Inside Kazakhstan’s push to become a regional AI centre

A young woman in a sleek bun and a jacket with Kazakh patterns smiles from the screen at a directors’ meeting of Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund.In late 2025, she became the company’s newest board member.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4UK’s Burnham, Canada’s Carney discuss AI risks, defence cooperationlist 2 of 4What are the world’s biggest AI companies and how much are they worth?list 3 of 4Israel weaponises AI for West Bank demolitionslist 4 of 4Trump says he will create ‘AI Force’ with new ‘AI czar’end of listBut SKAI (or Samruk-Kazyna Artificial Intelligence) is not the first woman to join the all-male board: She is the first artificial intelligence programme with voting rights to support the company’s push for greater transparency and better governance.In Kazakhstan, AI is the new talk of the town, and part of its new branding and modernisation agenda to improve public services, attract investment and diversify the economy beyond reliance on raw materials.President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared 2026 the “Year of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence” to introduce advanced technologies in all sectors of the economy, develop skills, startups...