Almaty hosted the fifth annual beetech conf by QazCode IT conference, which traditionally gathers the Kazakh and international IT community. This year's event brought together more than 1,000 participants - developers, entrepreneurs, startups and digital technology enthusiasts.

The conference focused on two key topics - artificial intelligence and General Tracks combining engineering and management issues.

One of the central events was a speech by Alexey Sharavar, CEO of QazCode. He shared his experience of transforming the internal IT department of an international corporation into an independent business, spoke about the challenges at the start and the strategy of entering global markets with the export of Kazakhstani IT solutions.

For several years now, QazCode has been building an infrastructure for exporting its own products, adapting solutions to foreign markets, and developing partner networks in Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Previously, most IT products from Kazakhstan were created for domestic consumption, but today, thanks to the growth of expertise and changes in the global market, local developers are increasingly expanding outside the country.

The hardest part is getting started

The main problem faced by QazCode when entering the international market is the perception of the country. Introducing themselves as an IT company from Kazakhstan, the team often encountered misunderstandings. For example, Kazakhstan could be confused with neighboring regions such as Pakistan or Afghanistan. There were also difficulties with pronouncing the company's name - it could not always be pronounced correctly the first time.

"Every time I had to not only pitch the product, but also talk about Kazakhstan itself: explain that we have strong developers, high quality, and our own cultural code," Alexey shares.

The company actively participates in major international exhibitions, and in order to attract attention at one of the exhibitions, the staff brought 20 boxes of fruit with them and organized mini tea parties with tastings - this way contact became closer and dialogue easier.

The second problem is the lack of resources for sales. Over the years, the team has built a delivery machine: hundreds of developers, architects, analysts, and data scientists. But by the time it entered the international market, there were only three sales specialists on staff. There were products, but there was critically not enough time and people to present and sell them.

Another mistake, according to Alexey, was trying to sell everything at once. The team selected 12 products that they decided to actively promote abroad, but customers got lost in the flow of information, did not grasp the essence and simply left. The solution was to focus on the key areas.y

Which IT solutions are being exported by the company?

Today, QazCode's portfolio includes three main areas that the company offers on the international market.

The first is large language models. Last year, in partnership with ISSAI NU, Astana Hub and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Development of Kazakhstan, the company participated in the development of a large national language model - KazLLM. It was created with an emphasis on the Kazakh language and is easily adaptable to other Turkic languages, acting as a local alternative to global solutions.

The product is of interest to countries seeking to develop neural networks with support for the national language, including for use in the educational field. Thus, KazLLM finds application not only in government agencies, but also in teaching the Kazakh language, acting as an intellectual assistant for children.

The second direction is digital content. QazCode develops gaming, educational, and television platforms. The company has created a set of applications with gamification elements and reward systems that allow users to interact more deeply with content. Instead of directly selling games, QazCode uses a profit-sharing model - customers do not buy a product in advance, but get the opportunity to earn money using it together with developers.

Some of the games created bring half a million MAU per month to foreign customers. According to the CEO of the company, customers from other countries often come with this request themselves. Scenarios, design, monetization - everything adapts to local realities.

The third area of QazCode export is billing services, which the company develops based on its experience in the telecom industry. The team of specialists has been working with various billing systems for more than ten years and is well aware of regional specifics and customer needs. 

The IT company builds communication directly with the customer and helps throughout the billing integration, as well as offers CRM and order management solutions.

QazCode emphasizes that today, more than ever, it is important to unite. IT specialists from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries often work separately, creating high-quality solutions, but without going beyond their borders. According to Alexey, joining forces, sharing experiences and joint promotion to international markets are key steps towards the development of the industry. QazCode declares its readiness for partnership and an open dialogue on joint initiatives.

For more than five years now, we have been developing the IT sector in Kazakhstan and promoting the idea of craft Kazakh code. We want more companies to join this movement, enter the foreign market and offer their own solutions," Alexey concluded.

The company believes that it is necessary not only to create good products, but also to sell them to the world. International B2B transactions are a long journey, averaging six to twelve months. But this is how the region's reputation is built and a market is born where Kazakhstani technologies do not remain in the shadows, but become part of the global digital economy.