Vietnam International Bank’s (VIB) data warehouse has seen major improvements thanks to the joint efforts of 20,000 employees identifying AI errors, said deputy CEO Tran Nhat Minh. VIB has launched a program rewarding employees VND100,000 ($3.8) for each AI error they detected, Minh told the recent CIO Summit in Ho Chi Minh City. He recounted that at one point, VIB had a few hundred customer service staff, yet 15% of calls went unanswered, meaning 15 out of every 100 callers didn’t get a response. To meet demand, the bank would have needed to hire an additional 50-60 employees. Frustrated by this gap, VIB’s management turned to AI for customer service. After some time, the share of unanswered calls fell to just 3%. The bank also surveyed customers on AI’s performance, with 93% reporting satisfaction with the AI-driven responses. “AI can replace 50-60 staff and operate around the clock,” said Minh who is also head of banking technology services cum head of information technology at VIB. In addition, the AI features voice recognition, Minh said, explaining when a customer calls, their name will appear on the screen during subsequent calls. At the Vietnam AI Forum – AI360 2025, hosted by the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (Vinasa) last Thursday, Nguyen Khac Lich, director of the department of information technology industry at the Ministry of Science and Technology, cited the 2024 Government AI Readiness Index by UK-based Oxford Insights. The report ranked Vietnam 59th out of 193 countries, placing it in Southeast Asia’s top five and above the global average for three consecutive years. The 2025 World AI Index also ranked Vietnam third globally for AI trust and fifth for AI acceptance. With a young population, a tech-savvy workforce, and strategic guidance from the government, Vietnam’s AI ecosystem is poised for a new leap forward, Lich believed. Data from the Department of Information Technology Industry shows AI investment and adoption are accelerating. Over a year, funding for domestic AI companies surged eightfold, rising from $10 million in 2023 to $80 million in 2024. An average of five companies began adopting AI every hour, according to Vinasa. The 2025 Vietnam AI Report also emphasized AI’s potential to drive digital economic growth, with leading sectors in AI deployment in Vietnam including information technology, finance-banking, education, e-commerce, and health care. The report highlighted talent shortages as the top challenge, with 45% of AI providers citing a lack of skilled personnel. Another 23% struggled with data and computing infrastructure, while 30% pointed to unclear legal frameworks. Among AI data providers, 50% reported limited or no access to standardized datasets, and 51% of training institutions faced obstacles from low-quality training data.