AI - A new boost for Ho Chi Minh City's industry and trade to break through

'In the context that Ho Chi Minh City is shaping a new development phase with the goal of becoming the leading economic center of the region, I believe that industry and trade will be two key areas'.

Many small and medium-sized enterprises can be supported to access AI, thereby improving the competitiveness of Ho Chi Minh City's industrial and commercial ecosystem - Photo: ST

But for these pillars to break through, Ho Chi Minh City relying on traditional resources alone is not enough. Reality shows that businesses need new driving forces. And currently, artificial intelligence (AI) is the tool that can create a leap forward.

AI Boosts SMEs, Can It?

In particular, many people often think that AI is only suitable for large corporations with abundant financial and human resources. But in reality, I see that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the group that needs and can benefit the fastest. They always lack human resources and costs, but have the advantage of flexibility and readiness to innovate.

Today, for a small fee, a business owner can let AI take over time-consuming tasks like reading emails, managing schedules, drafting documents, conducting market research, or creating media content.

AI does not replace humans, but frees humans from repetitive tasks, to focus on innovation, planning and business expansion.

It is important to deploy AI properly. Proper deployment is also the way businesses in the industrial and commercial ecosystem of Ho Chi Minh City can optimize development time and resources. I think businesses need to start from the technology ecosystem they are using.

For example, if a business is familiar with Microsoft, take advantage of Copilot; if it is using Google Workspace, it can exploit Gemini. This way, it is both cost-effective and avoids the situation of "holding on" to many separate tools.

A small business without a marketing team can still produce videos , design websites or build landing pages using no-code and low-code platforms. The owner does not need to know programming, just understanding basic logic is enough to bring digital products to market.

To effectively apply AI, SMEs also need to invest in knowledge. Short-term training courses from Google, Microsoft or reputable units will help users understand how to operate, how to ask questions and how to verify information. This is especially important because AI, even the most advanced models, can still fall into the phenomenon of "hallucination" - giving wrong answers but sounding very convincing.

I have seen many businesses fail because they put too much trust in AI and forgot to verify it. Therefore, it is necessary to build an immutable principle: All data generated by AI must be verified, especially market data and information.

Additionally, AI should not only be exploited at the individual level, but should be deployed at the group level, to leverage shared data and coordinate more effectively.

Ho Chi Minh City plays a creative role

At the macro level, I think the role of the State in creating is extremely important. If each enterprise only tries to apply it individually, development will be fragmented.

Mr. Nguyen The Duy - CEO of ADT Global - author of the article - Photo: NVCC

The Ho Chi Minh City government can be the coordinating unit to form a synchronous AI ecosystem.

In that ecosystem, large corporations such asFPT , Viettel, and VNPT play the role of providing infrastructure; universities and research institutes develop core technology and train human resources; and businesses, especially start-ups, deploy applications quickly.

To do this, the State should build open data warehouses for each sector, from health, industry and trade to education , so that businesses have the conditions to experiment and innovate.

Once the product proves effective, commercialization will be much easier. At the same time, it is necessary to have a long-term strategy and allocate resources appropriately, avoiding spreading investments.

I believe that if Ho Chi Minh City knows how to connect three forces - the State plays the role of conductor, businesses boldly apply and researchers provide knowledge and human resources - then AI will not only be a tool, but become a new growth driver.

That will be the key for the city's industry and commerce to break through, bringing Ho Chi Minh City closer to its position as the region's leading digital economic center.

NGUYEN THE DUY (CEO ADT Global)

ADT Global is a company specializing in providing innovative technology solutions, serving the digital transformation needs of many government agencies and businesses.

In Vietnam, ADT Global is deploying the Multi-Agent AI solution - a platform that brings together many autonomous, specialized, and flexibly adaptive AI assistants.

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NGUYEN THE DUY (CEO ADT Global)

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ai-cu-hich-moi-cho-cong-thuong-tp-hcm-but-pha-20250917175827042.htm