AI paves the way for dual-growth businesses

Not only a productivity support tool, artificial intelligence (AI) is also considered a platform to help businesses develop dual, digital transformation and green transformation for sustainable development.

Inevitable trend

According to a survey by the Department of Private Enterprise and Collective Economic Development ( Ministry of Finance ) in 2024, more than 90% of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises have at least one form of digital technology application in their operations, but only a small part is systematically exploiting AI. Meanwhile, the world is entering a period of exponential AI development, 77% of global enterprises have used AI to measure energy consumption and detect waste in production. And this is a sign that the gap between Vietnamese and world enterprises is becoming increasingly obvious if there is no timely action.

According to Dr. Can Van Luc - Chief Economist of BIDV , the trend of greening and digitalization, especially AI, is taking place strongly as an inevitable trend. Assessing the benefits of technology application, Mr. Luc said that AI is identified as one of four very important digital technologies in the coming time, along with data, blockchain and cloud computing. In addition, information security, data and network security are also issues that businesses need to pay special attention to. The scale of AI's added value is forecast to increase from 7% to 29% in the next 10 years globally, possibly contributing up to 30% of the added value from the digital technology sector.

In addition, AI technology is being applied most in the fields of finance, banking and e-commerce, while tourism and real estate are still slow. The US is the country investing the most in AI, but Vietnam still invests quite little. According to survey data, AI can contribute about 120-130 billion USD to Vietnam's economy by 2040, equivalent to about 7.5% of GDP. Dr. Can Van Luc added that AI is a strategic problem, not a simple technological problem, and businesses need to consider this as an investment, not a cost. The results may not be visible immediately, but in the long run, they will be very specific and this is a long-term investment problem. Moreover, the costs of managing, changing, maintaining and developing AI systems are very large, businesses need to consider whether to do it themselves, outsource, or combine both. The important thing is that the right data is more beneficial than a lot of data.

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Increase customer base

Ms. Nguyen Viet Hue - representative of the Department for Private Enterprise Development and Collective Economy (Ministry of Finance) said that although accounting for 98% of the total number of enterprises, most small and medium enterprises are in the "initial transformation" stage, mainly focusing on production automation and export data reporting, while lacking investment in quality control, maintenance or emissions management. Meanwhile, sharing from the perspective of enterprises, Ms. Nguyen Huong Quynh - CEO of the innovation platform BambuUP commented that this is a fragmented and disjointed stage. AI is the factor that can help connect those pieces into a smart network, where data, processes and people operate in unison.

According to Ms. Quynh, the process of applying AI in dual transformation needs to be implemented in five consecutive steps: assessing the current situation and determining goals; standardizing data and technology infrastructure; quickly piloting simple AI applications; leadership commitment and human resource training; and finally, measuring, optimizing and scaling.

Sharing about the strategy of applying AI and smart data in business management, MISA General Director Le Hong Quang said that the rate of enterprises applying AI in management increased from 33% (in 2022) to 72% (in 2024). Enterprises applying data to make decisions can increase the ability to attract customers 23 times higher than traditional enterprises. Applying AI helps increase customer care productivity by 1.71 times, only needing to use 350 people instead of 600 people to take care of customers, at the same time, optimizing financial processes, automating accounting and supporting enterprises to access capital faster.

According to economic experts, in addition to the prospects, there are still many obstacles that small and medium-sized enterprises need to overcome to make AI a driving force for sustainable development. The three main barriers today are finance, human resources and innovation culture. About 86% of small and medium-sized enterprises consider technology investment costs as the main obstacle. In addition, the lack of consultants and digital skills makes many enterprises "not know where to start".

According to Dai Doan Ket Newspaper

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/ai-mo-duong-cho-doanh-nghiep-phat-trien-kep-197251108171932491.htm