Foreign tech companies are putting down roots in a rapidly transforming Vietnam
Vietnam is no longer just that country famous for textile factories and cheap labor. Over the past few years, the country has flipped the script in a way few people expected, and today it shows up on the radar of major tech companies as a genuinely strategic destination. Giants like Google, Apple, Intel, Qualcomm, and Nvidia already have operations or signed agreements there. And that is not all: Silicon Valley startups are also eyeing the country, drawn in by something that is becoming increasingly rare in the tech world — quality human talent.
It is exactly in this landscape that TinyFish AI enters the picture, an American artificial intelligence startup based in Silicon Valley that decided to build a team of software engineers in Ho Chi Minh City. In a gleaming skyscraper in the heart of the city, a group of recently hired software engineers work side by side, hunched over computer screens as they collaborate on cutting-edge projects. For co-founder and CEO Sudheesh Nair, the logic is simple:
I truly believe there are smart people everywhere in the world. We just need to bring them closer.
But what is making Vietnam stand out so much right now? The answer comes down to a combination of factors that rarely show up together: a young and technically prepared population, a government committed to turning the country into a reference in artificial intelligence, tax incentives aimed at high-tech companies, infrastructure investments, and training programs to develop young talent. All of this is happening during what experts call Vietnam’s golden demographic era, a period when the country has roughly two working-age people for every dependent. 🚀
From clothing factories to artificial intelligence hubs
To understand how Vietnam got here, you need to take a step back. When the Vietnamese economy became more market-oriented after a series of reforms in the late 1980s, known as Doi Moi, manufacturing — especially low-cost textile production — became a fundamental pillar of the country’s economy. For decades, that was what Vietnam meant to the global market: an efficient supplier of manufactured goods at competitive prices.
But over time, the Vietnamese workforce became increasingly skilled in technology fields, and that maturation attracted new types of investment to the country. Today, the landscape is radically different. Many American tech companies, including Google, which announced the official opening of an office in Vietnam in 2025, Apple, which has been expanding its production strategy in the country, Intel, which transferred chip assembly operations from Costa Rica there, and Qualcomm, which opened an AI research and development center, already operate on Vietnamese soil.
Nvidia, for its part, signed an agreement with the government to build a research and development center in the country, signaling to the market that it sees Vietnam as an important piece on the global artificial intelligence chessboard. And Ho Chi Minh City boasts a startup ecosystem valued at around 7 billion dollars, according to local estimates. That is no small feat for a country that, just over three decades ago, was still opening up to the world.
Huy Vo: the talent who came back home
TinyFish AI’s first hire in Vietnam was Huy Vo, a guy who was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City but spent 24 years living in the United States. During that time, he earned a PhD in computer science and worked as a university professor in New York. Despite an entire career built on American soil, Vo always wanted to go back home.
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I always wanted to go back. But I also had my doubts about the opportunities I would find in the city.
Three years ago, Vo came to Ho Chi Minh City during a sabbatical. What he found completely changed his perspective. The growth he saw in the city’s tech sector was so impressive that it convinced him to leave the United States for good and permanently relocate to Vietnam. Today, he is the country director of TinyFish AI’s Vietnamese office and a key player in building the company’s local team.
And here is an important detail that sets TinyFish apart from many other foreign companies operating in the country. Vo is quick to explain that many companies are going to Vietnam not to simply outsource cheap work, but to develop core infrastructure and essential artificial intelligence technology there. That is a massive paradigm shift. We are not talking about call centers or assembly lines. We are talking about cutting-edge engineering, real research and development.
Vo is also already working to expand the team. TinyFish has established partnerships with local universities, and the plan is to increase the number of hires in the coming years, seeking more and more talent trained within Vietnam’s own educational ecosystem. This kind of investment in local talent development is exactly what makes growth sustainable over the long run.
The Vietnamese government is not sitting on the sidelines
None of this happened by accident. The Vietnamese government has been extremely deliberate in its strategy to position the country as a reference in technology and artificial intelligence. There is an official government goal to turn Vietnam into a leader in AI research, and the actions to get there are concrete and well-coordinated.
Among the main initiatives are:
- Tax incentives for high-tech companies, especially those investing in research and development within the country
- Digital infrastructure investments, including smart city projects like the one in Binh Duong
- Training and upskilling programs focused on emerging technologies, with Ho Chi Minh City identifying nine priority technology pillars for local development
- Foreign direct investment attraction policies with streamlined processes for setting up operations
This combination of incentives creates an environment where foreign companies can operate with competitive costs, easy access to talent, and institutional support that significantly reduces barriers to entry. It is the kind of strategy that, when executed well, generates a cascading effect that is hard to stop.
