Vietnam needs 'hundreds of thousands' of AI engineers in next 3 years: Nvidia exec

Vietnam will need hundreds of thousands of artificial intelligence (AI) engineers within the next three years as it is facing a shortage of AI personnel at all levels and in various fields such as data science and AI operations, according to Vu Manh Cuong, director of Nvidia Vietnam.

Moreover, when AI is applied to specialized fields like biology, medicine, banking, and telecommunications, Vietnam will need even more data scientists and specialists who can master AI, he said at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Sharing about training activities, Cuong stated that Nvidia has the Deep Learning Institute (DLI) program, offering free curricula, tools, and cloud-based graphic processing resources for universities to train students in six different components, including deep learning, data science, and large language models.

The US tech giant is working with many local universities and businesses, such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Danang University, Duy Tan University, Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, and FPT University to train students.

For example, FPT Software has received over 6,000 Nvidia Deep Learning certificates in just four months. This is a special case due to FPT Software engineers’ high skill levels and their upskilling from their existing software and AI engineering backgrounds. This shows that the program can effectively serve both goals: large-scale training and specialized training.

Nvidia will also support other Vietnamese businesses in implementing the program, Cuong said.

The Nvidia representative recommended that to train a large number of personnel with quality, there needs to be a sufficient number of qualified instructors, and the "train the trainer" method should be applied, alongside a combination of self-learning and teacher-led instruction.

The program should cover three areas: upscaling and reskilling IT workers in public agencies, businesses, and startups; training general students; and providing high-quality training for top talents, he said.

Additionally, government support programs are needed, along with orders from large companies like Viettel and FPT for AI training and support for instructors. Funding is necessary to train large numbers of people, as training non-students involves fees and instructors' salaries to increase teaching hours, he added.

Following their success in collaboration with the National Innovation Center (NIC) last year, Nvidia hopes to work with NIC in the coming years to implement and train the workforce, as well as support the development of Vietnam's startup ecosystem, Cuong noted.

General director of Samsung R&D Vietnam (SRV) Suk Ji-won confirmed that Samsung continues to invest in nurturing technology talent in Vietnam. Over the past time, SRV has awarded 875 scholarships to talented IT students, organized programming courses for over 25,000 students, and facilitated internships in software and hardware technology for around 2,400 Vietnamese students.

Additionally, Samsung has donated lab rooms and over 700 computers to universities to improve the IT training environment, collaborated on research projects, and sponsored programming competitions for students.

The Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) program offers free courses on Internet of Things (IoT), AI, Big Data, and Basic Programming & Coding (C&P). Since 2019, more than 12,000 students have participated in these courses.

The center will strive to train high-quality human resources by expanding and specializing in collaboration programs with universities in talent development, Suk Ji-won stated.

To develop a high-tech workforce, Samsung's representative proposed that the Vietnamese government introduce policies to encourage the recruitment of foreign managers and experts who would be responsible for training and nurturing talent.

These policies could include support for visas, tax exemptions, as well as housing, healthcare, and education benefits for the families of foreign experts, enabling them to contribute to talent training in a stable and long-term manner in Vietnam.

He suggested that these policies be applied to the excellent workforce selected by Vietnamese agencies and organizations, as well as experts sent by companies to work on high-tech projects in Vietnam.

Moreover, Vietnam needs to improve its investment environment to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) businesses to actively engage in high-tech industries like AI and semiconductors.

Suk Ji-won said he believes that if the Vietnamese government continues to improve the business investment environment by simplifying licensing procedures and offering incentives to FDI businesses investing in high-tech projects, it will become a global hub for the high-tech industry in the future.

Marc Woo, CEO of Google Vietnam, commented that AI has made significant progress and development in Vietnam. However, in order to stay ahead of the curve, having a skilled workforce and well-prepared businesses in AI technology is crucial.

Regarding this issue, he stated that the company will continue to offer scholarships and advance AI training programs for individuals who meet the qualifications.

Google is also ready to provide all students and teachers in Vietnam with free access to Google Workspace, Google Space, and Google Classroom. These AI-powered tools will allow young people, especially students, to be introduced to AI at an early stage.