The AI Hiring Trap: Why Vietnam Companies Are Moving Slower Than Their Competitors

ManagementApril 21, 2026 21:37

A Vietnam-based hiring manager reviewing unfilled AI job postings

The AI Hiring Trap: Why Vietnam Companies Are Moving Slower Than Their Competitors

Published by Reeracoen Vietnam  |  AI and ICT Talent Outlook Series 2026

Vietnam's digital economy is one of Southeast Asia's most compelling growth stories. Fintech platforms are scaling. Foreign investment is accelerating. The government has set a bold target of 100,000 AI engineers by 2030. Every company strategy deck mentions digital transformation.

And yet, when Reeracoen's consultants speak to hiring managers across Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, the story on the ground is consistent: AI and ICT roles are staying open for months. Counter-offers are derailing searches mid-process. The best candidates accept offers from competitors before internal approval comes through.

The problem is rarely the talent market. It is almost always the approach. Here are the five hiring mistakes we see most consistently, and what to do differently.

 

MISTAKE 1

Hiring for AI Expertise When You Need AI Readiness

THE REALITY

Vietnam has strong junior and mid-level software engineering supply. What it lacks is a deep pool of senior AI experts who can build and deploy models at production scale. Yet most JDs are written for exactly that profile, creating searches that fail before they begin. Strong AI-Enabled Professionals with genuine domain knowledge read the same JD and self-select out.

THE FIX

Map the role honestly against what it actually needs to deliver. In most cases the answer is not a model-builder. It is someone who can apply AI frameworks intelligently within your business context. AI-Enabled Professionals who combine domain knowledge with AI tool fluency are Vietnam's fastest-growing high-value talent segment and are currently being overlooked by companies writing JDs for profiles that do not exist at scale.

 

 

 

Most companies do not need a senior AI expert. They need an AI-ready team. In Vietnam's market, confusing the two does not just extend your timeline. It means you never fill the role at all.

 

MISTAKE 2

Benchmarking Against Local Market Averages Instead of Your Actual Competitors

THE REALITY

Vietnam's general salary market looks stable. But at senior AI and ICT levels, foreign-invested companies and fast-scaling fintechs are offering 20-30% above what local benchmarks show. Based on Reeracoen Vietnam's Salary Guide 2025/26, AI and ML engineers at senior level command 30-55 million VND per month, with manager-level roles at 55-90 million. If your benchmark is local averages, you are consistently making offers below what your actual competitors pay.

THE FIX

Benchmark specifically against foreign-invested companies and digitally-native firms, because that is who you are competing with for the same profiles. If your budget does not reflect current premium market rates, reset it before the search begins, not after the first round of rejected offers.

 

 

 

Vietnam's salary benchmarks look stable on paper. But at the senior AI tier, foreign-invested firms are setting reference points that local data has not captured. If you are benchmarking against local averages, you are not benchmarking against your real competitors.

 

MISTAKE 3

Overlooking Internal Talent in Favour of External Searches

THE REALITY

Vietnam's external search for senior AI roles can take 8-12 weeks and still fall short. Yet most organisations skip the internal assessment. Mid-career professionals with strong domain knowledge in finance, operations or banking frequently make excellent AI-adjacent hires. They understand the business. They need the technical layer, not a complete rebuild.

THE FIX

Before writing the JD, ask whether this role exists because you genuinely cannot build it internally, or because it is easier to search externally. Employer-led, structured AI upskilling aligned with MOLISA's digital workforce development frameworks is consistently faster, cheaper and produces better retention outcomes than external hiring at the same level.

 

 

 

The AI talent you need may already work for you. Vietnam's hiring market rewards companies that invest in developing existing staff, not just those that search hardest for external profiles.

 

MISTAKE 4

Treating Vietnam as a Single-Market Hiring Pool

THE REALITY

Vietnam is an excellent base for AI delivery, software development and scalable engineering operations. But for senior strategy, regional governance and bilingual client-facing leadership, the local talent pool is structurally thin, particularly for professionals with English and Japanese fluency at manager level and above. Companies that try to fill every AI role locally at every level will either wait indefinitely or overpay for profiles that do not fully fit.

