Digital transformation of “giants”: Lessons from Petrovietnam & EVN for Vietnamese businesses

When “giants” pioneer digital transformation – a positive signal for the whole economy

In the national digital transformation landscape towards 2025, with a vision towards 2030, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are considered “locomotives” in the economy’s digitalization journey. As directed by the Government and the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, large corporations like Petrovietnam and EVN not only “apply” technology but also “lead” the trend of innovation, setting new operating standards for the entire private sector.

At a macro level, the digital transformation of SOEs is not simply about upgrading information technology systems. It is about transforming operating models, where data becomes the center, and technologies – especially AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), Big Data, and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) – become core tools to optimize management, production, and customer service.

The success of these “giants” is a strong affirmation that: digital transformation is not the exclusive right of large-scale enterprises, but a mandatory direction for any business wishing to survive and develop in the digital age.

If Petrovietnam and EVN are leading digital transformation at a national scale, then GTG CRM is the platform that helps small and medium-sized enterprises “digitalize” with the same mindset – but with more optimal costs and resources.

Petrovietnam – Data and AI help optimize operational exploitation

For many years, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) has implemented a series of technological initiatives, ushering the oil and gas exploitation activities into the digital era.

By synchronously deploying AI, IoT, and Big Data, Petrovietnam can monitor exploitation data in real-time, analyze pressure, flow rate, and temperature indicators to optimize operations. As a result, exploitation costs at key fields like Bach Ho and Rong have decreased by 10–15%, while labor productivity and safety have significantly improved.

Concurrently, an integrated ERP system helps Petrovietnam unify all financial operations, manage materials, assets, and supply chains on a single platform. This not only increases transparency but also supports real-time forecasting of production demand, costs, and revenue – a crucial factor in the volatile oil and gas industry regarding prices and output.

In addition, Big Data enables the group to analyze global market data, predict oil price trends, and adjust business strategies promptly.

Consequently, Petrovietnam not only reduces resource loss but also optimizes productivity, efficiency, and decision-making capabilities – vital elements in a competitive global environment.

Lessons for small businesses: Data is also your “oil mine”

Not all businesses are as large as Petrovietnam, but every business has its own “data resources” – customer data, marketing campaigns, purchasing behavior, or market feedback.

With GTG CRM, small businesses can:

• Store and manage all customer data, transactions, revenue, and advertising on a unified platform.
• Utilize built-in AI to analyze customer behavior, suggest optimized advertising content, email marketing, and landing pages.
• Track multi-channel campaign performance (Google, Facebook, Zalo, Email…) through intuitive dashboards, helping business owners make quick and accurate decisions.

If Petrovietnam uses AI to optimize oil rigs at sea, small businesses can use GTG CRM to “drill deep” into customer data – extracting true value from every interaction.

EVN – Comprehensive digital transformation in the power industry

From power substations to offices – when every process is digitized

Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) is one of the pioneering enterprises in implementing comprehensive digital transformation on a national scale. Since 2021, EVN has been building a comprehensive digital ecosystem, covering most operational areas: internal management, production, construction investment, business, customer service, and information technology.

One of the notable highlights is EVN Digital Office – the first electronic office system within state-owned enterprises allowing 100% electronic document processing, approval, and storage. As a result, millions of pages and thousands of hours of manual work have been saved, while ensuring connectivity between affiliated units nationwide.

In technical operations, EVN also applies UAVs (drones), AI cameras, and IoT sensors to monitor transmission lines and substations. AI-analyzed image data helps detect early incidents, reduce maintenance time, limit risks, and increase the safety of the national power system.

Notably, EVN has fully transitioned all electricity services to 100% online, from registration and connection to payment. The rate of cashless payments reaches over 99.5%, demonstrating the efficiency and high level of digitalization readiness of the enterprise.

Lessons for SMEs: Automation and customer experience are key

You don’t need to be a national corporation to adopt automation – GTG CRM helps small businesses do the same at a suitable scale:

• Automation Workflow: set up scenarios for sending automatic emails, messages, or notifications when customers register, order, or haven’t responded.
• Unified Messaging: consolidate all conversations from Facebook, Zalo, Gmail, WhatsApp… into one place for quick customer care, ensuring no missed interactions.
• Live Chat AI: automatically suggest smart answers, collect customer information, and save it directly to the CRM.
• E-invoicing & Task Management: support invoice and contract management, and work progress tracking, reducing administrative procedures and increasing internal efficiency.

EVN digitizes to serve 30 million households, while GTG CRM helps you digitize to serve each customer – accurately, quickly, and efficiently.

The Government and the “locomotive” role of state-owned enterprises

The Vietnamese Government has clearly identified: “Digital transformation is no longer an option, but a mandatory path.”

In the SOE Restructuring Plan for the period 2021–2025, the goal by 2030 is 100% of SOEs to complete comprehensive digital transformation, while disseminating transparent governance models, efficient operations, and data-driven decision-making.

The State Capital Management Committee, the Ministry of Information & Communications, and the Ministry of Finance all emphasize the pioneering role of SOEs in:

• Applying digital technology to innovate governance.
• Standardizing processes according to international standards.
• Serving as a role model for private enterprises in innovation.

However, digital transformation is not exclusive to the state sector. In the digital economy ecosystem, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for over 97% of the total number of enterprises in Vietnam, therefore they are the force determining the national digital transformation speed.

GTG CRM – “AI Infrastructure” helps small businesses keep pace with digital transformation

GTG CRM is developed with the goal of becoming a comprehensive AI platform for modern businesses, helping small and medium-sized enterprises undertake digital transformation steps similar to Petrovietnam and EVN but with minimal cost, time, and human resources.

One platform – multiple integrated modules:

• Landing Page Builder: create SEO-friendly sales pages with AI for content writing, image generation, and automatic live chat.
• CRM: manage customers, companies, tasks, invoices – all data centralized in one place.
• Messaging Hub: gather all multi-channel messages (Facebook, Zalo, Gmail, WhatsApp…) with AI support for quick responses.
• Marketing & Ads AI: assist in creating Google, Facebook, LinkedIn ads; suggest SEO-optimized headlines, descriptions, and keywords.
• Automation Workflow: automate customer care processes, schedule reminders, send emails, and internal notifications.
• Access Control: assign user permissions, ensuring transparent management and data security.

Thus, instead of investing tens of billions of VND to build private infrastructure, SMEs can leverage GTG CRM as a “unified digital transformation platform,” bringing all marketing – sales – customer care – operational activities to the digital environment within just a few days.

Conclusion: Digital transformation is not just technology – it is a new management mindset

The stories of Petrovietnam and EVN show that digital transformation is not just about “installing software” or “using technology,” but about restructuring how businesses operate, make decisions, and serve customers entirely.

The difference between pioneers and laggards lies not in scale, but in the mindset of mastering data and readiness for change.

GTG CRM was born to realize this for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises – turning digital transformation from a slogan into concrete action, enabling each business to operate like a “giant,” even with a small team and limited budget.

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