The international KEY TECH: AI Summit 2026 took place in Tashkent.

On April 30, the international KEY TECH: AI Summit 2026 took place in Tashkent, with the payment system HUMO serving as the key partner of the event. The summit brought together over 300 participants and 25 speakers — representatives of government agencies, banks, payment systems, FinTech companies, technology vendors, and the expert community. Among the participants were the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan, NAPC, the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the Cybersecurity Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan, HUMO, SQB, Kapital Bank, Ipak Yuli Bank, NBU, TBC Uzbekistan, Ipoteka Bank OTP Group, Yandex Tech, Pro Data-Tech, Cybernet AI, and other organizations from the financial and digital sectors.

The summit united representatives of government agencies, regulators, banks, payment systems, FinTech companies, technology vendors, and international experts to discuss how artificial intelligence is already changing the financial sector, the digital economy, and the approach to infrastructure development in Uzbekistan.

The summit opened with the flagship session “Strategic Dialogue: State, Regulators, and Industry,” dedicated to the role of the state, regulators, and key market participants in the development of Uzbekistan’s AI ecosystem.

A significant highlight of the session was the report by Evgenia Umen, Head of the Architectural Solutions Department at HUMO’s National Center for Payment Technologies. The presentation addressed the challenge of simultaneously ensuring the rapid implementation of AI solutions while controlling architectural, operational, and infrastructure risks.

The panel discussion, moderated by Bekhzod Ismoilov, Executive Director of the Central Asia AI Association (AICA), featured Oleg Pekosy, First Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Kamronbek Mukhammadiyev, Head of the E-Commerce Department at NAPC, Ilkhom Abdullaev, Chairman of the Committee on Innovative Development and Information Technologies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Aziz Mukhitdinov, Managing Director of AI Alliance, and Dinars Samigullin, Deputy Chairman of the Board of HUMO.

Participants discussed the role of the state and industry organizations in AI development, the need for workforce training, the development of digital infrastructure, and coordination between the state, the market, and regulatory institutions.

The second session of the summit, “AI in Banks, FinTech, and Payment Infrastructure,” focused on how banks, payment systems, and FinTech companies are implementing AI to enhance efficiency, security, and the development of digital products.

Aleksandr Merkushov, Head of AI Projects at Yandex Tech, presented a practical perspective on why many AI projects fail to scale and how to launch pilots that deliver real business results.

During the panel discussion, participants explored AI transformation in banking, the development of data-driven approaches, and the application of AI in scoring, antifraud, digital identification, and customer service. The discussion included Alexey Katrich, Director of Fintech Solutions & Revenue at Yango Tech, Dilshat Mahpirov, CDO of Kapital Bank, Bauyrzhan Aubakir, CDO of Ipak Yuli Bank, and Islam Diyarov, Director of the Acquiring and Issuance Department at HUMO. The moderator was Ulugbek Tavakalov, a banking business expert. The session demonstrated that for the financial sector, AI has ceased to be an experiment: banks and payment players increasingly view it as a tool for improving efficiency, managing risks, and developing next-generation customer services.

The third session, “AI Infrastructure, Data, Cybersecurity, and Digital Services,” focused on the foundation of the AI ecosystem: infrastructure, data platforms, cybersecurity, and practical scenarios for implementing AI in regional companies.

The panel discussion, moderated by Anton Ustinov from Exante, featured Alexey Golenishev from HUMO, Evgeny Vishnevsky from Pro Data-Tech, Venera Ayubdzhanova from the Cybersecurity Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Sardor Hashimov from Cybernet AI Uzbekistan. The central topics of the discussion were infrastructure for AI, data as the basis for successful AI projects, AI in combating financial crimes, cybersecurity, and the protection of digital systems.

A special session titled “Women in AI” was held as a separate block of the summit, dedicated to the role of women in the development of artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and technological leadership.

The discussion included Nigora Akilova from Acclaim, Nodira Karabaeva from TBC Uzbekistan, Anna Matyushenko from Parsec, Khushnida Akramova from AKS Labs, and Leyli Esenova from Alif. Participants discussed career paths, professional development, and the role of women in shaping the region’s AI ecosystem.

Oleg Pekosy noted that for Uzbekistan, artificial intelligence is not only a technological issue but also a factor in the competitiveness of the economy, the efficiency of government administration, and the quality of digital services. According to him, it is especially important today that the state, the market, and technology companies move in a unified logic and create conditions for the practical implementation of AI in key industries.

Taufik Hisamov, CEO of Khisam Communications, noted that the KEY TECH AI Summit 2026 became a platform where the state, regulators, banks, payment systems, and technology companies were able to discuss artificial intelligence not in terms of hype, but as a real tool for digital transformation. According to him, the market is becoming more mature: companies are increasingly talking not about whether AI is needed, but about how to implement it effectively, safely, and with real benefits for business and the economy.

KEY TECH: AI Summit 2026 confirmed that artificial intelligence in Uzbekistan is becoming part of the practical business and government agenda. Today, AI is no longer a question of the future, but a tool used to develop payment infrastructure, banking services, digital products, cybersecurity, and data management.