Vietnam’s IT Market Feels Like It’s Entering A Different Era

Over the past few months, I’ve been seeing more and more discussions around salaries, hiring trends and career directions in Vietnam’s tech industry. And honestly, the market feels very different compared to just a few years ago.
Back then, the “safe route” usually meant:

• frontend/backend development

• mobile engineering

• fullstack paths

• climbing toward senior developer or tech lead

But recently the conversation has shifted heavily toward:

• AI Engineering

• MLOps

• Data Engineering

• GenAI integration

• AI-assisted workflows

At the same time, many developers are also starting to question whether traditional web/app development is becoming oversaturated.

A Vietnam IT Salary Guide I Found Surprisingly Insightful

Out of curiosity, I looked through this: https://www.jt1.vn/salaryguide

A few insights from it were surprisingly interesting. The biggest thing that stood out was how AI/ML-related roles are currently among the highest-paid positions in Vietnam’s IT market.

According to the guide, engineers with AI/ML, MLOps and GenAI integration skills are earning noticeably higher compensation compared to many traditional engineering positions.

The report also mentioned something called the “Trust Paradox” in AI development: developers increasingly use AI tools for speed and productivity but still don’t fully trust the outputs generated by AI systems. That idea honestly feels very real right now.

Developers May Be Shifting From “Coding” to “Supervising AI”

With tools like Copilot, Cursor, GPT-based workflows, and AI agents becoming more common, it feels like developers are slowly moving toward a different role. Not necessarily replacing engineers but changing what engineers actually do.

Instead of writing every line manually and solving everything from zero, developers may spend more time: reviewing AI-generated outputs, debugging generated code, designing architecture, validating business logic and orchestrating systems.

So What Will Actually Dominate The Next Few Years?

That’s the part I’m curious about. Right now AI/ML looks incredibly hot, especially in terms of salary growth and hiring trends, but tech changes insanely fast.

A few years ago everyone was talking about blockchain, Web3, crypto and metaverse. Now the conversation is completely different again.
So I’m wondering do you think AI/ML-related roles will truly dominate the next phase of the industry, or will another field/position become the next major wave in tech?

Would love to hear perspectives from people already working in different areas of the industry.