Chapter 1
Why I started
I studied Computer Science. In recent years I've watched AI, IoT and data change how people work at an unprecedented pace. But looking at agriculture – which feeds so many Vietnamese families – I saw that most work still relies on experience, on the weather, on the luck of prices.
Vietnamese produce is delicious, much of it excellent. Yet the people who grow it often can't prove its quality, so they sell cheaply. One question kept coming back to me: could what I've learned actually help these farmers?
Technology only truly matters when it reaches the people who need it most.
Chapter 2
The questions that kept me up
It troubled me that produce is undervalued simply for lack of data. That farmers make crucial decisions – when to irrigate, what to spray, when to harvest – without enough information. That many young people leave the countryside, and the fields lack successors.
And I questioned myself: what does a software engineer know about soil, crops, snails or fish? Was I carrying a solution in search of a problem? That question kept me humble – and made me go down to the fields before writing a single line of code.
Chapter 3
The moment I decided
There came a point when those questions would no longer let me be. I realised that if I waited for enough capital, enough people, enough experience, I would never begin. And if nobody began, the gap between technology and the fields would remain.
I decided to begin with what I had: technical knowledge, curiosity, and the belief that Vietnamese agriculture deserves the best tools.
If I waited for the perfect conditions, I would never begin.
Chapter 4
Getting NG AI Platform onto the runway
There was no grand office or large team. NG AI Platform began with research notes: a five-layer architecture from field sensors to the phone app, GS1 EPCIS traceability, personal data and AI laws, drone regulations, EUDR export requirements.
Then the products took shape one by one: the platform website, the NG Assistant AI helper, the transparent NG Market, NG Travel for agritourism, NG Solutions, and the backend for auth, credits and chat history. Each product meant teaching myself another field.
The first proving ground is the NG AI Platform factory – where every device and feature is tested before it reaches farmers.
Chapter 5
The very real difficulties
Starting up is never easy, and for me some things were hard in very particular ways. I don't hide them, because they're part of the journey too.
- Alone
No co-founder, no team – research, design, coding and field work all done myself.
How I face it: Break goals down, ship one working prototype at a time; use AI and open tools to multiply my capacity.
- Little capital
No investors at the start; every dong spent has to be weighed.
How I face it: Pay-as-you-go infrastructure, free tiers for experiments; value-creating features first.
- A new field
Agriculture and tourism – two fields I had no experience in.
How I face it: Read technical guides and regulations; most importantly, go to the fields and ask farmers.
- Starting from zero
No existing product, no ready data, no brand.
How I face it: Build a shared foundation once, then grow it into many products under one identity.
- No network yet
No ties to co-ops, traders, companies or industry experts.
How I face it: Patiently connect one person at a time, keep my word, let prototypes and sincerity speak.
Chapter 6
Joy in the fields
My greatest joy isn't on a screen. It's the field trips: standing among rice paddies, vegetable rows and orchards; listening to farmers talk about a failed season, about price worries, about hoping their children can live better from farming itself.
Each trip taught me more about the whole system – seed stock, water, weather, traders – and how reality differs from the drawing board. I learned that data only matters when it's tied to people, and the best solution is one farmers find easy to use today.
Listening to farmers is the most important research – no textbook can replace it.
Chapter 7
Courage, without arrogance
Entering agriculture and tourism without experience, I moved forward step by careful step: reading, asking, getting it wrong, fixing and asking again. At times I doubted myself. But courage isn't the absence of fear – it's continuing while still afraid.
Starting up takes courage, but it can't be arrogant. Farmers are the true experts of the fields; I'm just bringing extra tools. Every piece of feedback, every time someone points out what's wrong, is a gift.
Chapter 8
Grateful for every day of growth
I look at this journey with gratitude. Grateful to learn and grow every day. Grateful for the chance to work with the newest technologies and put them into practice. And above all, grateful to work alongside farmers – who taught me what perseverance means.
Every day here is a day I get to learn.