“We need to adapt our learning culture to AI and coding.”

Viengsone Keosychanh started as a Digital Divide Data trainee in 2006, through their six-month university program. He became an associate, then team leader and supervisor, before applying internally for a coordinator job handling training programs. When management saw his potential, they asked him to apply as an HR manager. He now serves as Senior Manager in People Operations, overseeing training and impact within the HR department and reporting to Sopheap Im in Cambodia. He loves teaching and giving advice. Over 19 years, he's trained more than 300 people.

His favorite success stories are two disabled former employees who now run the Disability Mainstreaming Advisory Service, and a recent graduate who got a scholarship abroad and now works in community development. "If people see the future, their dream, they have to work and study hard, and do more to achieve the goal," he says. In Laos, he suggested, DDD needs to go even deeper into AI and coding—capabilities that would require significant investment. What’s kept him at DDD is the chance to help shape young Laotians.