Kazakhstan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence in its sports and tourism sectors after Tourism and Sports Minister Yerbol Myrzabosynov held talks with leading AI expert Kai-Fu Lee, CEO of 01.AI and chairman of Sinovation Ventures.
According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the meeting in Astana focused on the introduction of AI technologies in sports and tourism, as well as the exchange of experience in digital transformation.
Myrzabosynov said AI development is one of Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities and that digitalization could significantly improve efficiency in both sectors.
A key topic was the creation of a unified digital platform, e-Sport, which will consolidate data on athletes, coaches, referees, sports organizations, and competitions.
The ministry said future AI integration will include tools to analyze training processes, develop personalized recovery and nutrition recommendations, prevent injuries, and improve athletes’ techniques and tactics through video analysis.
Kazakhstan began rolling out its Digital Platform for Physical Culture and Sports, known as e-Sport, at the end of last year. In addition to maintaining registries of athletes, teams, coaches, and referees, the platform allows for electronic confirmation of sports qualifications and memberships, while also containing a database of sports facilities across the country.
The ministry said the system is being developed jointly with sports federations and regional authorities, and that by the end of 2025 it was already being used by 83 federations and 50 organizations.
A similar digital platform is now planned for tourism. According to Myrzabosynov, the system will combine information on tourist sites, travel routes, hotels, national parks, and visitor flows.
The next stage will involve the introduction of an intelligent digital assistant capable of building personalized travel routes, providing multilingual information, and accompanying tourists throughout their journeys.
Lee said Kazakhstan has strong tourism potential and noted that AI could significantly improve service quality.
He also said AI could be used to create digital assistants with translation and navigation functions for foreign visitors, as well as to analyze tourist flows, forecast demand, and produce analytics to support management decisions.
The ministry said the talks also covered possible joint work on AI tools for sports and tourism.
As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s former world boxing champion Gennady Golovkin, who was named president of World Boxing last year, has also pledged to use AI in boxing governance. His plans include AI-assisted judging oversight and the development of the Digital Ringside platform, which would publish fight data, athlete profiles, and real-time explanations of judges’ decisions.
