From the Valley to Almaty: How AI Youth Camp Gave 30 Teenagers a Ticket to IT Entrepreneurship

The charitable educational intensive AI Youth Camp has concluded in Kazakhstan, aimed at reducing digital inequality and transferring advanced AI skills to teenagers from socially vulnerable groups. The project combined expertise from the international FinTech sector, educational methodologies, and the Silicon Valley ecosystem.

The bootcamp was organized by the Singaporean company Investbanq and the educational platform Shanyraq Study. The venue was the Kazakhstan-American International School. The program was implemented with expert support from Silkroad Innovation Hub.

Olzhas Zhiyenkul, CEO and co-founder of Investbanq
At Investbanq, we view corporate social responsibility not as charity, but as a direct investment in the country's human capital. Artificial intelligence is the fastest social elevator of the 21st century. In just one week, the kids demonstrated a level of product thinking that many adult founders would envy.

The camp participants were 30 wards of the Asarume and Mereke charitable foundations. Over seven days, they progressed from basic digital literacy to creating their own AI startups using OpenAI, Claude, Midjourney, and no-code stack tools.

An Ecosystem Bridge to Silicon Valley

The strategic partner of the initiative was Silkroad Innovation Hub — an international hub scaling startups and talents from Central Asia to the United States.

Aset Abdualiev, Founder and CEO of Silkroad Innovation Hub
The main mission of Silkroad Innovation Hub is to build bridges between Central Eurasia and Silicon Valley. When we talk about the future of AI, it is critically important that access to these technologies is available to absolutely all talented kids, regardless of their starting opportunities. AI Youth Camp is a great example of how world-class knowledge is adapted for children, giving them a real chance to become part of the global digital economy today.

Results

Following seven days of intensive practice and the final Demo Day, the organizers selected the strongest team with the most promising startup product. On August 1, the kids successfully presented their project at a pitch event at KAIS during a startup competition with the official support of the U.S. Consulate in Kazakhstan.

Aigazy Kusainov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the IEC Educational Holding
The academic base of KAIS is always open to innovation. The fact that the camp finalists defended their projects at a competition with the support of the U.S. Consulate on our premises is confirmation of the highest quality of participant training.

Besides the educational track, the project addressed the fundamental issue of access to equipment. With the support of private sponsors and partners, participants received technical grants:

22 laptops — for children who did not have personal equipment for development

15 annual PRO subscriptions to leading AI services to continue working on their products.

Askhat Usmanov, co-founder of Shanyraq Study
Hardcore practice took up 80% of the time. The laptops and subscriptions that the children received are their primary capital. With these tools, they will be able to take their first freelance orders and help their families tomorrow.