Keeping ahead in terms of technology is a non-negotiable for enterprises today. CIOs and enterprise leaders are under continued pressure to modernise systems and acquire the skills for the future of AI-powered business. According to Grand View Research, the enterprise Agentic AI market is growing exponentially, with a projected CAGR of 46.2% from 2025 to 2030.
The pace of technology advancements is driving the adoption of digital ecosystems (DE) to expand beyond their boundaries and stay ahead of competitors. The need for AI talent, cost-effective scaling, and specialised infrastructure requires tech leaders to look beyond traditional tech hubs for partners.
Vietnam is rapidly emerging as a leading global hub, propelled by its digital development and its entrepreneurial ecosystem. The country’s digital economy surpassed $72 billion in 2025. Coupled with a high number of IT graduates and a focus on AI, cloud computing, and semiconductors, the country has become an elite technology partner.
Challenges to build a successful digital ecosystem
Advances in IoT, Cloud, AI, 5G communications, API-based innovation, and advanced analytics means people, businesses, and systems must all interact using technology. Due to the scale of some enterprises, this requires them to build a digital ecosystem to expand beyond their boundaries.
Yet digital ecosystems can be challenging. Not every digital ecosystem is built in-house, taking a best-of-breed approach consisting of various tech vendors. It’s essential to choose a provider that aligns ecosystem players within one system. Secondly, businesses with digital ecosystems can often experience scattered, siloed data across various systems, hindering decision-making.
Furthermore, Agentic AI has evolved from automating tasks to enabling systems to optimise entire business functions independently, the success of which is data-dependent. Gartner expresses the importance for the C-Suite to set their AI strategy, predicting that by the end of 2026, 40% of enterprise apps will feature task-specific AI agents.
Bridging such data silos and integration challenges requires a partner ecosystem with engineering depth. This necessity is increasingly directing C-suite attention toward emerging hubs in Southeast Asia. Vietnam is at the forefront of this shift, currently ranking second for the number of Generative AI startups in the region and housing 27% of all ASEAN Generative AI startups.
Vietnam’s rise as a global digital hub
Asia’s digital landscape has boomed, with Vietnam a global digital hub thanks to its dynamic tech community excelling in innovation and software engineering. It has a high volume of IT graduates (around 70,000 annually) and a strong focus on AI, cloud computing, and semiconductors. The long-term impact of this talent pool is undeniable, with AI alone projected to contribute up to $130 billion to Vietnam’s economy by 2040, driven by immense productivity gains and automated efficiencies.
Vietnam is specialising in advanced tech skills, with its government’s ambition to build top three AI R&D centres and build at least 100 chip design companies in Vietnam by 2030. In alignment with this national vision, FPT has set its strategic focus on mastering core technologies, with AI serving as a core enabler.
Leading the charge for AI in Vietnam
Vietnam’s growing AI sector is shaped by technology investment, skills development and international partnerships. One company contributing to Vietnam’s AI sector is the FPT Corporation (FPT), which supports AI and semi-conductor education through FPT University and has brokered partnerships with the likes of NVIDIA and Amazon Web Services. Investing in AI infrastructure, training, and cloud will be critical to the country’s economy going forward.
Critical foundations for a future-proof tech hub
To deliver for their needs of innovation, flexibility, and scalability, CIOs must choose a tech partner with capabilities which serve them beyond the domestic market but for the wider ecosystem and support future growth. Key capabilities should include:
- Advanced digital and physical infrastructure – Keeping up with tech advancements and trends, such as data centres and connectivity, next gen telecoms to implement 5G/6G), and availability of clean reliable energy to power AI’s consumption needs.
- Access to specialist tech talent – both a pipeline of talent, particularly in quantum computing and AI along with close collaboration between universities, research labs, and organisations.
- Pro-innovation regulation, data governance and privacy – this means establishing trusted data regulations that enable secure data sharing and cross-border collaboration.
- Agentic AI Adoption – Adoption means operationalising autonomous AI agents for productivity gains.
- Cybersecurity and resilience – Building digital infrastructures that can withstand increasing cybersecurity threats.
Taking steps to take advantage of digital ecosystems
Business leaders understand that a blend of advanced tech and human expertise will support their evolving AI journey. Decision-makers should look beyond the traditional to innovate and transform. Forging an expert technology partnership and bespoke solutions are crucial strategic components for a successful digital ecosystem to keep them ahead of the game. Vietnam shows what AI and human innovation looks like and I’m excited for the region and for the wider global community.