Kazakhstan AI Training Expands Nationwide as Programs Scale Up

Kazakhstan is expanding a free school for programming and artificial intelligence (AI) to 14 regions as part of a national drive to prepare people to use the technology. Government figures show that more than 100,000 university students have completed advanced AI courses, but evidence of what the training is producing in practice remains limited. Tomorrow School offers adults a free 18-month course in programming and AI. It began operating outside Astana in 2026, and its network now covers 14 regions, with further growth planned across the country. Students need no previous programming experience and learn through practical projects and peer-to-peer instruction. The school currently has 493 students, and according to government figures, 57 participants have already found jobs in the information technology sector. Few published statistics from Kazakhstan’s growing AI-training system report employment outcomes rather than enrollment or course completion. TUMO Astana is a free center for teenagers aged 12 to 18, based on an educational model first developed in Armenia in 2011 and since expanded internationally. TUMO combines self-directed learning with workshops and practical projects in technology and design, including programming, robotics, and generative AI. The center currently has 2,376 active students. By the end of 2026, it plans to increase enrollment to 5,000. The largest enrollment is in AI-Sana, a national program aimed at giving university students AI skills and helping them develop their own technology projects. Students can take courses through Coursera, Huawei ICT Academy, the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, and Astana Hub. More than 100,000 students have completed advanced training under the program, receiving more than 703,000 certificates between them. Because participants can complete several courses, the certificate total is much higher than the number enrolled. Of more than 22,000 proposed AI projects, 515 are now being tested or implemented, according to government figures. That total may be more revealing than the certificate count, although the announcement neither describes the work nor identifies where it is taking place. In 2027, organizers plan to help 1,500 student teams develop their projects into technology startups. Kazakhstan’s focus on retraining reflects changes in the labor market. The World Economic Forum estimates that 39% of workers’ existing skills will change or become outdated by 2030, while AI and big data are among the fastest-growing areas of demand. The International Labour Organization cautions against equating the spread of AI with the disappearance of jobs, saying generative AI is more likely to transform jobs by automating some tasks than to replace workers entirely. For more advanced training and research, Kazakhstan has established Qazaq AI Research University (QAIRU). Since September 2026, it has offered two bachelor’s programs, one in AI and Machine Learning and the other in Physical AI, along with graduate programs combining AI with fields including finance, energy, medicine, industry, and public administration. The university has 525 students: 388 undergraduates, 32 master’s students, and 105 participants from national companies in its AI+X Executive MBA program.