The Complete Guide to Using AI as a HR Professional in Viet Nam in 2025

In 2025, AI matters for HR in Viet Nam because an accelerating policy landscape and big tech investment are turning people operations into a competitive, compliance-heavy function: Vietnam's regulatory overview shows a national AI roadmap, Decree No.13 and a proposed regulatory sandbox that force HR to manage data, transparency and risk while unlocking automation for recruitment, people analytics and employee self‑service (Vietnam Briefing analysis of Vietnam's 2025 AI sector).

Policymakers and experts urge an adaptive approach that stresses data sovereignty and industry-specific AI - practical guidance HR teams can use to prioritize governance and upskilling (MIC analysis of Vietnam's national AI strategy).

With major R&D entrants and tens of thousands of IT graduates joining the market, HR should invest in prompt engineering, tool‑use and people analytics training; courses like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus map directly to those workplace skills so HR can pair human judgment with accountable AI across hiring, performance and learning.

“Vietnam has many advantages, of which the biggest “superpower” is family values and respect for education. Vietnamese people excel in STEM fields, especially math and science. This makes Vietnam the second-largest supplier of software engineers in the world – a fact that few people know about. With this potential, we believe that Vietnam is an ideal place for NVIDIA to develop R&D centers and build a strong AI ecosystem here.” – Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA.

HR teams across Viet Nam are turning generative and narrow AI into practical assistants that speed hiring, lift candidate experience and free people teams for strategic work: from automated resume parsing and ranking to AI‑assisted interviews, 24/7 recruitment chatbots and personalised onboarding plans.

Practical prompting workflows - like the Google Workspace Gemini prompting guide for HR workflows - show how to iterate prompts inside Docs and Sheets to draft job descriptions, generate interview questions, clean candidate spreadsheets and build first‑week schedules, so routine tasks become repeatable outputs rather than one‑off chores.

Local vendors and case studies emphasise similar use cases in Vietnam: Lac Viet's recruitment suite offers OCR CV parsing, chatbot recruiting and trend prediction and claims big efficiency gains (chatbot support and automated screening can cut screening time and save HR hours) (Lac Viet AI recruitment solutions: OCR CV parsing, chatbot recruiting and trend prediction).

Industry writeups also note material time‑to‑hire reductions in practice, so the common scene in Vietnamese offices is an HR inbox with fewer repetitive queries and a chatbot answering candidate FAQs at 2:00 AM - allowing recruiters to focus on interviews, employer brand and fairness checks rather than sifting piles of CVs (Faro Vietnam article on AI in talent acquisition in Vietnam).

Does AI actually work in Viet Nam? The short answer is: it already shows up as a real force - especially in public sentiment and policy - while everyday usage still has room to grow.

Viet Nam placed 6th out of 40 countries in the 2025 WIN World AI Index with a composite score of 59.2/100, ranking third globally for AI trust (65.6) and fifth for AI acceptance (71.6), which means employees and candidates are unusually open to AI-powered HR services (source: WIN World AI Index 2025 Vietnam News coverage).

At the same time the usage indicator lags (37.6 points, 17th/40): about 60% of city residents have tried AI but only 3% use it daily, with young adults in Ha Noi (89% of 18–24s) and HCM City (87%) leading adoption while Da Nang and Cần Thơ trail.

That mix - high trust, strong government backing and uneven everyday use - creates a pragmatic playbook for HR: pilot conversational helpdesks and personalised onboarding where urban teams will adopt quickly, and invest in targeted upskilling and access programs to close the digital divide for older and non‑urban staff.

The verdict for HR in 2025 is clear:

AI “works” as an enabler, but success depends on deliberate rollout, education and governance so the technology scales from early experiments into reliable, day‑to‑day tools rather than one‑off demos (see government briefing and index findings at the MIC report on Vietnam Global AI Index 2025).

For HR teams in Viet Nam looking to move from experiments to everyday impact, prioritize workflows that match local needs: automated resume parsing and matching (the Rikkeisoft generative‑AI CV solution shows how Vietnamese teams can extract, categorise and auto‑match large applicant pools to open roles), AI‑drafted job descriptions, interview prompts and internal comms to save time and keep messaging consistent (see practical examples of GenAI writing and comms help in Vietcetera's roundup), and 24/7 conversational helpdesks or employee self‑service that handle routine policy questions while escalating human cases - freeing specialists for coaching and complex decisions.

Add people‑analytics pipelines that summarise engagement surveys, flag retention hotspots and recommend personalised L&D paths, and embed AI into total‑rewards workflows to support fast benchmarking and more tailored benefits offers.

