Digital Transformation - The Times Of Central Asia

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AI Adoption

Industrial AI Reaches Kazakhstan’s Factories, but Many Projects Remain Experimental

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already monitoring mining trucks, production lines, and workplace safety at industrial sites in Kazakhstan. Yet a gap remains between a successful experiment and technology that works every day at a factory or mine. Closing it was one of the main issues discussed at the third meeting of Kazakhstan’s Council for the Development of Artificial Intelligence. A study by the British Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, with contributions from Narxoz University and the Kazakh-British Technical University, found that 58.8% of AI projects among the industrial companies surveyed remained at the pilot stage, with none reaching full-scale deployment. The sample was small, comprising just 17 executives and specialists from several industrial sectors, so its findings cannot be extrapolated to Kazakhstan’s entire industrial sector. The responses illustrate the problems companies encounter after their first experiments with AI. Respondents most often cited a shortage of in-house specialists and expertise, followed by implementation costs. Yet 70.6% of completed pilots cost less than $50,000. The greater expense can come when the technology has to be integrated with existing equipment, data, and production processes. The government’s 2025–26 roadmap covers 41 projects at 11 major industrial enterprises. They include Qarmet, which operates the country’s largest steelworks in Temirtau; copper producers Kazakhmys and KAZ Minerals; gold producer Solidcore Eurasia; and mining and metals group Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). Industrial AI Acceleration has become one testing ground for deploying artificial intelligence directly at industrial sites. More than 12 companies submitted over 140 problems for AI teams to tackle, including equipment maintenance, safety, and procurement. Of 24 pilot projects initiated under the program, seven have reached industrial operation. Some technologies have already made it onto factory floors and into mines. ERG uses its manufacturing execution system, ERG MES, to monitor production in real time. It collects data on output, technological processes, production losses, and equipment downtime. The Ministry of Industry and Construction estimates the economic effect at around 1.5 billion tenge, or approximately $3.39 million at the official exchange rate on October 2. At KAZ Minerals’ Aktogay copper mine in eastern Kazakhstan, AI is used to manage the movement of mining trucks. Solidcore Eurasia uses the technology in medical examinations for employees working in hazardous production environments. The Council also discussed the bureaucratic obstacles that can hold up successful projects. After a pilot, companies can face further approvals and testing, along with procurement and regulatory hurdles. Tokayev proposed avoiding the entire testing cycle again when a solution has already demonstrated results at a company operating under similar production conditions. The government and Samruk-Kazyna are to select companies for wider AI deployment. Samruk-Kazyna is Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, which manages state assets across major industries. The government also wants production workers to identify problems for developers. Engineers and operators see equipment downtime, product defects, and wasted materials firsthand. These problems are to form a list of practical challenges for technology companies and researchers. The list is intended in part to guide Qazaq AI Research University, a specialized university...

opinion

What Building Central Asian Supply Chains Taught Me About AI

I took over spare-parts supply at BPK Auto in Ust-Kamenogorsk in the mid-2000s, at the age of 25, moving from selling cars. The company was the general dealer for VAZ in Kazakhstan, assembled Niva models in the city, and was taking on Skoda, Chevrolet, and Kia while building service centers across the country to meet the expectations of those brands for a dealer. My job was to keep parts flowing to all of it. Several thousand vehicles came through in a month, and a single car contains something like 50,000 separate part numbers. The service teams wanted as many of those as possible sitting on the shelves. From where they stood, that made sense, because they were judged on whether a mechanic could start a repair the same day, whether a customer complained, and an ISO audit was running over the service operation at the same time. From the procurement side, the arithmetic looked different. Some parts cost two or three thousand dollars and were fitted once or twice a year, and holding them across four model lines tied up a large share of the company's working capital. I built the forecast in spreadsheets and checked it against actual sales once the month closed in 1C. To run it, I needed the service side's own records: how many vehicles of each type they had seen, and what had been repaired. I asked for them for months. They would not release them. Some of that was habit; a warehouse full of everything being what a well-run operation had looked like for the previous 40 years. More of it sat in how the two departments were counted. My result was recorded the moment the parts moved into the service center. Theirs was recorded much later, when the car left the workshop. Nobody was measured by the number that would have made the forecast work. The forecasting was the straightforward part of that job. The difficult part was building an operation in which people shared the information behind the forecast and were expected to act on its findings. Why a Better Model Would Not Have Changed the Outcome Put one of today's AI demand-forecasting systems into that same warehouse and very little changes. The forecast would be far better than anything I produced by hand. It would still depend on service records that nobody was willing to release, and where records did exist, it would be reading entries written up at the end of a long shift. It could not grant the purchasing manager authority to reorder against it, nor could it alter the measures by which the service department was judged. Better intelligence does not repair the path between operational data and operational action. Every party you add to that path lengthens it. A distribution network across Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan can run from a manufacturer to over 45,000 small retail outlets, served through more than 18 distribution centers, with 1,391 field staff taking and checking orders on the ground. An order begins...

