As Vietnam stands on the verge of a historic leap forward, with science and technology identified as the key drivers for transformation and escaping the middle-income trap, the conversation around innovation has never been more critical.
However, “innovation” is often narrowly defined. Many assume it must involve creating something completely new or proprietary.
At the fireside chat Made By Vietnam: Beyond The Production Hub, part of Vietcetera Open Japan 2025, Nguyen Huu Long, CEO of FPT Consulting Japan, shared a fresh perspective.
He emphasized: “The core of innovation is New Combination, connecting and reorganizing existing elements to create disruptive value.” From this lens, FPT is not only a successful tech company, but also a prime example of a “new combination strategy,” from building internationally standardized software delivery models to entering consulting and AI for Japanese enterprise clients.
So how did FPT transition from a software outsourcing vendor to a strategic consulting partner, and what non-technical “weapon” helped them win over Japan’s demanding market?
A Strategy Seeded 25 Years Ago
Twenty-five years ago, during a strategic meeting, FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh declared something that stunned the entire room: “FPT must export software.”
At the time, few imagined “exporting Vietnamese software,” especially to demanding markets like the U.S. or Japan. Yet that bold vision laid the foundation for FPT’s global journey, marked by the opening of its first Japan office in 2002.
The early years were full of challenges. Japan’s market was conservative, its clients meticulous, and trust was hard-earned. But FPT’s engineers persisted: starting with small, low-profile projects just to prove their capabilities and better understand client needs.
That perseverance led to FPT’s next “new combination”: FPT Consulting, evolving from a technology contractor into a strategic advisor.
This shift came from understanding the IT service value chain:
- Outsourcing: Clients view vendors as tool providers, mostly interacting with their IT teams, occasionally up to the CTO level.
- Consulting: A higher layer of value. As Japanese companies push for digital transformation, they need partners who can advise on business strategy first, then IT and implementation. This means working not only with IT departments but also with operations and executive management.
FPT Consulting’s maturity answered the question of how to win large-scale, multi-million-dollar projects, those requiring CEO-level decisions. Without the mindset of a consultant, companies can’t engage at that level.
The “General” Spirit And the Samurai Mindset
FPT’s consulting journey was far from easy. When FPT Consulting was founded in 2019, it faced a unique challenge: FPT’s name was already synonymous with outsourcing after nearly 15 years in Japan. The first six months? They couldn’t hire anyone. Few believed Vietnamese professionals could succeed in consulting.
But the secret to FPT’s two-decade success in Japan remained the same: the “General” spirit, and the drive to “always do something new.”
This culture, built by Chairman Binh, expects every leader to act as a “General,” conquering new territories in their field. The key to winning over Japan’s difficult market is persistence: month by month, quarter by quarter, year by year, always adding something new.
What impressed Japanese clients most wasn’t just FPT’s technical capability, but its energy and spirit, something clients described as “samurai spirit,” which they felt had faded in Japan over the past 30–40 years of economic stagnation.
When visiting FPT’s headquarters in Vietnam, Japanese clients often note:
- Boundless energy – visible not only among young engineers but also across leadership.
- Ambition – the drive to explore and master new technologies like AI and Big Data, and to deliver with remarkable speed.
The value FPT offers isn’t limited to technology. It’s also the non-technical elements, the energy and spirit infused into every project. That’s the uniquely Vietnamese “new combination” that differentiates FPT from others.
Navigating The Innovator’s Dilemma And The AI Breakthrough
Today, the biggest opportunity for Vietnamese companies lies in consulting within cutting-edge technologies such as AI, an area where even developed nations are still at the starting line.
AI is transforming entire economies. Despite Japan’s traditional conservatism, its government is investing heavily in Software AI, systems capable of learning a country’s culture, language, and knowledge. Analysts predict explosive AI growth in the next one to two years.
However, adopting AI presents FPT with the Innovator’s Dilemma, to create the new, it must disrupt its own existing model. Since outsourcing remains FPT’s main source of revenue, AI-driven automation could reduce that income, essentially “cutting into its own feet.”
FPT’s solution was to turn AI into a growth accelerator rather than internal competition. The company launched FleziPT (Flexible, Easy to Use), a proprietary AI platform - first implemented within FPT itself.
The goal: to elevate skilled employees into higher-value, more complex roles, while using AI to optimize existing workflows. By transforming itself first, FPT enables its clients to do the same.
As Long emphasizes: “When used wisely, AI can be a powerful tool for breakthroughs. Collaboration with clients, partners, and even those outside FPT, is essential to overcoming the new challenges of the AI era.”
Through Long’s lens, FPT’s journey is a testament to the courage to embrace new combinations:
- From globally standardized outsourcing,
- To strategic consulting unlocking large-scale deals,
- To spearheading AI transformation.
This isn’t just corporate strategy, it reflects the Vietnamese spirit: youthfulness, ambition, and positive energy.
FPT Consulting will be the drill that breaks open new frontiers in emerging technologies. And that “samurai spirit” may be Vietnam’s most valuable asset in claiming new positions not only in Japan but on the global stage.