Pick domain‑specialised models or embedded GenAI in your HCM, start with high‑value, auditable use cases, and pair each rollout with governance, vendor diligence and upskilling so tools augment - not replace - human judgment.

The payoff is tangible: where teams once sifted through hundreds of applications, AI can produce a ranked shortlist in minutes, shifting time from admin to talent conversations and strategy (Rikkeisoft generative AI resume analysis case study; Vietcetera roundup on generative AI for recruiting and communications; The Hackett Group guide: five steps to unlock GenAI in HR).

“Sustainable value doesn't come from technology itself, but from what people accomplish with it.”

People analytics is the practical bridge between HR intuition and measurable talent outcomes in Viet Nam: by turning HCM, engagement and performance data into visual dashboards, drill‑downs and predictive models, HR teams can spot retention hotspots, map internal talent pipelines and fine‑tune compensation so pay and benefits actually keep people on the floor - critical when factory turnover can cost manufacturers 3–5 months of a worker's salary for every replacement (see Talentnet's data‑driven retention write‑up).

Local HR teams should prioritise tools that offer interactive visuals, flight‑risk prediction and pay‑equity checks so managers see root causes by department or tenure and take targeted action; platforms like Akrivia HCM advertise those exact capabilities - dynamic drill‑downs, predictive modelling and integrated data prep - to turn scatterplots into interventions.

Dayforce's practical guide reinforces the playbook: start with a simple, trusted dashboard, expand into predictive use cases that forecast who may leave or who's ready for promotion, and then embed those insights into performance reviews, succession planning and bespoke upskilling paths.

The payoff in Viet Nam is concrete: fewer surprise resignations, smarter total‑rewards decisions and faster, evidence‑based talent moves that keep operations humming and learning budgets focused where they matter most (and reduce the costly churn that hits manufacturing hardest).

“Data is critical to understand what's going on and manage the business better. We're now better able to manage our workforce and anticipate needs. We're able to address issues proactively rather than reactively.” – Alan House, Executive Vice President of HR at OTG Management.

Upskilling in AI is now a must-have for HR teams across Viet Nam: practical, local pathways range from Vietnam-focused offerings like the SHRM Certified AI‑HR Program (Vietnam) to regional and online certificates that teach prompt engineering, people analytics and responsible deployment - resources that turn abstract AI concepts into everyday HR practice (see the clear primer in the MiHCM guide to AI HR certification).

Short, applied credentials - virtual micro‑courses or intensive 3‑day workshops - help HR move from pilots to measurable results: Cielo's AI Certification for HR and TA, for example, bundles 10 hours of hands‑on classes with a Credly badge and three months' access to CLO.ai so a week of training can translate immediately into usable tools.

For Vietnamese HR teams, the practical playbook is simple: choose auditable, role‑specific programs, stack micro‑credentials onto leadership tracks, and pair each certification with vendor‑agnostic labs so learning produces real workflows - not just certificates - (imagine swapping a bulky policy binder for a pocket toolkit that coaches decisions at the point of hire).

“Mostafa has a unique approach to making a wonderful learning experience of modern HR concepts and trends. He is impressive in connecting the theory to the application in an enjoyable and engaging environment...” - testimonial for Informa Academy trainer Mostafa Mostafa Azzam.

Sector spotlight - manufacturing: Vietnam's factories are shifting fast from manual assembly to data-driven production, and HR sits at the crossroads of that change as recruiter, reskiller and governance partner; Q2 2025 data shows new manufacturing job orders rose 15% from Q1 and 59% year‑on‑year, pushing demand for local leaders and technical roles as firms scale automation and renewables projects (Adecco Vietnam Q2 2025 market update).

On the shop floor AI use cases - predictive maintenance that spots a failing motor hours before a costly shutdown, computer‑vision quality control that flags a hairline chip in a circuit board, and cobots that take on repetitive or hazardous tasks - are already proving ROI at larger firms like VinFast and Samsung, though many SMEs still face data, talent and infrastructure gaps (Vietnam's manufacturing revolution: how AI is reshaping the factory floor).

For HR the practical playbook is clear: digitise core records, prioritise targeted upskilling and internal mobility programs, embed AI into safety and shift‑planning workflows, and use flexible payroll or outsourcing arrangements to bridge short‑term capacity - a vivid outcome is one operator getting a smartwatch warning about overheating bearings that prevents a day's lost production.

