Kazakhstan presented the first country report on the development of AI
February 4, 2026
A dynamically developing ecosystem of startups in the field of artificial intelligence has been formed in Kazakhstan. There are more than 100 AI startups operating in the country, and the volume of venture capital investments in projects has increased more than fivefold in 2023-2025, from about $14 million to $73 million. As a result, AI currently accounts for more than half of all venture capital investments in Kazakhstan.
Such data is presented in the Kazakhstan AI Country Report, the first comprehensive review of the country's AI market, covering government strategy, digital and computing infrastructure, human capital, startups, venture capital investments, and industry—specific technology implementation cases. The study was prepared by the RISE Research analytical agency with the support of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan and GITEX AI Central Asia & Caucasus. The report is based on more than 30 in-depth interviews with practitioners, an analysis of international benchmarks and business models of over 100 Kazakhstani AI startups, as well as 10 practical cases of technology implementation. According to the report, Kazakhstan is entering a new phase of development, moving from digitalization to the large-scale introduction of artificial intelligence. It is considered as a key factor of economic growth and strengthening of the international competitiveness of the country.
According to the authors of the study, the introduction of AI can provide an additional 0.5-2% annual increase in Kazakhstan's GDP in the medium term due to productivity growth of more than half of the jobs.
"Kazakhstan is implementing a comprehensive and institutionally anchored AI strategy, including the adoption of a specialized Law on artificial Intelligence, the creation of a National AI platform, the development of a sovereign computing infrastructure, support for Kazakh-speaking LLMs, and the launch of an international AI center. Alem.ai , and large-scale human capital development programs, which have led to the fact that as early as 2025 About 1 million people have been trained in the field of AI, and by 2030 it is planned to reach 5 million citizens with basic and advanced AI skills.", — This is Dmitry Moon, Vice Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
According to the authors of the report, the majority of Kazakhstani AI startups are focused on applied B2B solutions and operate in both domestic and international markets. The largest concentration of projects is observed in the segments Enterprise AI and business automation, Industry 4.0, MarTech, EdTech and MedTech.
The year 2025 was a turning point for the ecosystem: the first unicorn (a private technology company with a valuation of over $1 billion), Higgsfield AI, appeared on the market, and the largest transactions for Kazakhstan at the Bridge and Series A stages were recorded, confirming the ability of AI companies founded by Kazakhstani entrepreneurs to attract large international capital.
The study provides a separate analysis of the key foundations for developing the artificial intelligence ecosystem—computational infrastructure and human capital. The report notes that computing power is no longer a critical bottleneck for AI development thanks to the launch of two new AI clusters (Alem.Cloud and AI-Farabium by JSC "Kazakhtelecom") with a combined capacity of around 3.6 exaflops. According to the authors’ estimates, about 2,000 H100/H200-level GPUs are already in operation in the country.
In terms of adoption pace, leading industries include those with high digital maturity and large volumes of data—such as the financial sector, telecommunications, electronic government services (eGov), retail, and IT—where AI is widely used in client service, marketing, and analytics.
At the same time, the government is placing a strategic emphasis on implementing AI in the real sector as well as in socially significant industries with high economic and public impact—namely, industry, agriculture, transport and logistics, energy, education, and healthcare.
The report also highlights both the strengths and structural limitations of the market in this area. The advantages include systematic government support, investment in sovereign computing and skill development, high digital maturity of the economy, and a growing startup ecosystem. An additional factor is the young and well-educated population: 21% of graduates in 2025 chose engineering and ICT majors. At the same time, further scaling of AI is held back by a lack of high-quality industry data, uneven access to infrastructure and competencies across regions, low volumes of R&D funding, a shortage of experienced professionals in the field, and limited access to venture capital at later stages.
“Artificial intelligence in Kazakhstan is ceasing to be a sporadic experiment and is becoming part of the country’s economic architecture—from startups and the integration of AI-based solutions in corporate processes to the implementation of government policy in this field. The synchronous development of startups, business, and government is a key characteristic of the market’s maturity,” emphasized Asel Abdrakhmanova, Managing Partner of RISE Research.
The Kazakhstan AI Country Report is intended to serve as a guide for investors, business, and the government in building long-term AI development strategies and integrating the country into the global economy as part of the strategic Generative Nation course.
A reminder: the PROFIT Infrastructure Day conference, dedicated to smart infrastructure—from the office to the nation—will be held in Almaty on October 9, 2026.