Vietnamese businesses face pressure from AI.

VTV.vn - Biztech 2026 shows that Vietnamese businesses no longer have a choice between digital transformation or standing still. Change is now a condition for survival.

Biztech 2026 shows that Vietnamese businesses no longer have a choice between digital transformation or standing still. Change is now a condition for survival.

Pressure to survive

Over 2,000 delegates, 50 speakers, and dozens of technology companies attended the Biztech 2026 Conference and Exhibition, held in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of May 12th, reflecting a very clear reality: Digital transformation is no longer just a slogan for show, but has become a race for survival for Vietnamese businesses in the era of autonomous AI.

The theme "The Age of Agentic AI, Operational Automation, and New Growth Drivers" is not simply about technology. What was repeatedly emphasized throughout the main sessions was the immense pressure for survival weighing on the business community, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Giang, Secretary General of the Vietnam Software and Information Technology Services Association (VINASA), frankly acknowledged that many Vietnamese businesses still operate on a passive response model, dealing with problems only after they occur. Meanwhile, AI Agents are opening up possibilities for operations that are predictive, self-learning, and capable of making real-time decisions.

According to Gartner, bad data costs an average of $12.9 million annually, while 88% of businesses' manual spreadsheets contain errors.

This message is particularly noteworthy in the context of a rapidly changing global economy . Operating costs are escalating, cross-border competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and product lifecycles are constantly shortening. While in the past, businesses could delay digital transformation by a few years and still survive, that delay now could lead to their demise.

The banking and finance thematic session highlighted a fundamental shift in the financial services industry. Payments are no longer the final step in a transaction but have become a gateway to retaining customers within the entire digital ecosystem. A representative from Payoneer noted that modern cross-border payment infrastructure enables Vietnamese businesses to receive funds from international partners almost as quickly as domestic transactions, solving the problem of working capital for export and e-commerce businesses.

Meanwhile, the cybersecurity field is entering an unprecedentedly fierce phase. According to the CrowdStrike 2026 report presented at the conference, the time it takes for hackers to gain control of an entire system has been shortened by AI to just 29 minutes, and the number of AI-driven attacks has increased by 89%.

The worrying thing is that AI is no longer the exclusive tool of large tech corporations. It is also being used by cybercriminals, financial fraud groups, and sophisticated Deepfake attacks.

Mr. Hoang Quoc Thinh of Verichains warns that in the digital world , identity is the most valuable asset. If businesses do not upgrade their eKYC and AI security systems, they could lose not only money but also customer trust.

This pressure is also very evident in the retail and e-commerce sectors. According to Gartner, bad data causes an average loss of $12.9 million per year, while 88% of manual spreadsheets contain errors. Each employee is losing 5 to 10 hours per week just to fix data errors. This figure accurately reflects the "illness" of many Vietnamese businesses today. Fragmented data, manual operations, slow decision-making, and a lack of interconnectedness are causing them to fall behind in the race for speed.

In the digital age, competitive advantage no longer lies in the size of the business but in the speed of decision-making. The ability to switch from T+30 to T+1 has now become the dividing line between agile businesses and those that will be eliminated.

Change to move forward.

A notable point at Biztech 2026 is that the speakers no longer talked much about futuristic visions. They focused on practical, measurable solutions that could be implemented immediately.

Mr. Lam Quang Nam, Vice Chairman of VINASA, believes that digital transformation is not the exclusive privilege of large corporations but rather a "tool for equalizing" productivity. According to Mr. Nam, what businesses need now is not to wait for perfect conditions but to make at least one concrete implementation decision within the next six months. This is perhaps the most important message of Biztech 2026.

For many years, numerous Vietnamese businesses viewed digital transformation as an expensive project requiring significant investment and reserved only for businesses with substantial resources. But AI is completely changing that game. In manufacturing, the smart factory solutions presented at the conference demonstrate that businesses can start with small steps such as digitizing maintenance data, managing equipment, or predicting failures.

A notable point at Biztech 2026 is that the speakers no longer talked much about futuristic visions. They focused on practical, measurable solutions that could be implemented immediately.

According to the speakers, many Vietnamese factories currently have an overall equipment efficiency (OEE) index below 60%, significantly lower than the global standard of over 80%. The biggest reason stems from outdated maintenance thinking and fragmented data systems. Bosch Global Software Technologies stated that digital solutions can help businesses reduce maintenance costs by up to 25%, increase machine availability by 15%, and improve overall productivity by 5 to 10%.

This shows that AI isn't just for grand growth strategies. It starts with reducing waste, optimizing cash flow, saving manpower, and improving daily operational efficiency. In the financial sector, AI Agentic is also changing how businesses manage risk. Mr. Tran Viet Thang of TNTech stated that old anti-money laundering systems based on rigid rules generate too many false alarms, causing operational bottlenecks. Meanwhile, autonomous AI can learn from unusual behavior and suggest decisions in real time.

The shift from a "rule-based" to an "agent-based" model reflects a deeper change in corporate governance thinking. Today's market is too volatile for traditional methods to handle. Businesses that want to survive must empower data and AI more.

However, technology is not a magic wand. The deciding factor remains the mindset of the business leader. Many experts at Biztech 2026 share the view that AI will not replace humans, but businesses that know how to use AI will replace those that are slow to adapt. This is no longer a warning for the distant future; it is happening every day in the market.

Source: https://vtv.vn/doanh-nghiep-viet-truoc-suc-ep-ai-100260512161113004.htm