Practical AI for SMEs – Real-World AI Applications for SME in Canada

February 02, 2026 on a sunny Sunday morning in Toronto, Vietnamese business owners and IT professionals across Canada gathered for a highly practical and insightful workshop “Practical AI for SMEs.”

The event was organized by VICAIT – Vietnamese IT Professionals in Canada, bringing together experienced technology leaders and entrepreneurs with one clear objective:

Turn AI from buzzword into real business impact.

Workshop Objective

Dr. Xuan Bach Hoang, president of VICAIT, opened the workshop, introducing the agenda and objectives as follows:

• Connect IT professionals with Vietnamese SMEs in Canada

• Share real implementation case studies (not theory)

• Answer practical business questions

• Explore scalable AI adoption strategies for small teams

What made this workshop different?

✔️ All speakers have held senior leadership roles
✔️ Built or exited their own companies
✔️ Implemented AI and digital transformation projects firsthand

This was not a technical seminar. It was a practical business discussion.

Key Takeaways from the Speakers

1️⃣ AI Chatbots & CRM – Increase Revenue, Reduce Manual Work

The topic was presented by Mr. Phong Nguyen – CEO of Immersio Learning Inc.

One of the core challenges SMEs face today:

• Customers spending less frequently

• Rising labor and rent costs

• Heavy dependence on Facebook/Google without structured customer data

The Proposed Solution:

AI Chatbot integrated with CRM systems.

Capabilities include:

• Automatically answering FAQs (menu, pricing, opening hours)

• Accepting bookings, reservations, and pre-orders

• Sending automated reminders (reducing no-show rates by 20–40%)

• Recommending add-on services to increase average order value

• Managing conversations across multiple channels (Messenger, Website, Zalo, Telegram)

Real Impact:

• Reduce 30–50% repetitive staff inquiries

• Improve conversion rates from social media chats

• Create consistent customer experiences 24/7

AI is no longer just a chatbot. It becomes a digital team member working around the clock.

2️⃣ Data-Driven Decisions with AI & Camera Analytics

The topic was presented by Mr. Duc Nguyen – Lead Data Scientist at Abacus.ai

A powerful question raised during the session:

Does your business truly have the data needed to make decisions?

Case Study: Retail Optimization (300+ Stores)

Using AI-powered camera analytics to:

• Accurately count unique visitors (avoiding duplicate counts)

• Measure hourly conversion rates

• Identify performance drops during staff shift changes

Result:

By adjusting staff shift timing instead of changing marketing strategy:

📈 Conversion rate improved by 5–7%

The lesson?
Sometimes optimization isn’t about more ads — it’s about smarter operations.

What About AI “Hallucinations”?

A participant raised an important concern:

AI sometimes generates inaccurate information. How can businesses trust it?

The response:

• AI will never be 100% accurate

• But neither are humans

• AI provides consistent performance (e.g., 95–99% reliability)

• Proper evaluation and monitoring are essential

The key principle:

AI does not replace humans.
AI amplifies human productivity — with human oversight.

3️⃣ Marketing Funnel for Nail Salons & Service Businesses

The topic was presented by Mr. Binh Nguyen – CEO of XOTECH.

A simple but powerful 5-step marketing funnel was introduced:

1. Awareness – Customers discover you

2. Consideration – They explore your services

3. Booking – They schedule an appointment

4. Retention – They return

5. Referral – They recommend others

A Critical Metric:

Your marketing cost per new customer should be less than 10% of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).

Example:

• If a customer spends $500 over 6 months

• Spending $50–$80 to acquire them is sustainable

Marketing is not an expense.
It is measurable investment.

4️⃣ AI in Internal Operations – Real SME Applications

The topic was presented by Mr. Minh Dinh – CEO of NGYN.

Beyond marketing and customer service, AI can transform internal workflows.

Examples shared during the session:

• Generate presentation slides in 10 minutes

• Auto-summarize meetings

• Build internal AI-powered knowledge hubs

• Analyze hundreds of receipts daily

• Detect unusual spending patterns

5 Practical AI Adoption Principles for SMEs

1. Start Small – Begin with simple workflows

2. Scale Safely – Avoid disrupting core operations

3. Measure Value – Track time saved or revenue gained

4. Protect Data – Classify sensitive information

5. Maintain Human Accountability – A human must approve final outputs

AI is a tool.
Responsibility remains human.

Real Business Questions Discussed

The Q&A session covered highly practical challenges:

• How to estimate marketing costs before opening a new salon?
  → Run small test campaigns ($200–$500) to gather real data.

• How to automate staff training?
  → Record sessions → transcribe → summarize with AI → generate quizzes.

• How to integrate multiple software systems (CRM, booking, portal)?
  → Use APIs or integration platforms instead of building complex systems from scratch.

• Is AI worth it if humans still need to verify?
  → Yes — because AI reduces 80–90% of repetitive workload while humans focus on critical decisions.

 VICAIT – Bridging IT and Business

VKIT was founded to create a professional Vietnamese IT community in Canada, focusing on:

• Practical knowledge sharing

• Real-world AI applications

• Business-technology collaboration

The workshop marked the beginning of stronger collaboration between:

• SMEs looking for digital solutions

• IT professionals seeking real business problems to solve

Final Thought: AI Is Not the Future — It’s the Present

AI is no longer reserved for large corporations.

Small and medium businesses can:

• Increase revenue

• Reduce operational costs

• Automate repetitive tasks

• Make data-driven decisions

But the most important advice from the workshop:

Start with a clear business problem — not with the technology.

Interested in Future Workshops?

If you are:

• A business owner in Canada

• An IT professional exploring AI applications

• Or simply curious about practical AI for SMEs

Stay connected with VICAIT for upcoming events.