Minister Vu Hai Quan assessed that AI4VN is opening up opportunities for connection and expected the program to expand in the coming years, inspiring the young generation to pursue science and technology.

The message was shared by Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan at the Vietnam Artificial Intelligence Festival (AI4VN 2026) held on the afternoon of November 5.

In front of hundreds of students and young technologists, the Minister said he had spent more than 20 years studying computer science. The first days were learning about artificial intelligence (AI), learning how to build 3D models, and then researching machine translation while abroad. Returning to Vietnam, he established the first domestic laboratory for machine translation.

Despite that background, the Minister admitted that after more than 10 years of not directly working in the profession, there are artificial intelligence technical issues that he can no longer keep up with. From his experience, he advised students to keep the spirit of lifelong learning, because in the context of technology changing every day, anyone can become obsolete if they stop studying.

According to the Minister, Vietnamese students have the opportunity to access technology through research groups, exchange and connection events. He hopes future technology workers are willing to ask questions and take advantage of opportunities to learn and pursue difficult problems in the field.

The leader of the science and technology industry expects AI4VN to continue to innovate and expand in the coming years, inspiring the young generation to pursue science and technology.

Previously, in his welcome speech, Associate Professor, Dr. Bui The Duy, Director of Hanoi National University, recalled that more than eight years ago, also in the hall of Hanoi National University, AI4Life was organized for the first time. At that time, AI mainly appeared in laboratories and at scientific conferences.

The initiators chose the name AI4Life with the desire to bring AI to life, for researchers to meet businesses and find solutions to real problems. What they did not imagine, according to Mr. Duy, was that technology would come into life so quickly.

The representative of Hanoi National University cited the example of the AI ​​Arena competition, in 20 minutes, students used AI to build a software right on stage, a job that previously could take many weeks. The ability to shorten the distance from idea to product raises questions for universities and businesses in training and research and development.

He expects AI4VN to continue to be a place for researchers to meet businesses as the original goal, and at the same time help lecturers and students find new applications from real problems in Vietnam.

Meeting and connecting is also the goal of the program, affirmed by Ms. Bui Thanh Van, Editorial Secretary of VnExpress Newspaper, Head of AI4VN Organizing Committee, in her speech.

According to Ms. Van, AI4VN will continue its mission as a forum connecting management agencies, schools and businesses in the artificial intelligence ecosystem. The state guides the strategy and builds the policy framework, the school trains human resources and conducts foundational research. Enterprises undertake the commercialization of technology, applying AI to solve practical problems to create economic value.

A representative of the organizing committee said that they will continue to spread the event, strengthen tripartite coordination, and contribute to developing Vietnam's AI technology capacity.

AI becomes a popular tool

In the presentation, Ms. Seher Syed, Policy Manager for AI and Reality Labs in the Asia-Pacific region of Meta, said that about 3.6 billion people use at least one of the group's services every day. Through familiar applications, Meta wants to bring AI to users in everyday tasks, from searching for information to arranging schedules.

Using the example of a person preparing for a trip, she said, the AI ​​agent can find flights, hotels, and car rentals through connected apps. Users view and browse each option before the agent makes a booking, then receive an itinerary including a confirmation code, address, and service booking time. According to Meta representatives, this is a step from an information provider to an assistant that can perform work on behalf of the user.

As the next panelist, Mr. Trinh Xuan Tuan, Director of MoMo Data Science, demonstrated that AI is supporting programmers. He believes that if programmers write code twice as fast thanks to AI, businesses can get software to customers twice as fast.

Mr. Tuan illustrates the difference with a job at MoMo. Previously, when wanting to find answers from data, the operations department had to send a request to an analyst. Both sides clarify the question, then the expert writes the query, analyzes it and returns the results. With the MOAT data analysis agent, operations staff can directly ask questions for the system to create queries and answers.

According to experts, the time from asking questions to receiving results has been reduced from many days to a few minutes. Data specialists have more time for in-depth analysis and system improvements.