Digital Development

Kazakhstan to Host ITU Acceleration Centre as It Expands Regional Digital Ambitions

Kazakhstan and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have agreed to establish an ITU Acceleration Centre in Kazakhstan to promote artificial intelligence, GovTech, and digital skills across Central Asia. The agreement was reached during a meeting in Geneva between Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, Zhaslan Madiyev, and ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. The ITU, a specialized agency of the United Nations founded in 1865, develops global telecommunications standards, coordinates radio-frequency spectrum use, and promotes cooperation in information and communication technologies. It has 193 member states. According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, the new center will serve as a regional hub for digital transformation. Its priorities will include building artificial intelligence expertise, strengthening digital skills, supporting GovTech adoption, and helping narrow the digital divide across Central Asia. “We are pleased that our cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union is producing concrete practical results. We see this center as an important platform for digital innovation, AI skills development, capacity building, and regional cooperation,” Madiyev said. During the meeting, Madiyev was also named one of the founding members of the ITU’s AI for Good Global Commission. AI for Good, launched by the ITU in 2017, promotes the use of artificial intelligence to address social and economic challenges. The agreement comes as Kazakhstan continues to expand its digital infrastructure and position itself as a regional technology hub. The government has launched a series of initiatives aimed at attracting international investment in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data infrastructure. Earlier, The Times of Central Asia reported that SuperX was considering building a 1-gigawatt AI data center in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has also joined OpenAI’s “Education for Countries” initiative, which supports the integration of artificial intelligence into national education systems. In addition, the government has established an AI Fund, backed by the National Bank of Kazakhstan, to finance strategic digital projects, research, and AI education programs. The center adds another international component to Kazakhstan’s digital development strategy and supports Astana’s effort to position the country as a regional hub for artificial intelligence, GovTech, and digital skills.

Digital Platforms

Kazakhstan Plans to Introduce AI Tools in Sports and Tourism

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.

Tashkent International Investment Forum

Data, Minerals, and the New Tashkent: Uzbekistan Pitches Its Next Growth Phase at Investment Forum

