AI in Practice 2026: Bringing Artificial Intelligence to Solve Real-World Problems

100 teams enter the AI ​​competition.

On the evening of November 5th, the first episode of AI Battleground 2026 officially aired on VTV2, kicking off the competition among 100 outstanding teams selected from nearly 1,000 applications from within Vietnam and the global Vietnamese community. Techcombank continues its partnership as a co-organizer, exclusive sponsor, and awarding a $1 million Miracle Scholarship to the winning team.

The top 100 teams advancing to the final round possess outstanding capabilities in research, competition, product development, and open-source software. Approximately 80% of the teams have international achievements or certifications. Among them are the champions of NeurIPS 2025, the Global AI Challenge, and authors who have published research at leading global AI conferences such as NeurIPS, EACL, and INLG.

Notably, many of the teams’ solutions have been implemented in practice in fields such as healthcare and banking, serving hundreds of thousands of users.

According to the program format, 100 teams are divided into 10 groups, with 10 teams in each group. The teams will work together to solve practical social problems within 120 minutes.

After the group stage, the top 10 teams and the two best-performing second-place teams qualify for the national semi-finals. This is the next stage in the competition to get closer to Techcombank’s Miracle Scholarship worth $1 million USD.

Sharing their vision for partnering with the program, a representative from Techcombank stated: The $1 million “Techcombank Miracle” scholarship is not only a prize for the winning team but also a long-term commitment from Techcombank to support Vietnam’s strategy for developing high-tech human resources, seeking talents capable of making AI a driving force for innovation and national development through highly applicable solutions that create real value for the economy and society.

Applying AI to real-world problems

One of the notable aspects of AI in action 2026 is the focus on problems arising from the practical needs of life, economy, culture, and society.

The competing teams will explore a wide range of topics, from smart travel assistants and digital platforms for regional knowledge to personalized nutrition systems and AI applications in education, the content industry, and the promotion of Vietnamese culture.

Besides technological challenges, many teams also leverage Vietnamese cultural elements to develop artificial intelligence applications. The proposed approaches include storytelling about heritage through digital language, creating entertainment content, applying technology in filmmaking, and promoting Vietnamese agricultural products, tourism, and image to the world.

With this approach, teams need to demonstrate not only technical competence but also an understanding of user needs, feasibility of implementation, and the value the product can create.

The connection between technology, culture, education, and business is also a notable aspect of this season. Solutions are presented within specific application contexts, rather than focusing solely on research or technological demonstrations.

This is also the practical spirit that the program aims for: bringing AI from the research lab to applications capable of creating real-world impact for the community and the economy.

To evaluate the submitted products and solutions, the judging panel for season 2 brought together many AI experts from both within and outside the country.

These include Dr. Do Binh Minh, who has over 20 years of research and development in artificial intelligence systems and currently works at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Prof. Dr. David Nguyen, Professor of Industry at UNSW Sydney, Australia; and Dr. Pham Hy Hieu, an expert who has participated in AI research and development at Google Brain, OpenAI, and xAI, and is currently the Director of the Artificial Intelligence Transformation Division at Techcombank.

The council also includes Dr. Le Quoc Anh, Vice President of the VDEN Global Data Experts Network, along with many scientists, experts, and leaders of major domestic and international businesses.

In addition to the expert panel, each topic also features guest speakers and ambassadors from related fields. The featured figures include director Viet Tu, director Pham Vinh Khuong, conductor Dong Quang Vinh, Doctor of Culture and Tourism and MC Trinh Le Anh, and education expert Uyen Tran.

The involvement of experts from various fields is linked to a multi-faceted approach to evaluating solutions. Accordingly, the product needs to be not only technologically compelling but also demonstrate applicability, social impact, and long-term development potential.

AI Practical Training 2026 is a national-scale AI talent search competition sponsored by the Ministry of Public Security, Vietnam Television (VTV), the National Data Center, and the National Data Association; co-organized by Techcombank.

According to the prize structure, the first-place team will receive 1 billion VND in cash and a Techcombank Miracle Scholarship worth 1 million USD for research and development. The second-place team will receive 300 million VND; and the two third-place teams will each receive 150 million VND.

In addition, the program has 8 special awards, each worth 50 million VND, including: Data Application, AI Startup, International-Class AI, Outstanding Idea, Outstanding API Usage, Innovative AI, Promising Talent, and Audience Choice.

The series is scheduled to air from November 5, 2026 to January 2027 on VTV2 and will be rebroadcast on VTV’s digital platforms.

The main program airs at 8 PM every Thursday and Sunday on VTV2. Rebroadcast times include 1 PM on Saturday and 1:50 PM on Monday on VTV3; and 6:15 PM on Monday and Friday on VTV4. The Gala Awards Ceremony is scheduled to be broadcast live on January 10, 2027, on both VTV2 and VTV3.

Mr. Minh