With rapid technological advancements and declining switching costs, businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain competitive advantages based solely on products or distribution channels. Instead, customer experience (CX) is emerging as a critical factor in retaining users and determining their loyalty to brands.
In an interview with VnExpress, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, CEO of Viettel Customer Service, shared his perspective on the role of CX in competition. He also discussed the gap between how businesses operate and customer expectations.
Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung, CEO of Viettel Customer Service.
– In your view, why is customer experience (CX) increasingly seen as the backbone of competitive strategy?
– In the digital era, advantages in product, pricing, or distribution are rapidly diminishing. When differentiation in “what is sold” is no longer clear, competition shifts to “how customers experience it.” That is when CX becomes central. In my opinion, there are three key drivers behind this shift.
First is the change in expectations. As users become accustomed to seamless, near-instant experiences on major technology platforms, they carry those standards into every industry. Customers do not compare you with competitors in your sector; they compare you with the best experience they have ever had.
Second is the shift in execution capabilities. Previously, experience depended heavily on human factors. Today, with AI, data, and automation, experiences can be designed, measured, and optimized as a system.
More fundamentally, if businesses only react to demand, they will always lag behind expectations. True differentiation emerges when companies proactively design the customer journey instead of waiting for customers to define it. When a business can lead the experience, it effectively sets new market standards.
The VCX team developing solutions to enhance user experience.
– Compared to developed markets, how would you assess the level of CX investment among Vietnamese businesses?
– Vietnamese businesses have moved past the “awareness” stage but have not fully entered the “CX-driven operations” stage.
Many companies have invested in CRM systems, omni-channel contact centers, automation, and customer satisfaction measurement. However, most still focus on optimizing individual touchpoints rather than viewing CX as an end-to-end system.
In mature markets, CX is embedded in the operational architecture. Businesses design operations based on experience, rather than improving experience after operations are in place.
The gap between customer expectations and business capabilities in Vietnam is widening rapidly. But this also presents an opportunity to create competitive advantage if investments are made correctly.
– What mindset shifts are needed for Vietnamese businesses to treat CX as a core competitive capability?
– The issue is not that businesses don’t understand the importance of CX. The issue is that they understand it correctly but implement it incorrectly.
Many still treat CX as a standalone function, whereas it should start from how the entire system is designed and operated. When organizations operate in silos with separate KPIs, the customer experience becomes fragmented. Moreover, if companies rely solely on metrics, they may see “good results” without understanding actual customer behavior. To do CX effectively, businesses must shift toward measuring journeys and behaviors.
The concept of being “human-centric” also needs a fuller interpretation. It is not just about putting customers at the center, but redesigning systems so that customers, employees, and the organization operate more smoothly together.
CX must be directly linked to business metrics such as growth, retention, and customer lifetime value. At that point, CX is no longer a cost but a growth lever. CX is not about making customers happier; it is about giving them no reason to leave.
– Viettel Customer Service (VCX) was established a year ago. Why did Viettel choose this field?
– Customer service is a new business area. We entered it because we recognized it as a core capability in the digital era. After more than 20 years serving hundreds of millions of customers across multiple markets, Viettel clearly sees that customer interaction is where a company’s true capabilities are revealed.
If processes are weak, customers will feel it. If data is fragmented, customers must repeat themselves. If the organization is not aligned, the experience breaks down. Customers are where businesses “expose their weaknesses.” Therefore, treating customer service merely as a function to receive and handle requests is a limited approach.
That is why Viettel decided to separate this capability into an independent entity. Not to improve traditional service, but to build a new capability—the ability to design, operate, and optimize customer experience at scale.
Our goal is not just to solve customer service problems, but to accompany businesses in transitioning from function-based operations to experience-based operations.
A VCX representative guiding partner businesses in tracking user experience metrics.
– After one year, what notable achievements has VCX made?
– The most important achievement is not in numbers, but in transformation. We have evolved from an internal operations unit into a business capable of delivering CX solutions to the market.