When bringing AI agents into businesses, Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh, Director of AI Innovation and Consulting Center, FPT Smart Cloud, raised the issue of managing technology autonomy. With goals assigned by humans, agents can plan, execute and adjust step by step. Businesses therefore need to determine which tasks AI can handle on its own, and which situations must be transferred to the person in charge.

According to Mr. Minh, businesses can start by assigning AI to monitor and synthesize information, then allowing the system to suggest options for employees to choose from. The test results and risk level of each job will be the basis for expanding autonomy. For the assignor, the necessary skill is to clearly describe the desired results and determine the decisions that need your approval.

Opportunities for Vietnamese young people

After the presentations, the program entered the inspirational sharing section. Talking to students attending the festival, Dr. Nguyen Ha Phong, researcher at Qualcomm AI Research Vietnam, shared that he came to AI from his love of robots when he was a mechatronics student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. The turning point came when he did his graduation project, writing calculation software for a six-degree-of-freedom welding robot. Working directly with robots for the first time made him want to learn more about control systems.

From problems helping robots recognize their surroundings, he gradually turned to computer vision, then researched 3D scene reconstruction while doing his doctorate at the University of Oulu, Finland. Now he returns to robotics in the role of leading a research team on world modeling and machine learning for robots in Vietnam.

From his experience, Dr. Phong believes that AI workers do not necessarily come from an information technology background, but what they have in common is passion and perseverance in pursuing technology. Returning to the original question, Dr. Phong said that AI can help write code and test models faster, but to understand what the code does, how the model works and where it can be improved, learners still need to master the fundamental knowledge. The ability to deeply understand and improve technology will also be a future competitive advantage.

Sharing the technology company's perspective, Mr. Le Trung Hieu, Product Director of FPT IS, encouraged students to use AI to try their hand at problems that businesses and the community need solutions to.

Experts say that with the support of technology, students can pursue realistic goals when choosing a topic, solving a business or social problem.

According to him, this way of learning also helps students prepare for the future labor market. As AI agents become more and more proficient, businesses will need people capable of mastering the entire product process, monitoring the results AI creates, and taking responsibility for quality.

Honoring Vietnamese AI products, solutions and talents

Part two of the festival is for the Vietnam Artificial Intelligence Awards - AI Awards 2026 ceremony. The organizing committee honors three excellent AI solutions, three excellent AI products, five Vietnamese AI talents and five typical AI development enterprises.

Three excellent AI solutions include FPT AI Factory platform of FPT Smart Cloud; Elcom's Elcom ITS intelligent transportation ecosystem and MoMo's AI digital trust building and protection solution.

In the category of Outstanding AI Product, the award went to ThinkPrompt's Doctranslate.io, AIZ's AI enterprise operating system BrainOS and FPT IS's Kyta Platform.

Two researchers Le Trung Hieu from FPT IS and Nguyen Ha Phong, Qualcomm AI Research, were honored in the Vietnamese AI Talent category, along with Nguyen Tien Dong - CMC OpenAI, Le Duy Dung - VinUni University and Nguyen Xuan Khanh - Oulu University, Finland.

Five units receiving typical AI Enterprise awards include Elcom, CMC OpenAI, MoMo, Zalo Platforms and Minh Phuc Transformation.

After the honor, the hall exploded with a performance by guest singer Cheng and a game to distinguish between real and AI voices. Both singers and players can hardly distinguish exactly.

The program ended with the song "Whose Husband Is Exiled" in the cheers of hundreds of students at Nguyen Van Dao Hall, Hanoi National University.

Held annually since 2018, AI4VN is a forum connecting the research community, businesses and managers, promoting the development of artificial intelligence in Vietnam. Through sharing experiences and celebrating practical applications, the program aims to encourage research, development and mastery of artificial intelligence technology. The event is directed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and organized by VnExpress newspaper.

This year the program is organized in collaboration with the National University at 144 Xuan Thuy, Cau Giay, Hanoi. The program has the theme "Agentic AI & The Future of Learning - Autonomous AI and the future of learning", focusing on discussing the changes AI is bringing to learning, work and other areas of life.

Nam Nguyen

• Today opens the Vietnam Artificial Intelligence Festival 2026