AI Awards 2026 recognizes contributions to research and technology application in education, transportation, finance and business administration.

The award ceremony took place on the afternoon of November 5 at Nguyen Van Dao hall, Hanoi National University, within the framework of AI4VN 2026. From 162 nominations, the organizing committee honored 5 Vietnamese AI talents, three solutions, three products and 5 typical AI businesses.

Two of the individuals receiving the Top 5 Vietnamese AI talents award come from universities. Dr. Le Duy Dung, Director of Data Science Program at VinUni, researches how to use AI and robots to search for green materials. As for Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Khanh, University of Oulu (Finland), pursuing the direction of applying AI in education, has more than 100 scientific publications and received the IEEE Outstanding Young Researcher in Learning Technology award in 2025. Receiving the award at AI4VN, Associate Professor Khanh expressed his pride and considered his research results to be the common achievement of his colleagues, inheriting the efforts of his predecessors.

The remaining three people come from technology corporations. Nguyen Tien Dong, Technical Director of CMC OpenAI, leads the development team of CLEX, an AI assistant that supports searching, drafting and evaluating Vietnamese legal documents. Le Trung Hieu, FPT IS Product Director, is recognized for AI applications in contract processing, records and process automation. And Dr. Nguyen Ha Phong, researcher at Qualcomm AI Research Vietnam, focuses on 3D computer vision, generative AI and machine learning for robots.

Sharing with students at the festival, Le Trung Hieu encouraged learners to choose a problem a business or community is facing and then use AI to test the solution. As automation solutions develop, businesses increasingly need people who know how to set product standards and check output quality. From the experience of a mechatronics student coming to AI through the field of robotics, Hieu believes that young people can pursue this field from many starting points, not necessarily majoring in information technology.

In the category of Excellent AI Solutions, three awardees brought technology into many areas of life. FPT Smart Cloud develops FPT AI Factory, an infrastructure platform for building and deploying AI applications. Elcom was honored with the Elcom ITS intelligent transportation ecosystem. MoMo received the award with the solution of Building and protecting digital trust using AI, aiming to protect users in the digital environment.

Meanwhile, three excellent AI products include ThinkPrompt's Doctranslate.io, AIZ's BrainOS enterprise operating system and FPT IS's Kyta Platform.

The typical AI Enterprise category recognized five units: Elcom, CMC OpenAI, MoMo, Zalo Platforms and Minh Phuc Transformation.

From 162 nominations, 17 products, solutions and 16 businesses were selected for the final round of AI Awards 2026. Teams developing products and solutions presented to the Board of Examiners about the possibility of practical implementation. Judges' scores account for 80% of the final results, readers' votes account for 20%.

The award council includes experts from universities, research institutes and technology businesses such as IBM, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Vinasa Software and Information Technology Services Association, University of Technology - Hanoi National University, and Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh, Rector of the University of Technology - Hanoi National University, Head of the AI ​​Awards 2026 jury, assessed that domestic AI businesses and research groups are maturing, demonstrated by the way they bring products suitable for domestic capacity to solve life problems. He expects that in the coming seasons, more small and medium-sized businesses will participate, because bringing AI into widespread application requires the contribution of thousands of businesses of many scales.

For students, he believes that the development of AI is shortening the time from having an idea to having a tested product. Young people can therefore start making products and even start a business right at school. Businesses can also invest in buying machinery, but the ability to create and master technology depends on people. He expects universities to focus on discovering and nurturing passionate students and creating conditions for them to pursue their ideas.

According to him, AI Awards will be a forum for students and researchers to meet businesses and investors. When a business brings a real problem, students have the opportunity to understand what users need and apply knowledge to find a solution. With the honored groups, he hopes that connections after the award ceremony will help them continue to perfect their products, put them into widespread use and target the international market.

AI Awards will be held from 2022 within the framework of AI4VN. This year's festival has the theme "Autonomous AI and the future of learning", directed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, organized by VnExpress newspaper in collaboration with Hanoi National University and FPT Online.

Speaking at the festival, Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan assessed this as one of the important events in the artificial intelligence industry, promoting the spirit of technology research and connecting managers, research units, and businesses to bring AI advances to life. In the context that Vietnam aims to become one of the centers with capacity for AI research, development and application in ASEAN and Asia by 2030, awards such as AI Awards are considered to contribute to recognizing individuals and organizations participating in this process.

Nam Nguyen - Bao Lam