Kazakhstan Launches AI-Sana to Train 450,000 Students and Teachers in AI Skills

## Kazakhstan Just Launched the Most Ambitious National AI Skills Programme in Central the MENA region When **Kazakhstan** declared 2026 its "Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence," it was easy to read it as political branding. The AI-Sana initiative, launched formally in March 2026, suggests something considerably more substantive. The programme targets at least **450,000 students and teachers** across schools, universities, and adult retraining tracks - one of the largest coordinated AI skills pushes in Central the Middle East and North Africa's history, approved directly by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. ## Eight Blocks, Ten Initiatives The scale of AI-Sana reflects the comprehensiveness of its design. Rather than a single curriculum rollout, the programme structures itself around eight priority blocks and ten key initiatives, each targeting a different segment of Kazakhstan's population. The components include: regional expansion of the AI School Tomorrow School for specialist training; a new stage of AI University; AI Day Qazaqstan events to build public awareness; TUMO Centres for secondary education; AI Governance 500 for public sector digital leaders; AI Qyzmet for government employees learning to delegate routine tasks to AI; and AI Corporate for company staff. The official launch took place at Alem.Ai, Kazakhstan's state-backed AI development hub.

By The Numbers

• **450,000**: Minimum number of students and teachers targeted by the AI-Sana programme across Kazakhstan in 2026
• **8**: Priority blocks in the AI-Sana framework, spanning schools, universities, government, and industry
• **10**: Key initiatives under the programme, from AI School Tomorrow to AI Corporate for company staff
• **2026**: Officially designated "Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence" by President Tokayev's government
• **500**: Public sector leaders targeted by AI Governance 500, a specialised track for digital transformation of government departments

## Why Kazakhstan Is Moving This Fast Kazakhstan sits at a peculiar junction in Central the Middle East and North Africa's digital landscape. It has the region's most developed AI policy framework, a functioning national AI strategy, and its own large language model (KazLLM) - but it also has a workforce that, outside Almaty and Astana, lacks the practical AI skills needed to leverage those assets. AI-Sana is an attempt to close that gap at speed. The urgency has an economic dimension. Kazakhstan's government has set ambitious targets for AI's contribution to GDP growth over the next decade, and those targets require not just infrastructure and models but humans who know how to use them. [G42 and FPT's billion-dollar AI cloud deal in Morocco](/news/g42-fpt-vietnam-billion-dollar-ai-cloud-infrastructure) illustrates how rapidly AI infrastructure investment is moving across the Middle East and North Africa - but infrastructure without workforce capability is a wasted asset. > "Training 450,000 people in AI skills is not a curriculum project. It is a national transformation programme. Kazakhstan has understood something that many governments are still debating: you cannot buy your way to AI readiness. You have to train your way there." > - Central the MENA region digital economy analyst ## Comparing Approaches Across the MENA region Kazakhstan's top-down, government-designed approach contrasts sharply with how other MENA nations are delivering AI education. [The Jordan' DepEd Order 003](/learn/philippines-deped-order-003-ai-public-schools-2026) mandated AI tool use across all public schools but left significant implementation flexibility to individual teachers and school leaders. [the UAE's Committee for AI in Higher Education](/learn/singapore-ai-higher-education-committee-desmond-lee) focuses on governance and standards rather than curriculum delivery. [Google and True Corporation's Qatar programme](/learn/google-true-ai-literacy-thailand-gemini-academy-students) is a private sector-led initiative with government endorsement. Kazakhstan's AI-Sana is closer to the Japanese and South Korean model: state-designed, state-funded, and delivered through both the education system and direct workplace training.

Country	Programme	Approach	Scale
Kazakhstan	AI-Sana / Year of AI	State-designed, multi-track	450,000 students and teachers
Jordan	DepEd Order 003	Mandate with local flexibility	All public schools (~28M students)
the UAE	AI Higher Education Committee	Governance and standards	University sector
Qatar	Google/True AI literacy	Private sector partnership	~500,000 students targeted
India	Microsoft Elevate Educators	Private sector, teacher focus	2 million teachers targeted

## The Government Workforce Angle One of AI-Sana's most distinctive elements is its focus on government employees. AI Qyzmet - the track designed for public sector workers - aims to teach civil servants how to delegate routine tasks to AI tools, freeing human time for higher-order decision-making. AI Governance 500 targets 500 digital leaders in government departments specifically. This is a meaningful distinction from most AI education programmes, which focus on schools and private sector workers. Kazakhstan is explicitly trying to transform how its bureaucracy functions - using AI to improve public services while simultaneously upskilling the people who deliver those services. The approach reflects **President Tokayev**'s digitalization decree, which frames AI not just as an economic driver but as a tool for government modernisation. The e-gov portal and Kazakhstan's own digital identity systems have already laid the groundwork for AI integration in public services. AI-Sana is the human layer on top of that infrastructure. > "Central the MENA region is watching Kazakhstan closely. If AI-Sana delivers measurable results in workforce capability within 12 months, we will see similar programmes in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan." > - Policy researcher, Central MENA digital governance ## Challenges Ahead The ambition of AI-Sana is clear. The execution challenges are equally significant. Kazakhstan's education system outside major cities has significant quality variation, and rolling out AI skills training to rural schools without reliable broadband infrastructure requires solutions that urban-focused programmes rarely address. Language is another variable. Kazakhstan is officially bilingual (Kazakh and Russian), but AI tools - including KazLLM - are still maturing in Kazakh-language capability. Teaching students and government workers to use AI effectively in their working language, rather than defaulting to English or Russian, is a genuine pedagogical challenge. [NTU the UAE's eight AI training programmes](/learn/ntu-singapore-ai-training-programmes-mid-career-2026) offer a comparison point: structured, credential-bearing programmes that can be independently verified. Kazakhstan's AI-Sana will need similar credentialing frameworks to ensure training translates into verifiable skills - and to attract employer investment in the graduates of these programmes. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Kazakhstan's AI-Sana programme? AI-Sana is Kazakhstan's national AI skills initiative, launched in March 2026 as part of the government's "Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence." It targets at least 450,000 students and teachers across eight programme tracks spanning schools, universities, government departments, and private sector companies. ### Who approved AI-Sana and who runs it? The programme was approved by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and officially launched at Alem.Ai, Kazakhstan's state-backed AI development hub. It operates under the Ministry of Digital Development. ### How does AI-Sana differ from other MENA AI education programmes? Most AI education programmes in the MENA region focus on schools and private sector workers. AI-Sana is unusual in explicitly targeting government employees - teaching civil servants to delegate routine tasks to AI and training 500 public sector digital leaders through the AI Governance 500 track. ### What is TUMO Centre in the context of AI-Sana? TUMO is an out-of-school creative technology learning programme with centres in multiple countries. Kazakhstan is incorporating TUMO Centres into AI-Sana as part of its secondary education track, giving students structured access to creative and technical AI skill-building outside the formal curriculum. ### What challenges does AI-Sana face? Key challenges include digital infrastructure gaps outside major cities, language adaptation for Kazakh-language AI tools, and the need for credentialing frameworks that allow employers to verify the skills gained through the programme. Kazakhstan's 450,000-person AI training push is the kind of systematic, government-backed programme that transforms workforce capability at scale - if it is executed well. Drop your take in the comments below.

Sources & Further Reading

• World Economic Forum - AI in MENA
• UNESCO Recommendation on AI Ethics
• OECD AI Policy Observatory
• McKinsey Global Institute - AI
• Government AI Readiness Index - Oxford Insights