Uzbekistan has spent the past several years positioning itself as a fast-growing Central Asian market for IT outsourcing. The government is now seeking to build an artificial intelligence economy on that export-oriented technology sector. While the state is investing in computing infrastructure and public-sector projects, Tashkent is looking to private technology companies to drive much of AI’s commercial adoption. The strategy has produced visible activity, but whether it can develop into a sustainable AI economy remains an open question.
Over the past five years, the government has expanded IT Park and its incentives, simplified rules for employing foreign specialists, and introduced tax breaks for resident companies. As digital service exports have grown, artificial intelligence has increasingly been positioned as the sector’s next stage.
According to IT Park, its resident companies were exporting services to more than 90 countries after the first seven months of 2025. North America accounted for 45% of exports, while the Asia-Pacific region and the Commonwealth of Independent States accounted for 26%, and the European Union and the United Kingdom for 24%. The figures show the sector’s geographical reach.
That export base gives Uzbekistan a plausible route into AI. Local companies can use existing engineering and outsourcing capacity to develop products for foreign clients, while private companies and software exports hold a prominent role in the government’s commercial strategy.
Uzbekistan has not yet built a fully fledged AI economy. Under targets set by an October 2025 presidential decree, at least 100 AI projects are to be implemented by the end of 2026, AI laboratories are to open at 15 universities, and more than $1 billion in foreign investment is to be attracted for AI infrastructure by 2030. These targets show the scale of the government’s ambitions. Success will depend less on the number of approved programs than on whether they produce commercially viable AI products for international markets.
Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion in Q1 2026 report estimated that 7.2% of Uzbekistan’s working-age population used a generative AI product during the first quarter, compared with a global average of 17.8%. Uzbekistan was nevertheless among several Central Asian countries recording rapid growth from a relatively low base.
Government policy is now shifting from creating favorable conditions toward supporting commercially oriented companies. In 2026, Uzbekistan launched the President AI Award, a national program combining startup acceleration with performance-based investment. Financing is linked to measurable business results and companies’ ability to bring products to market.
The government is also building a venture funding structure for technology startups.
IT Park Ventures, established with the support of the Ministry of Digital Technologies, invests in technology startups, with artificial intelligence, fintech, DeepTech, and education technology among its priority sectors. The fund also helps portfolio companies enter international markets and connect with foreign investors.
One Uzbek AI company active in this ecosystem is Repli AI. In March 2026, the startup secured $375,000 in cloud credits from Microsoft and Google to further develop its AI-powered sales and customer service platform. These were service credits rather than cash investment: $350,000 came through Microsoft Azure, and $25,000 through Google Cloud.
The platform automates sales and customer service interactions on Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp. It uses natural language processing and retrieval-augmented generation, allowing its responses to draw on information provided by a business. The product is currently localized for Uzbek- and Russian-speaking markets, with the credits intended to help the company expand its infrastructure and enter new markets.
Repli AI represents the type of company Uzbekistan hopes to cultivate through its emerging AI ecosystem: businesses that develop AI products and seek customers beyond the domestic market at an early stage.
Support for such companies is also expanding. After a training phase in May and June 2026, selected teams entered a 10-week AI Incubator program in Tashkent in July. The program brings together engineers, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to refine AI products, develop business models, and prepare for market entry.
Local founders and investors have also identified practical constraints. A February 2026 UNDP study, based on consultations with businesses, startups, investors, officials, academics, and industry groups in Uzbekistan, pointed to high computing costs, limited shared GPU capacity, gaps in access to usable data, and modest venture funding. It also said some standard investment instruments, including SAFE agreements and convertible notes, are not yet recognized under local law. The study noted efforts to expand domestic computing capacity, but these constraints can still slow the path from prototypes to commercial scale.
Many of the country’s visible AI initiatives remain at an early stage. The market for domestically developed AI products is still considerably smaller than Uzbekistan’s established exports of traditional IT services. For now, it is more accurate to speak of an emerging AI ecosystem than a mature AI economy.
However, recent international rankings suggest Uzbekistan’s technology ecosystem is gaining momentum.
According to the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2026, Uzbekistan climbed to 79th place globally, recording the world’s fastest annual increase in ecosystem score, and receiving the Country of the Year 2026 award. The report also identified Central Asia as the fastest-growing startup region in the world, with Tashkent emerging as one of its principal growth centers.
The country’s progress is also reflected in international assessments of government AI readiness. According to Oxford Insights, Uzbekistan rose from 87th place in 2023 to 62nd in 2025. The index measures a government’s capacity to adopt and govern AI, rather than actual public use or the commercial success of domestic AI companies.
These indicators show that Uzbekistan has assembled many of the institutions associated with an AI ecosystem. Its export-oriented IT sector now operates alongside tax incentives, venture funds, startup accelerators, and government AI programs.
Uzbekistan’s ability to turn those foundations into globally competitive companies will determine whether the sector develops into an AI economy. Software exports have already shown that local firms can compete internationally. Higher-value AI products that win customers beyond Uzbekistan will provide the clearest measure of progress.
