotic preparation require further development and operating validation.

My plan brings Coffee and Technology together. I want to grow the Kalim Coffee chain while also offering the ecosystem as paid software adapted for other businesses. The two activities are intended to run in parallel, with the coffee operation keeping the technology grounded in everyday service.

My ambition is a repeatable coffee-chain model for Canada. The first location will bring drink quality, hospitality and the completed apps into daily operation before wider growth. A guest should feel the ease; the team should understand the work that makes it possible.

With coffee, the day feels a little easier.

Explore the coffee and tea menu → · Read my plan for the first store →

A conversation shaped by coffee.

My travels, continuing learning and the coffee I shared along the way led Mai Triều Nguyễn to invite me to a podcast conversation.