High costs, uncertain returns deterring AI investment in Vietnam

By Naoyuki Kawakita

Mon, October 30, 2023 | 9:50 pm GMT+7

High costs and uncertain investment returns are making Vietnamese businesses hesitant about making AI investments, said Naoyuki Kawakita, chairman of advertisement and communications services firm Hakuhodo Vietnam.

It is estimated that 45% of global advertising revenue (about $370 billion) uses artificial intelligence (AI) or AI support, and this will increase to about $1.3 trillion, or more than 90% of the world’s total advertising revenue by 2032, according to Forbes.

Vietnam is just beginning to use AI in marketing and production. The country has numerous advantages such as expanding data accessibility, the ability to lower the cost of AI technology and raising public awareness of AI's merits. Vietnam is already applying AI in marketing for many important fields.

Specifically, in the field of e-commerce, firms in Vietnam are using AI to personalize product recommendations, target advertising more effectively and optimize supply chains.

Social media platforms in Vietnam are using AI to recommend content to users and detect harmful content.

Currently, search engine optimization (SEO) units in Vietnam are using AI to optimize websites for search engines, create more attractive content and monitor the performance of SEO campaigns.

The application of AI is an inevitable trend. We can see that major Vietnamese brands have applied AI in marketing in Vietnam today, like Vingroup, one of the largest corporations in Vietnam. The company is using AI to personalize product recommendations and target ads more effectively for its e-commerce platforms.

FPT, Vietnam's leading information technology company, is also using AI to help businesses personalize interactions with customers. Another big player is VNG, a Vietnamese technology company that uses AI to optimize search engine results pages (SERPs) and improve the performance of SEO campaigns.

Reluctance factors

Although firms know that investing in AI in production is an inevitable trend, they are reluctant to do so for many reasons. One of the top reasons is the high upfront costs. Deploying AI can be expensive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.

In addition to high investment costs, there is also uncertainty about the return on investment (RoI). Many businesses lack internal expertise to develop AI, which can make it difficult for them to know where to start and how to choose the right AI for their needs.

However, AI can help businesses reduce costs by automating tasks and improving efficiency. It can also help businesses make better decisions by analyzing large amounts of data and identifying insights that are difficult for humans.

Firms don't need to invest in large and complex AI applications at the beginning. They can start with small and simple AI applications that can automate a specific task. Businesses should carefully assess their needs before choosing an AI application to ensure that it is compatible with their existing systems and processes. If they do not have the internal expertise to develop AI, they should cooperate with a partner that specializes in AI.

Hakuhodo Vietnam’s parent company Hakuhodo Inc., the second largest advertising company in Japan, was founded in 1895. Outside of Japan, Hakuhodo has a wide network in 17 countries with more than 80 offices and more than 2,400 employees.