Vietnamese businesses enter new era of AI-driven management and operations

Vietnam Young Business Leaders Forum 2026

Speaking at the Vietnam Young Business Leaders Forum 2026, held on May 15 in Hanoi, Le Phung Thang, chairman of the Hanoi Young Business Association's (HANOIBA) seventh term and chairman and CEO of Citicom Holding, said the company began its technology adoption journey quite early through multiple rounds of digital transformation, experimentation and adjustment.

Building on that, Citicom has gradually moved towards a lean management model, significantly reducing intermediary layers and operating through more autonomous teams. Notably, the company is transitioning from a multi-layered management structure to a leaner operational mechanism in which data and AI directly support decision-making.

“Citicom is currently deploying AI applications across the entire organisation using platforms such as ChatGPT for Business, Microsoft Copilot and Claude, depending on the functions of each department,” Thang said.

The company aims to integrate AI into most job positions within the next six to nine months, turning AI into a real-time decision-support layer across operations. He added that businesses are shifting from communication-based management models towards data- and AI-driven governance, where every target is quantified clearly from the outset.

Doan Viet Dung, vice chairman of HANOIBA’s ninth term, chairman of the HANDIBA E-commerce Alliance, and chairman of Hesman Vietnam, stressed that AI only delivers value when businesses first establish a strong data foundation.

“Many companies focus heavily on AI technologies while overlooking the most important step: building a centralised database system, which is a core corporate asset, arguably more important than tools or software platforms,” he said.

Dung argued that data must not only be comprehensive, but also simple, accessible, and closely aligned with business objectives. Without standardised data and a shared understanding across departments, businesses risk fragmented operations and poor coordination. He added that data should be clear enough for anyone in the organisation to understand and use effectively.

He also highlighted the need to build a data-driven decision-making culture. Rather than relying on qualitative targets, businesses should prioritise measurable indicators and align activities with clearly defined metrics.

“Data should not exist solely for reporting purposes. It must directly support day-to-day business decisions, especially in fast-changing sectors such as e-commerce,” Dung said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Xuan Phu, vice chairman of HANOIBA’s fifth and sixth terms and chairman of Sunhouse Group, shared insights from managing a large-scale manufacturing enterprise.

“With multiple factories, hundreds of thousands of components, and multi-layered supply chains, manual management is no longer feasible,” he said, noting that Sunhouse adopted an ERP system early on to integrate internal data, although he described it as only a foundational step.

The company is now developing a “Data Lake” architecture, consolidating all internal and external data into a unified system. The data is then standardised and categorised into specialised “Data Marts” tailored to different analytical needs. "The ultimate goal is to move towards a management model where executives can directly query operational information through AI, rather than waiting for aggregated reports as in the past," Phu said.

Beyond governance, Sunhouse is also applying AI and manufacturing execution systems deeply within production operations to monitor product lifecycles and labour productivity in real time. The system can automatically calculate salaries and performance metrics for each position, from factory workers to warehouse staff, helping link income directly to productivity while improving operational transparency.

Despite coming from different sectors, including industry, commerce and large-scale manufacturing, the speakers shared a common view that AI is gradually becoming the new management infrastructure layer for modern enterprises. Moreover, business leaders agreed that AI cannot be separated from data foundations and operational culture.

For companies to deploy AI effectively, they must follow a clear roadmap: first build centralised data platforms, standardise how data is understood and used across the organisation, and only then integrate AI into decision-making processes. Therefore, AI moves beyond being a simple support tool and becomes an “intelligence layer” that enables businesses to operate faster, more accurately and more flexibly in an increasingly volatile business environment.

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