Uzbekistan used the opening of this year’s Tashkent International Investment Forum to make a broader pitch than investment alone: the country is presenting itself as a platform for data-driven governance, value-added mineral processing, and large-scale urban development. The fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum is being held in the Uzbek capital from June 16-18, bringing together government officials, international financial institutions, business leaders, and investors as Uzbekistan seeks to reinforce its position as one of Central Asia’s leading investment destinations. Held under the theme “Investment Resilience: New Frontiers, New Partnerships,” TIIF 2026 comes as Uzbekistan continues to promote reforms aimed at attracting capital, expanding industrial production, developing digital infrastructure, and moving higher up global value chains. Mirziyoyev Sets Out Investment Priorities Addressing the forum on June 17, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented Uzbekistan’s recent economic performance as evidence of growing investor confidence. He said the country had attracted more than $150 billion in foreign investment in recent years, including $123 billion over the past five years. According to the president, nearly 4,000 foreign guests from more than 100 countries are attending this year’s forum, reflecting its expanding international profile. The event brought together heads of state, prime ministers, representatives of international financial institutions, and business executives from around the world. Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan remained committed to creating a favorable investment environment through reforms designed to protect investors’ rights and broaden economic opportunities. He said GDP grew by 7.7% in 2025, foreign investment reached $43 billion, international reserves exceeded $70 billion, and Uzbekistan rose 14 places in the Index of Economic Freedom, joining the group of economies classified as “moderately free.” He also emphasized the pace of economic growth. Four years ago, he said, Uzbekistan set a target of reaching a $100 billion economy by the end of 2026; now, he said, GDP is expected to exceed $180 billion this year. Mirziyoyev also announced plans to establish the Tashkent International Financial Center, a tax- and customs-free zone operating under a special legal regime based on English common law principles. He said the center would offer zero rates on profit tax, value-added tax, property tax, and customs duties, while guaranteeing free capital movement and payments in any currency. Delta Y: A Data Infrastructure Startup Looks to Uzbekistan One of the companies drawing attention at the forum was Delta Y, a Lisbon-based data infrastructure startup seeking to help governments and cities turn fragmented information into practical decision-making tools. Founded in 2025, Delta Y describes itself as a “data infrastructure layer” for governments, institutions, and advisory firms. Its goal is to use data engineering and artificial intelligence to turn disconnected datasets into usable analysis. Co-founder Afonso Carvas said the idea emerged from his experience working with data teams in technology companies and from a broader question: whether governments and cities could gain access to the same quality of data infrastructure used by leading global companies. That question eventually led the company to Uzbekistan. Why Uzbekistan? Carvas said Delta Y first began looking at Uzbekistan after a...

AIRUN CEO Chingiz Arziev on Building Kyrgyzstan’s Sovereign AI

The Times of Central Asia was delighted to interview Chingiz Arziev, CEO of AIRUN a Kyrgyzstan-based company developing AI infrastructure for the Kyrgyz language. AIRUN’s technology includes a large language model, speech recognition, text-to-speech tools, AI translation, and digital avatars designed for use in government, education, media, business, and public services. Chingiz Arziev spoke to TCA about the challenge of building AI for a low-resource language, why digital sovereignty matters for Kyrgyzstan, and how the company hopes to take its experience to other countries facing similar language and technology challenges. TCA: To begin with, can you tell us a little about yourself: where you grew up, what you studied, and how you first became interested in technology? Chingiz Arziev: I was born and raised in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. My interest in technology started very early. Around the age of nine, I discovered design software: Photoshop, Illustrator, and CorelDRAW. I was not only learning how to use them, but also comparing their interfaces and trying to understand what made one product more intuitive than another. At around 14, I became interested in motion design, 3D graphics, and digital sculpting. I studied Adobe After Effects, Blender, and ZBrush. Whatever software I was learning, I was always interested in the same thing: user experience. Already by the age of 16, I had started learning HTML and CSS to begin building websites and landing pages. Looking back, the common thread has always been understanding how technology works and how it can solve real problems for people. TCA: Was there a particular moment when you realized that artificial intelligence could become a serious field for you personally? Chingiz Arziev: I have always been drawn to advanced engineering and emerging technologies. In 2015, I became deeply involved in the blockchain space. The architectures, protocols, and decentralized systems being developed at the time felt completely new and inspiring. But even that did not compare to what happened during the AI boom of 2022. I still remember the day I sent my first prompt to ChatGPT. For me, that was the moment everything changed. I immediately saw the direction technology would take over the next 20 years. After that, I spoke about artificial intelligence everywhere. I talked about how AI would transform industries, reshape professions, automate routine work, and fundamentally change the labor market. Many friends and colleagues thought I was exaggerating. But I had spent years following companies such as Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Unitree, and DJI. Because of that, I saw a broader picture. Artificial intelligence would not develop in isolation. It would advance alongside robotics, autonomous systems, and automation. After sending that first prompt to ChatGPT, I knew I wanted to dedicate my career to artificial intelligence. TCA: How did the idea for AIRUN first come about, and what problem were you trying to solve? Chingiz Arziev: For countries with low-resource languages, the need for sovereign AI has existed for a long time. The challenge was never the idea itself. The challenge was execution, expertise, infrastructure, and...