Success hinges on tying AI pilots to measurable KPIs, partnering with vendors for turnkey AIaaS for SMEs, and treating reskilling as operational strategy rather than one‑off training.

“The hiring landscape will remain strategic,” Chuong shared.

For HR teams in Viet Nam, the upside of AI comes with a clear compliance bill: workplace AI that collects biometrics, location, health or behavioural signals triggers strict consent, transparency and impact‑assessment rules under Decree No.13 and the new PDP Law - with extraterritorial reach - so employers can't treat monitoring or AI hiring tools as “just another app.” Practical obligations include explicit, purpose‑specific consent for sensitive employee data, Data Protection Impact Assessments and Transfer Impact Assessments (TIAs) that must be prepared and made available (and in many cases filed within 60 days), and fast breach reporting timelines (72 hours in many scenarios); controllers remain liable even when vendors operate the systems, so vendor due diligence and strong Data Processing Agreements are essential.

Data localisation hooks and sectoral rules - plus possible requirements to delete candidate data if a hire doesn't proceed - mean HR should pair pilots with legal review, a named DPO/DPD (noting limited grace periods for some small firms), and regular DPIA/TIA updates; failure to comply carries steep sanctions under the new regime (from multi‑billion VND fines to percentage‑of‑revenue penalties).

Use the government and legal guidance as a checklist for governance: see the overview of Vietnam's data protection framework and the practical workplace risks flagged by local counsel (Overview of Vietnam data protection laws (PDPD, Cybersecurity & NIS); AI in the workplace in Vietnam - legal risks and data privacy guidance).

Will HR professionals be replaced by AI? In Viet Nam the answer is not replacement but reinvention: AI is primed to take over repetitive, rule‑based tasks - meaning screening, basic scheduling and routine communications will increasingly be automated - yet strategic HR work that relies on judgement, empathy and governance will become more valuable, not obsolete.

Policymakers and labour studies signal the scale of change (Vietnam News highlights that up to 85% of workers doing repetitive tasks are at risk and that large parts of the workforce lack vocational training), so HR's priority is to redeploy effort toward people strategy, reskilling and trustworthy AI oversight rather than fight a rear‑guard action against automation (Vietnam News report on AI's impact on Việt Nam's workforce).

Practical guides from HR practitioners show the smart path: use AI to automate admin and free teams for candidate experience, coaching and bias checks, while investing in prompt engineering and tool management as core competencies (Vietcetera analysis of how AI is reshaping HR in Viet Nam; guide to prompt engineering and AI tool management as essential HR skills).

The human+AI future in Viet Nam rewards HR teams that pair technical literacy with humane decisions - think fewer hours spent on CV sifting and more time designing career paths for workers shifting from repetitive roles into higher‑value, tech‑enabled jobs.

“AI and robotics would soon replace humans in many jobs as these technologies would create a new class of AI labour that never tires, needs no bonuses, and never takes sick leave,” said Tiến.

Conclusion & practical next steps for HR teams in Viet Nam (2025): align strategy to the emerging rulebook, start small and measure everything. Prioritise governance - embed DPIAs, clear vendor due diligence and transparent disclosure of AI use as required under the evolving national framework - so pilots don't become compliance headaches (see the policy roadmap in Nhan Dan policy brief on AI governance).

Choose high-adoption, high-impact pilots first (recruitment chatbots, onboarding assistants and people‑analytics dashboards in urban hubs), run them inside a controlled regulatory sandbox where possible, and tie each pilot to simple KPIs (time‑to‑shortlist, candidate NPS, attrition hotspots).

Invest in role‑specific upskilling - prompt engineering, responsible tool management and people analytics - and pair learning with vendor‑agnostic labs so new skills produce usable workflows rather than certificates; practical pathways such as the Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp map directly to those workplace skills and offer a 15‑week syllabus for teams ready to scale (AI Essentials for Work syllabus (Nucamp)).

Finally, lean into Vietnam's adaptive AI strategy: protect data sovereignty, use sandboxes and incentives to co‑develop industry‑specific models, and treat governance, ethics and measurement as the operating system that turns pilots into everyday HR tools (Vietnam Briefing analysis of Vietnam's 2025 AI sector).

“Vietnam has many advantages, of which the biggest “superpower” is family values and respect for education. Vietnamese people excel in STEM fields, especially math and science. This makes Vietnam the second-largest supplier of software engineers in the world – a fact that few people know about. With this potential, we believe that Vietnam is an ideal place for NVIDIA to develop R&D centers and build a strong AI ecosystem here.” – Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA.