09/02/2026
Last week in Ho Chi Minh City, I had the opportunity to attend ‘The Scaling Business Summit 2026 – Connecting Europe and Asia’. 🌏
Across keynotes, panels, and masterclasses—spanning market expansion, AI-driven business, manufacturing and automation, and cross-border scaling—one theme stood out clearly for me:
Scaling requires vision, ambition, technology, and sponsorship. At its heart, sustainable scale is ultimately built through people and systems—leadership clarity, readiness, disciplined ex*****on, and ecosystems that enable teams to collaborate effectively over time.
The conversations ranged from ‘Vietnam’s ambitious digital transformation agenda’ and ‘The State of AI’ to strategic choices between “Build” and “Buy.”
A discussion on aligning European ‘structure’ with Asian ‘speed’ surfaced some familiar clichés—but also prompted deeper reflection.
I found myself returning to a few recurring questions organisations inevitably face as they scale:
• Are leaders truly aligned on the real priorities?
• Do teams have the capability and decision frameworks to execute at scale?
• Are organisations willing to let go of legacy ways of working that no longer serve the next phase of growth?
These questions closely mirror the work I do with founders, CEOs, and senior leadership teams across Vietnam and Asia—supporting organisations as they scale by:
• Aligning top-down business strategy with bottom-up ex*****on
• Defining the “how” (competencies, leadership behaviours, operating rhythms) alongside the “what” (KPIs and outcomes)
• Building performance and leadership frameworks that enable scale—rather than constrain it—while consciously letting go of legacy elements
• Leveraging AI thoughtfully as an enabler, while continuing to invest deliberately in human capability and leadership pipelines 🤖👥
Having worked across cultures and geographies, the emphasis on cultural intelligence and cross-functional alignment resonated deeply—especially in environments where growth, complexity, and change are unfolding simultaneously.
Grateful for the perspectives, conversations, and connections from this summit — and compliments to GRADION for curating a thoughtful Europe–Asia forum. 🙏
On a personal and reflective note - also a timely reminder that continuous learning—and unlearning—is essential when advising organisations through transformation.
Always open to thoughtful conversations with founders, CEOs, and leadership teams navigating scale, transformation, and the people challenges that come with it. 💬