In our first year, we developed a comprehensive CX ecosystem, including platforms such as OmniX (omnichannel contact center), CXBot (AI assistant), KnowX Hub (knowledge management), and services like Contact Center Outsourcing, BPO, upselling, and loyalty programs. These are designed as an integrated system where operations, data, and AI support one another.
More importantly, these capabilities have begun to be validated beyond Viettel’s ecosystem. VCX is gradually expanding to serve businesses across various industries with diverse operational and experience challenges.
Being the first Vietnamese company honored at the International Customer Experience Awards (ICXA) 2025 with a silver award is an encouraging recognition.
Above all, our biggest milestone is building the right foundational capabilities. In CX, a wrong approach becomes harder to fix as you scale. But with the right approach, each step forward compounds value.
VCX accompanying businesses across multiple sectors.
– What customer segments is VCX currently focusing on?
– We work with a wide range of sectors, including finance, telecommunications, logistics, retail, and public services.
Currently, there is a clear trend: most businesses are transitioning from customer service operations to customer experience redesign.
Previously, the focus was on scale—handling more interactions faster and at lower cost. Now, the question has shifted to why customers need to interact so much in the first place.
Therefore, VCX’s role is not just to operate or provide technology solutions. We help businesses identify the right experience problem before choosing the solution. In other words, we start with the customer journey, not the solution.
– What are the most common issues you observe in customer service systems today?
– There are three systemic “gaps” in how businesses design operations.
First is the gap between how businesses operate and how customers experience. Businesses operate by functions, while customers experience by journeys. Without a single owner of the entire journey, the experience becomes fragmented.
Second is the gap in data and context. Companies have abundant data but lack a unified customer view. As a result, each interaction remains isolated, and employees lack context for better service.
Third is the gap between technology investment and experience design. Many modern systems are implemented, but the customer journey is not redesigned accordingly.
A common example: some companies measure service quality rigorously—response time, resolution time, satisfaction scores—all look good, yet customers still leave. Not because of a clearly bad experience, but because the overall journey lacks convenience and consistency.
Thus, VCX does not start by improving individual touchpoints. In many cases, the greatest value comes not from adding more, but from removing unnecessary friction.
– How will technology reshape customer service in the next five years?
– On the surface, many technologies are emerging. But fundamentally, three layers will redefine the industry.
First is AI. In the next five years, AI will go beyond chatbots and callbots to “AI agents” capable of handling entire segments of the customer journey. The question will not be whether to use AI, but how it aligns with brand experience.
Second is unified customer data platforms. When data is contextualized, businesses can continuously understand customers and deliver meaningful personalization.
Third is real-time interaction and visual support technologies, such as video support, remote assistance, and AI copilots, which reduce resolution time and interaction loops.
Looking deeper, three major shifts will shape CX by 2030: the rise of the AI Agent Economy, the emergence of Zero-Friction Journeys, and the shift to Proactive Service—where businesses solve problems before customers even raise them.
Ultimately, technology itself does not create differentiation. How businesses use it to redefine experience does.
A corner of the VCX headquarters.
– What role does AI play in VCX’s ecosystem?
– AI is not treated as a feature, but as a foundational capability of modern CX. It operates at three levels.
First, handling scale—automating repetitive, structured tasks through callbots, chatbots, and AI agents.
Second, deepening insights—identifying trends, contexts, anomalies, churn risks, and operational bottlenecks.
Third, supporting decision-making—suggesting knowledge, recommending solutions, detecting sentiment, and providing early warnings.
Moving forward, AI will be expanded across the entire customer journey—from acquisition to post-sale care—and strengthened in predictive and proactive decision-making. It will also be standardized for multi-market, multilingual, and multicultural applications.
– What are VCX’s goals for the next 3–5 years?
– Our broader goal is to elevate CX standards in the market. Based on that, we pursue three directions.
First, refining a CX operating model based on Human – AI – Data. AI handles scale, data provides context, and humans build trust—all integrated into a unified system.
Second, standardizing CX capabilities for cross-industry and cross-market deployment.
Third, expanding these capabilities regionally and globally. We believe Vietnam can not only apply CX but also export CX management capabilities.
Our ambition is not just to deliver better customer service, but to turn customer experience into a scalable, measurable growth capability.
