IT families: Bernard and Togzhan Saparali

The story of Bernard and Togzhan Saparali is about love, ambition, and an IT mindset that helps them passionately develop their business and support each other in family life.

Bernard Saparali, city — Astana, Founder & CEO Co-founder AI, Instagram

Togzhan Saparali, city — Astana, CEO/CMO, Instagram

About themselves

Togzhan. I am a girl from the small city of Arkalyk with big ambitions and an entrepreneurial background. In 2020, I began my journey in IT.

And already in 2021, there was Digital Bridge, where my startup was exhibited, and Bernard — my future husband — participated in a battle. At that time, I had just started blogging: I went into the gym with a phone in my hands and saw his performance. He was like Elvis Presley in his prime — and immediately caught my attention. So much so that I found his Instagram and flew to Almaty for a date myself.

After that, I went to Antalya for the pilot launch of the startup. A month later, Bernard asked me to go outside. I thought he had sent flowers while being in Kazakhstan, but it was him standing there — with a ring. Thus, at our third meeting, I became his wife.

How they entered the IT sphere

Togzhan. I entered IT completely unconsciously. Even during my studies in China, I launched my first supply business. Returning to Kazakhstan, I opened a clinic, set up cosmetics production, and got into logistics. And during the quarantine, I went into analytics and trading on the American stock exchange.

Five years of non-stop work helped me pay off 80 million in debts. After that, I decided to take a break and try myself in IT — just “for a while.” But working at ApartX changed everything: I fell in love with the style, the team, and believed in the founder. Yes, the income there was modest compared to my usual business, but I gained much more — character, experience, and confidence that I could launch any project. Moreover, during my time working, I implemented more than 75,000 SaaS solutions.

Today, I am building my own IT project — OYS, a system for strengthening the sales department.

Bernard. My path was completely different. In school, I devoted myself entirely to international olympiads and hackathons. I graduated from the Nazarbayev Intellectual School with a red diploma, entered universities in the US and Europe. But already in my first year, I realized: my goal is not a diploma, but creating my own story — the story of unicorns.

I dropped out of university and went into business and startups. At the pre-seed stage, I attracted more than $500,000 to my first FinTech startup. I had to go through a lot — I made mistakes, learned the hard way, but that became my experience. In the end, I earned more than $2,000,000 on my projects.

Now I am working on my new AI startup — Co Founder AI. This is an ecosystem of AI agents that automatically scales the business and can replace entire marketing and sales departments.

Distribution of responsibilities

Togzhan. Since my husband and I have an IT entrepreneurial mindset, we strive to build “unicorns” in all areas — in the family, with the child, and in startups. Everything is still in progress, as with 99% of startups.

I love cooking and doing household chores if I have time. But for us, it is absolutely normal to call a cleaning service or order food — we believe that time is better invested in projects and family.

My husband is fully focused on work and takes full financial responsibility. At the same time, we have a golden rule: my money is mine, his money is ours. Therefore, I have 100% equity in my startup and plus another 50% of his. 

We distribute other responsibilities also “like startuppers”: if something is “on fire” — we both run there, without arguing about who should do what.

In terms of interests, we are on the same wavelength: we often used to choose to stay home, turn on the curling iron, and get lost in games. Now, after the birth of our son, there is noticeably less free time.

Family traditions

Togzhan. We have several small but valuable traditions. It all started with Digital Bridge 2021: since then, every year after Digital Bridge, we organize a “re-date” and get to know each other again. We also have “Friday breakfasts.” And at least twice a year, we try to discover new countries.

Bernard. As for values, for us, family is both freedom and support. We believe that everyone should develop in their own direction, but at the same time remain a support for the other. Respect, trust, and shared dreams are more important to us than any rules.

Combining household life and work

Bernard and Togzhan. Combining IT work with household life and family is not easy: both spheres require attention 24/7. But it is precisely this that strengthens — you learn to prioritize correctly, cut out the unnecessary, and value time together. The main thing is that we both understand this and do not compete in exhaustion, but support each other.

Recommendations for a happy family life

Bernard and Togzhan. Our secret is simple: respect, mutual understanding, the ability to listen and speak — this is the foundation. But the most important thing is always to give full throttle in supporting each other, in scaling new initiatives and global ideas. At the same time, it is important to maintain romance and remember: we are a team. Always.

How IT families differ from others

Bernard. IT couples are special because they understand the value of time and concentration. We do not hold grudges over “long calls” or late returns — we are like that ourselves. We do not nitpick over trivial matters.

Our family differs in that we do not divide life into “work” and “personal” — for us, this is one large ecosystem where love and startups grow together.