Recently, the Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kanysh Tuleushin, made several loud statements regarding the development of the IT industry in Kazakhstan during a meeting of the Committee on Social and Cultural Development of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

«We set ourselves the ambitious task of training a thousand specialists in the field of artificial intelligence annually, with the launch of 100 startups annually in the field of artificial intelligence. And we set ourselves the task of achieving export revenue of a billion dollars annually by 2026,» said the official.

According to him, the ministry is working on creating an Artificial Intelligence Center, which will be a leading platform for applying advanced global practices. This work will be carried out jointly with «Astana Hub» with a focus on talent development and human capital development.

It was interesting to find out what industry experts think about this. Shavkat Sabirov, head of the Internet Association of Kazakhstan, believes the plans of the Ministry of Digital Development are overly fantastical.

«We have a problem with training specialists because it is difficult to find such a number of teachers. And today, countries that fully possess technologies in the field of artificial intelligence can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And there are significantly fewer of these countries than those that possess nuclear weapons. This is because the costs of developments in the field of AI are sometimes higher than the production of nuclear weapons,» noted Sabirov.

The expert says that all the technologies we use today are actually the result of someone else’s intellectual labor. This applies to some cloud services, the use and ownership of which are completely different things.

«The issue of training specialists, especially in the field of AI, comes down to the availability of a teaching base. From my extensive experience in IT, those who have really undergone academic training in AI and are a source of knowledge are definitely not thousands and they are not sitting without work, holding serious positions either in government bodies or as top managers in large companies, but not in universities.

Moreover, the specificity of Kazakhstan’s higher education is such that it traditionally focuses on market demands, lacking constancy. At one time, I remember, specialists in the field of information security were actively prepared. Then suddenly it was decided that there was a shortage of IT specialists and developers. Since 2021, a roadmap for their training until 2025 has been implemented. Perhaps it is being executed in terms of the number of students graduated. But who checked the effectiveness of such expenditures on training?» noted the expert.

— It was announced that the campaign for talent development and human capital development will take place at «Astana Hub.» What do you think about this?

— «Astana Hub» can become a platform for business that wants to focus on activities in the field of AI thanks to tax incentives and opportunities for receiving investments for development. That is, it’s not about the innovativeness of «Astana Hub,» but about its business opportunities.

But even on this platform, the launch of 100 startups in the field of AI is something out of the realm of fantasy. Because any startup requires an initial investment of at least $50,000, and in the field of AI – hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have doubts that businesses will be able to afford such expenses. Most likely, we will end up with some startups based on existing AI services, adapted to Kazakhstan’s requests.

— So, there will be no export of technologies for $1 billion by 2026?

— This is even more difficult and unrealistic than training 1000 IT specialists per year. Even if today the volume of our technology exports reaches $200 million, it is very optimistic. Especially after 2022, when sanctions are in effect and any developments are scrutinized for the use of software and IT equipment for dual purposes. The restrictions and requirements for checks are so complex and great that the task of at least not losing the existing export, not to mention increasing it to $1 billion, is very difficult and labor-intensive. This process can fail to meet deadlines and volumes, despite loud statements by officials.