Held during the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, the competition became one of the country’s largest AI initiatives, uniting school students, university students, startups, and researchers. The initiative covers the full AI innovation cycle — from early-stage prototypes to projects with proven demand and real users.
Opening the final, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiyev noted that alem.ai battle reflects the country’s systematic efforts to develop its AI ecosystem and human capital.
“AI talent is a real driving force behind Kazakhstan’s future. We are building an ecosystem where the path to success is clear for everyone — from writing the first lines of code at school to developing world-class research projects. The Ministry’s task is to ensure a seamless connection between generations. We are engaging thousands of young minds so that tomorrow the phrase ‘Made in Kazakhstan’ becomes an international hallmark of quality in artificial intelligence,” he emphasized.
The competition was held across four key categories, with winners selected in each.
In the AI Young Talents category (school students), the winning project was SuGuard. The team developed an AI-powered system for non-invasive glucose monitoring and early diabetes risk detection. The prize included gaming laptops to support further development and scaling of the solution.
In the AI Driving Power category (university students), Ustaz AI claimed first place and received KZT 5 million. The platform automates a significant portion of teachers’ routine work by generating assignments, creating educational materials, and supporting classroom management, allowing educators to focus on meaningful engagement with students.
In the AI Innovators category (researchers), the winner was Robio, which received KZT 7 million. The project is an AI-powered hardware solution: a tactile glove equipped with artificial intelligence that helps physicians detect breast abnormalities with exceptional precision at an early stage. The technology digitizes the palpation process, transforming subjective sensations into measurable data and enabling the identification of tumors, their size, and location. According to the team, the system demonstrates approximately 90% accuracy, outperforming human perception in several aspects. The project has already been validated through prototypes and is preparing for clinical trials.
In the AI Future Builders category (startups), the grand prize of KZT 10 million was awarded to NCSpeech. The company has developed a decentralized service that integrates into SuperApps and transforms users’ waiting time into valuable AI assets, enabling the collection of high-quality real-world datasets for model training. The solution addresses one of the market’s key challenges — the shortage of real-world data, particularly for sovereign AI models and low-resource languages. The project has already demonstrated strong traction, experience working with corporate clients in international markets, and has secured pre-seed investment from Antler.
Togzhan Syrymova, head of the Robio project, shared her thoughts on the victory:
“For us, participating in and winning this competition is first and foremost confirmation that our project has real value not only from a scientific perspective but also in practical application. It means we are moving in the right direction, transitioning from laboratory research to creating a technology that can be implemented in healthcare. This victory opens new opportunities for us, including stronger collaboration with clinical partners, attracting investment, and accelerating our path toward clinical trials. It is also recognition of the tremendous work of our entire team. Reaching the finals and winning is the result of extensive research, experimentation, and continuous improvement of our technology.”
Projects were evaluated by an expert jury consisting of leading representatives of the venture capital and technology sectors, including Askar Belisbekov, CEO of Qazaqstan Venture Group LTD; Ruslan Rakymbay, Investment Director at Quest Ventures; Bakhtiyor Eshonkulov, CEO of Astana Hub Cloud; Rinata Ilyubayeva, CEO of Tumar Innovation Hub; and Aslan Sultanov, Founder of White Hill Capital.
The competition was organized by Astana Hub with the support of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
alem.ai battle is part of the broader strategic initiative alem.ai, aimed at developing human capital and fostering a new generation of artificial intelligence professionals.
Held during the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, the competition became one of the country’s largest AI initiatives, uniting school students, university students, startups, and researchers. The initiative covers the full AI innovation cycle — from early-stage prototypes to projects with proven demand and real users.
Opening the final, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiyev noted that alem.ai battle reflects the country’s systematic efforts to develop its AI ecosystem and human capital.
“AI talent is a real driving force behind Kazakhstan’s future. We are building an ecosystem where the path to success is clear for everyone — from writing the first lines of code at school to developing world-class research projects. The Ministry’s task is to ensure a seamless connection between generations. We are engaging thousands of young minds so that tomorrow the phrase ‘Made in Kazakhstan’ becomes an international hallmark of quality in artificial intelligence,” he emphasized.
The competition was held across four key categories, with winners selected in each.
In the AI Young Talents category (school students), the winning project was SuGuard. The team developed an AI-powered system for non-invasive glucose monitoring and early diabetes risk detection. The prize included gaming laptops to support further development and scaling of the solution.
In the AI Driving Power category (university students), Ustaz AI claimed first place and received KZT 5 million. The platform automates a significant portion of teachers’ routine work by generating assignments, creating educational materials, and supporting classroom management, allowing educators to focus on meaningful engagement with students.
In the AI Innovators category (researchers), the winner was Robio, which received KZT 7 million. The project is an AI-powered hardware solution: a tactile glove equipped with artificial intelligence that helps physicians detect breast abnormalities with exceptional precision at an early stage. The technology digitizes the palpation process, transforming subjective sensations into measurable data and enabling the identification of tumors, their size, and location. According to the team, the system demonstrates approximately 90% accuracy, outperforming human perception in several aspects. The project has already been validated through prototypes and is preparing for clinical trials.
In the AI Future Builders category (startups), the grand prize of KZT 10 million was awarded to NCSpeech. The company has developed a decentralized service that integrates into SuperApps and transforms users’ waiting time into valuable AI assets, enabling the collection of high-quality real-world datasets for model training. The solution addresses one of the market’s key challenges — the shortage of real-world data, particularly for sovereign AI models and low-resource languages. The project has already demonstrated strong traction, experience working with corporate clients in international markets, and has secured pre-seed investment from Antler.
Togzhan Syrymova, head of the Robio project, shared her thoughts on the victory:
“For us, participating in and winning this competition is first and foremost confirmation that our project has real value not only from a scientific perspective but also in practical application. It means we are moving in the right direction, transitioning from laboratory research to creating a technology that can be implemented in healthcare. This victory opens new opportunities for us, including stronger collaboration with clinical partners, attracting investment, and accelerating our path toward clinical trials. It is also recognition of the tremendous work of our entire team. Reaching the finals and winning is the result of extensive research, experimentation, and continuous improvement of our technology.”
Projects were evaluated by an expert jury consisting of leading representatives of the venture capital and technology sectors, including Askar Belisbekov, CEO of Qazaqstan Venture Group LTD; Ruslan Rakymbay, Investment Director at Quest Ventures; Bakhtiyor Eshonkulov, CEO of Astana Hub Cloud; Rinata Ilyubayeva, CEO of Tumar Innovation Hub; and Aslan Sultanov, Founder of White Hill Capital.
The competition was organized by Astana Hub with the support of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
alem.ai battle is part of the broader strategic initiative alem.ai, aimed at developing human capital and fostering a new generation of artificial intelligence professionals.
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