Alem.ai — the national AI ecosystem of Kazakhstan: what it is and how it works

Why the center is needed

Alem.ai has four stated objectives: to develop domestic AI technologies, engage youth in research, support early-stage startups, and attract investments into them. By 2029, the authorities aim to increase the export of Kazakhstani AI solutions to five billion dollars and annually reach up to 10,000 people — schoolchildren, students, entrepreneurs, and government officials.

The idea is to bridge the gap between education, development, and technology implementation. A person can enter the center as a schoolchild and leave as the author of a working AI product, even without a team of engineers.

Eight floors — eight functions

The Alem.ai building is structured as a vertical, where each floor is responsible for its own part of the ecosystem.

The first floor is a public space. It features the Singularity Museum with interactive installations on the history of artificial intelligence, a robotics zone with companion androids and industrial models. Visitors are greeted here by the digital guide AI-Con and the holographic avatar AILA, both capable of speaking three languages.

The second and third floors house TUMO Astana. This is a free program for teenagers aged 12–18 across 11 disciplines — generative artificial intelligence, programming, game development, animation, 3D modeling, robotics, and design. The curriculum is built around individual work on the TUMO Path platform and offline workshops with mentors.

The fourth floor is Tomorrow School. It is the first peer-to-peer artificial intelligence school in Kazakhstan, based on the 01EDU platform and the Astana Hub model. With no teachers or grades, the two-year program includes over 50 projects, dozens of programming languages, and a choice of specialization ranging from AI engineering to cybersecurity. Participants must be at least 18 years old; prior programming experience is not required.

The fifth floor is occupied by the Qazaq AI Research University, the first AI-Enabled university in Central Asia, offering a three-year bachelor’s degree taught in English.

The sixth floor is the AI Campus. It hosts incubation and acceleration programs for startups to create and scale innovative solutions based on artificial intelligence.

The seventh floor houses AI laboratories. It focuses on scientific research and industry collaboration. Partners represented on-site include Telegram, TON, Freedom, Yandex Qazaqstan, and Presight.

The eighth floor is the AI State. It features the AI Driven Government Situation Center for analyzing and managing government processes using artificial intelligence.

The Alem.ai project is grounded in the strategic vision for the digital transformation of Kazakhstan. According to the president, the country needs a platform where schoolchildren, young entrepreneurs, and researchers can learn, conduct experiments, and implement AI developments.

Alem.ai has set several goals. Each year, the center plans to train 1,000 AI specialists — demand for such professionals is growing worldwide. Additionally, the goal is to launch 100 new AI startups annually to foster local innovative companies, and to support 10 research projects for serious scientific work in this field.
By 2030, the center aims to engage 10,000 people — from technology specialists to business representatives.