Atlas report
AI researchers in Vietnam
Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City is the largest, with 819 indexed researchers, 3.2 times FPT University behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
The short answer
By number of indexed researchers, Vietnam ranks 25th of 132 countries, with 3 298 profiles.
Industry employs 1.5% of Vietnam's indexed AI researchers; worldwide the share is 8.8%, so the country runs at 17% of the average.
The subject where Vietnam weighs most against the rest of the world is Video Analysis and Summarization: 1.1% of its subject assignments work on it, 2.5 times the world share of 0.4%.
What stands out
Per million inhabitants, Vietnam has 33 AI researchers in the index against 89 worldwide, 37% of the world figure.
Image Retrieval and Classification Techniques is the subject newcomers in Vietnam pick up fastest: 26 started on it between 2023 and 2025, and its share of new entrants is 1.7 times its share in the previous window.
Vietnam holds 0.5% of the researchers with a known country and 1.2% of the world's population, 37% of its demographic weight.
Subjects
The single most common subject is Topic Modeling, on which 9.0% of Vietnam's subject assignments fall.
Subject reports: Natural Language Processing Techniques, Multimodal Machine Learning Applications, Advanced Image and Video Retrieval Techniques, Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning.
| Subject | Researchers | Share here | Share worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic Modeling | 664 | 9.0% | 7.9% |
| Natural Language Processing Techniques | 398 | 5.4% | 4.3% |
| Advanced Neural Network Applications | 367 | 5.0% | 4.4% |
| Multimodal Machine Learning Applications | 335 | 4.5% | 3.9% |
| Advanced Image and Video Retrieval Techniques | 242 | 3.3% | 1.9% |
| Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning | 178 | 2.4% | 2.5% |
| Sentiment Analysis and Opinion Mining | 135 | 1.8% | 0.8% |
| IoT and Edge/Fog Computing | 102 | 1.4% | 0.8% |
Newcomers by year
Newcomers between 2023 and 2025 number 532 in Vietnam, against 453 between 2020 and 2022: a ratio of 1.2, where the world sits at 1.1.
The 2025 intake for Vietnam was 0.8 times the average of the three previous years, against 0.8 worldwide.
| First publication | New in Vietnam | Share of the world's newcomers |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 83 | 0.4% |
| 2020 | 91 | 0.4% |
| 2021 | 156 | 0.6% |
| 2022 | 206 | 0.6% |
| 2023 | 228 | 0.7% |
| 2024 | 147 | 0.5% |
| 2025 | 157 | 0.6% |
Institutions
The three largest institutions, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City first, hold 39% of the country's indexed researchers.
Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City is the largest, with 819 indexed researchers, 3.2 times FPT University behind it. One institution sets the tone for the country.
| Institution | Researchers | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City | 819 | 25% |
| FPT University | 252 | 7.6% |
| Hanoi University of Science and Technology | 215 | 6.5% |
Compared with its peers
Read against Poland and Belgium, the two nearest countries by headcount, the differences are in the rates, not the totals. The gap that stands out is the researchers per million inhabitants: 33 here, below the 173 of those two. Reports: AI researchers in Poland, AI researchers in Belgium.
| Vietnam | Poland | Belgium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Researchers | 3 298 | 3 288 | 3 021 |
| Per million inhabitants | 33 | 90 | 256 |
| In a company | 1.5% | 6.3% | 7.6% |
| Early career | 54% | 48% | 50% |
| Newcomers, recent against previous window | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
Common questions
- How many AI researchers are there in Vietnam?
- 3 298 researchers in the Founding Hires index have an institution in Vietnam, 0.5% of all profiles with a known country, as of October 2026.
- Where do you find AI researchers in Vietnam?
- Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, 819, FPT University, 252, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 215. Together they hold 39% of the country's indexed researchers.
- What is Vietnam strongest in?
- Video Analysis and Summarization, at 2.5 times the world share.
- Is the pool of AI researchers in Vietnam growing?
- Yes, at the world's pace. Between 2023 and 2025, 532 people in Vietnam published for the first time, against 453 over the three years before, a ratio of 1.2 where the world sits at 1.1.
The names behind the numbers
Every count on this page is a list in the index.
Search it by subject and country, and get an alert before they come free.