THE FIX

Build a deliberate strategy: fill delivery and engineering roles locally where the pipeline is strong; source senior leadership and bilingual governance roles regionally from Japan or Singapore where needed. This is how the most effectively structured companies already operate.

 

 

 

The companies winning the AI talent race in Vietnam are not trying to fill every role locally. They build regionally: delivery teams in Vietnam, senior leadership sourced where the talent exists. Structure matters as much as headcount.

 

MISTAKE 5

Running a Hiring Process That Counter-Offer Culture Will Derail

THE REALITY

Counter-offer activity in Vietnam's mid-to-senior AI and tech market is strong and fast. Candidates at manager level routinely field two to three offers simultaneously. A process taking six to eight weeks from first interview to offer will lose candidates mid-process, not to better companies, but to faster ones.

THE FIX

Map every stage of your hiring process. If any gap between stages exceeds two weeks, redesign before your next search opens. Pre-approving salary bands and decision authority before the search begins is the single most effective change most hiring managers can make.

 

 

 

Vietnam companies are not losing AI candidates to better offers. They are losing them to faster decisions. Process speed is a direct competitive advantage.

 

Are these patterns familiar?

Reeracoen Vietnam's specialist AI and ICT team works directly with hiring managers to close these gaps, from salary benchmarking to live candidate pipelines.

[Book a Strategy Consultation today]

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Why is it so hard to hire senior AI talent in Vietnam right now?

The talent gap in Vietnam is a maturity gap, not a volume gap. Junior and mid-level supply is growing. What is structurally thin is the layer of experienced senior professionals who combine AI technical capability with cross-border stakeholder management and bilingual communication. Demand from foreign-invested firms is accelerating faster than this profile develops.

Q2: How much should we budget for an AI engineer in Vietnam in 2026?

Based on Reeracoen Vietnam's Salary Guide 2025/26, AI and ML engineers at senior level command 30-55 million VND per month, rising to 55-90 million at manager level and 90-130 million at senior manager or head level. Software engineers at senior level range from 23-40 million, and data engineers from 23-40 million at the same tier. Foreign-invested companies are consistently at the higher end of these ranges for specialist profiles.

Q3: Is working with a specialist recruiter worth it for AI roles in Vietnam?

For mid-to-senior AI and ICT roles, yes. The best candidates are typically not actively applying to job boards. They are reachable through established recruiter networks and direct pipelines. Consultants who understand both the technical requirements and bilingual communication standards that foreign-invested companies require consistently achieve shorter time-to-fill than direct search for these profiles.

 

Looking to advance your AI and ICT career in Vietnam?

Register with Reeracoen Vietnam to access exclusive roles across HCMC and Hanoi's fastest-growing digital and technology sector.

[Register as a Candidate today]

 

About the Author

Valerie Ong

Regional Marketing Manager, Reeracoen Group

Valerie leads content and market insights for Reeracoen across Southeast Asia. She works closely with Reeracoen's specialist recruitment consultants to translate hiring data, salary benchmarks and labour market trends into practical guidance for employers and professionals across the region. Her work draws on Reeracoen's proprietary research including the annual Salary Guide, Hiring Pulse, and regional Workforce Whitepaper.

 

Related Reading

  • Reeracoen Vietnam Salary Guide 2025/26
  • What AI Talent Actually Costs in Vietnam in 2026 [Blog 2 in this series]
  • From Policy to Practice: Vietnam's Digital Transformation Agenda and Your Hiring Strategy 

 

Data sources: Reeracoen Vietnam BFSF Talent Outlook 2026. Reeracoen Vietnam Salary Guide 2025/26. Reeracoen Hiring Pulse Q1 2026. Reeracoen x Rakuten APAC Workforce Whitepaper 2025 (12 markets, 12,000 respondents). Salary figures are indicative monthly gross in VND millions. Actual compensation varies by company, role scope and market conditions.

 

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