“AI for Real Action” 2025 was organized at a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving from a research and technology topic into a core capability with direct impact on education, the economy, and social governance. The program is positioned not merely as a technology competition, but as a long-term initiative with a clear mission: to discover and nurture AI talent, promote the application of AI to real-world problems, and contribute to the national digital transformation process.
The “AI for Real Action” 2025 competition was jointly organized by Vietnam Television (VTV), the National Data Center (NDC), and the National Data Association (NDA), under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Security. The competition is embedded within a rigorous ecosystem closely linked to data, infrastructure, standards, and a strong national media mechanism, ensuring wide dissemination and real-world validation of proposed solutions.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lam, Director General of Vietnam Television, delivers remarks. (Photo: Viet Linh)
“AI for Real Action” 2025 was designed to embody the spirit of Resolution No. 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation, and national digital transformation. In this resolution, AI is identified as a key technology driving digital government, digital economy, and digital society. Through this large-scale, structured competition with an evaluation system, the program creates momentum for the true application of AI to the concrete challenges facing Vietnam.
Eight teams receive the Promising Award. Photo: Viet Linh
The competition strongly encouraged students and high-quality young professionals from technology companies to apply AI across various areas of Vietnamese social life actively. In this sense, “AI for Real Action” not only seeks winners but also aims to form teams capable of further developing into projects, products, and human resources for Vietnam’s AI ecosystem in the next phase.
After multiple rounds, the Organizing Committee selected 12 outstanding teams from nearly 400 registered to advance to the Grand Final.
At the final round, the core professional focus centered on AI in education and training, raising a fundamental question: How can AI help people learn better without making them dependent on it? Accordingly, solutions were encouraged to focus on supporting teachers in lesson planning, content creation, and assessment; helping students learn using appropriate methods; standardizing testing and evaluation; and ensuring content safety and information accuracy.
Team “Unicorn”, with its pedagogy-oriented AI tutor model, and team “ActFunc”, which developed a digital twin of the classroom, wins Third Prize in the competition. (Photo: Viet Linh)
Team “Vuon Minh”, from the CMC Applied Technology Research Institute and CMC Corporation, wins Second Prize in the competition. (Photo: Viet Linh)
Team “Converged”, consisting of Luong Son Tinh (AI Engineer at VTS), Nguyen Hoang Anh (AI Engineer at FSOFT AI1), and Doan Viet Thang (AI Resident at SECOMUS Technology JSC), outstandingly claims the First Prize of the competition. (Photo: Viet Linh)
Despite different approaches, all teams coincided on a shared principle: AI must serve people, create value in authentic contexts, and be used responsibly. This reflects the competition's core spirit of building Vietnam’s AI workforce with both competence and integrity, ensuring that AI is not only technologically strong but also ethically grounded and sustainably deployed.
At the Results Announcement and Awards Ceremony, the Organizing Committee awarded the First Prize team VND 1 billion in prize money and USD 1 million in scholarships. The Second Prize team received VND 300 million. Two Third Prize teams each received VND 100 million, while eight Promising Award teams each received VND 50 million.