Vietnamese technical universities are also doing their part. Renowned institutions have been graduating engineers and data scientists at an accelerated pace, and many professionals who pursued advanced degrees abroad are returning to the country — just like Huy Vo himself — bringing hands-on experience and a global market perspective. This movement creates a virtuous cycle: the more qualified talent the country produces, the more tech companies become interested in opening operations there, which generates more opportunities and attracts even more investment. 💡
TinyFish AI: this is not outsourcing, it is strategy
One point that deserves attention is the difference between TinyFish AI’s model and that of other companies operating in Vietnam. The program The Age of Work, hosted by journalist Kai Ryssdal and ADP chief economist Nela Richardson, also visited Saigon Technology, a Vietnamese startup that is part of the country’s growing IT services sector. Saigon Technology primarily serves overseas clients, offering outsourced software development services.
TinyFish AI, on the other hand, represents something different. It is not a company looking for outsourcing. It is an American company that sees Ho Chi Minh City as a source of elite talent. The distinction is subtle but extremely relevant. When a company goes to another country to outsource repetitive tasks, the economic and technological impact is limited. When it goes there to recruit top-tier professionals who will work on the product’s core technology, the impact is transformative.
Vo has already helped TinyFish build a small but highly qualified team, and the company plans to expand this operation over time. The partnership with local universities is a central part of that growth strategy, ensuring the company has continuous access to new talent trained within Vietnam’s own ecosystem.
Thao Dien: the face of an increasingly globalized Vietnam
The economic transformation and the increase in foreign investment in Vietnam are on full display in Thao Dien, a neighborhood located right on Ho Chi Minh City’s brand-new metro line that has become popular among expats.
In stark contrast to the motorbike-dominated streets elsewhere in the city, imported cars line the roads of Thao Dien. Kai Ryssdal and Nela Richardson observed upscale shops and cafes with a decidedly international touch — a New York-style bagel shop, an Argentine restaurant, and even a store selling luxury Danish children’s clothing, for example.
Richardson summed up what she saw throughout the visit to Vietnam pretty well:
We started this conversation about a workforce that is at its peak. And yet, it is a city that knows it needs to transition quickly from its past — labor-intensive industries — to where the global economy is heading.
That observation captures the essence of the moment Vietnam is living through. The country is making the most of its favorable demographic window, investing heavily in tech capacity building, and attracting companies that are not just looking to cut costs but genuinely want to build cutting-edge technology there.
What this means for the future of the global tech ecosystem
The movement we are seeing in Vietnam is not an isolated phenomenon. It is part of a global trend of talent decentralization in technology and artificial intelligence. For decades, Silicon Valley was treated as the absolute center of global innovation. But reality is shifting. Companies are realizing that limiting their operations to a single geographic hub is risky and unnecessary, especially when countries like Vietnam offer highly skilled professionals, growing infrastructure, and an institutional environment that makes operations easier.
Beyond the numbers and the big corporate names, what stands out most about this movement is the impact it is generating within the country itself. The arrival of foreign tech companies is raising the bar for the local market, pushing Vietnamese companies to evolve at a faster pace to stay competitive. Local startups are popping up in areas like agritech, edtech, and artificial intelligence solutions for the public sector, many of them founded by young people who went through training programs supported precisely by these foreign companies.
The startup ecosystem in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi already features innovation hubs, accelerators, tech events, and an entrepreneurial community that is increasingly connected to what is happening in Silicon Valley, Singapore, and other global tech centers. This environment means that foreign companies arriving in Vietnam do not have to build everything from scratch. They find an already established support network, with suppliers, partners, and even potential clients who speak the language of the tech world.
When a company the size of Nvidia decides to bet on a country, it is signaling to the market that it sees infrastructure and human capital robust enough to support high-level operations for many years. This creates a cascading effect: other companies, especially startups that are still evaluating where to expand, start viewing Vietnam as a safer bet because there is already an implicit validation from established players.
The development cycle the country is experiencing right now has all the hallmarks of something that is here to stay. With a young and ambitious population, a government that understands the strategic importance of technology, and a growing flow of international investment, Vietnam is positioning itself as an increasingly relevant piece on the global innovation map. And the tech world is going to need to pay close attention to what is coming next. 🌏
