The era of digitalization is already here, yet some entrepreneurs and employees fail to take it seriously. They continue running their businesses manually, either avoiding new technologies or finding them unaffordable. Startup ZIZ INC aims to change this by offering ready-made solutions that are accessible and budget-friendly for businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises to government organizations. Founder of ZIZ INC, Ablai Zhusipbek, shares insights about how Kazakhstanis can interact with AI in the metaverse and the challenges modern entrepreneurs face.
Follow Kazakhstan’s Startup Movement in the "100 Startup Stories of Kazakhstan", a collaborative project by ER10 Media and Astana Hub. This initiative highlights the most innovative Kazakh startups, showcasing projects that stand out for their creativity and impact. Among the heroes are Astana Hub residents, as well as creators of other innovative technological products and services. The content is available in Kazakh, Russian, and English.
How IT Specialists Become Entrepreneurs
— Tell us about what you did before starting your startup.
— Back in my student years, I became passionate about IT and entrepreneurship. I remember how my friends and I posted an ad on OLX offering website development services — that’s how we got our first client. It was the owner of a detailing center in Astana, for whom we created our first full-fledged commercial project. It was a multi-page website that cost about 40-50 thousand tenge. We received an advance payment of 20 thousand and the rest upon project completion. Initially, the client just wanted a simple landing page, but we exceeded expectations by delivering a full-fledged website with graphical elements and well-developed details. This gave us the confidence that such services were in demand and that we could bring real value to businesses.
However, my interest in IT and entrepreneurship began much earlier. Back in fifth grade, when we got a stable internet connection at home, I became fascinated with creating websites using platforms and engines like UCoz and Data Life. I developed news portals that I managed to monetize through ad networks and later sold as complete projects. At the same time, I customized game servers for GTA and CS1.6 on order. These early ventures became my first experiences in IT and my initial steps in entrepreneurship.
While at university, I continued testing different niches. In my fourth year, we even launched an offline supermarket called ZIZ, where we experimented with digitalization elements: developing a grocery marketplace and testing process automation. This experience taught me how important and in-demand technology is for optimizing and growing businesses.
After graduating, I decided to focus entirely on IT. We registered a legal entity, started providing IT consulting, and eventually began participating in tenders. This allowed us to scale the business and reach a new level. In recent years, we’ve refined a business model that enables stable growth by offering ready-made solutions, automating processes, and implementing artificial intelligence for our clients.
— What Does Your Startup Do?
— ZIZ INC is primarily a service-oriented IT company, but like many IT firms, we focus on automating and optimizing processes. This led us to develop our own ready-made and semi-custom solutions tailored to specific business needs. Over the years, we’ve built significant expertise and a library of solutions, including metaverse technologies, decentralized applications, and AI-driven platforms. The uniqueness of our products lies in their quick integration and affordability. Thanks to our accumulated expertise, we offer solutions at a significantly lower cost than competitors would if they were building them from scratch.
Our ready-made products are easily customizable to client requirements and help automate routine tasks, boost efficiency, and reduce costs. For example, in just a month and a half, we developed a fully functional AI-powered platform for the Enbek Labor Resources Center. This project exemplifies how our ready-made technologies and flexible approach enable us to deliver high-quality solutions quickly.
Affordable Yet Powerful
— Tell us about the technical aspects of your startup.
— Our team has extensive expertise in developing and integrating information systems, allowing us to tailor solutions to any client’s needs. For instance, the ZAI platform and AI solutions we’ve developed are built using cutting-edge technologies, including Python, Java, and React, along with machine learning and big data analysis.
If a client requires working with another model, such as a local Gemini or LLaMA, we can easily integrate these systems, train them, and fine-tune them for business needs. We can also enhance system architecture, train models, or create a custom solution for a unique use case. This approach enables us to develop scalable and flexible products that meet our clients’ requirements.
— How Many People Are on Your Team?
— Our team consists of over 20 specialists, most of whom are developers. We’re proud to say that we have almost zero turnover. I believe this is because we’re not just fulfilling orders — we work on truly interesting and challenging tasks that inspire us.
We have a clear mission and quarterly goals, which we consistently achieve. We grow alongside our team: many of our specialists have been with us for years. During this time, their knowledge and professionalism have grown significantly. We create an environment where work becomes a personal development journey, which helps build a strong and motivated team.
— How Did You Identify Market Pain Points?
— We understood the market’s pain points through our experience and exposure accumulated over the years. During this time, we’ve developed over 100 different information systems, applications, and platforms for a variety of clients — from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises and government organizations.
Every day, companies approach us with recurring problems in their industries, and over time, we started noticing specific patterns.
These repeated requests gave us a clear understanding of the common pain points that most organizations face. For example, difficulties with process automation, a lack of user-friendly management tools, or high costs for integrating new technologies. We used this experience as a foundation to build solutions that effectively address these issues while making their implementation more affordable for businesses.
Each of our solutions is the result of years of experience and a deep understanding of client needs. This is what enables us to create products that truly work, help businesses grow, and simplify day-to-day tasks.
Simplifying Business Operations
— What types of requests do clients typically bring to you?
— We work with medium and large companies from various industries, including retail, manufacturing, healthcare, government organizations, and transportation companies. The main requests we receive revolve around automation, cost reduction, and improving transparency in processes.
For example, we helped a manufacturing company reduce the time it takes to create cost estimates and commercial proposals from several days to just one hour. For a major retail company, we developed an HRM system that automated employee onboarding and training, vacation pay calculations, and feedback collection. In the transportation sector, we implemented a cargo tracking solution that automated numerous processes, improved logistics transparency, and significantly reduced costs.
— What Is Your Mission?
— Our mission is to contribute to the development of Kazakhstan's IT ecosystem by automating processes and making digitalization accessible for businesses and the public. We strive to help government organizations and companies simplify operations, optimize processes, and achieve growth.
For businesses, we develop ready-made solutions that streamline operations and foster development. Additionally, we support startups, turning them into independent products capable of scaling to international markets. We also aim to increase export revenue, supporting the President's directive to boost IT exports in Kazakhstan. Through the adoption of modern technologies, we strive to make our products valuable both domestically and internationally.
— What Challenges Have You Faced Along the Way?
— Initially, the IT field and starting a company seemed relatively straightforward: launching the business, completing projects, and delivering them posed no major issues. However, one of the most significant challenges arose during scaling. When a team of 3-5 people grows to 10-15, bottlenecks in personnel and project management start to emerge.
If your management skills are insufficient, this becomes a serious obstacle. The best solution in such situations is to bring in people with relevant experience and expertise. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to always hire people who are smarter than you — whether it’s in project management, marketing, sales, or development. This approach enables you to tackle any ongoing challenges and progress effectively.
— Are You Planning to Expand Into Other Markets?
— We are actively collaborating with IT companies from South Korea, Central Asia, and other regions. We already have a strategy for entering international markets and conducted pilot offline sales this year with clients from the UAE, South Korea, and China. However, our global goal is to first solidify our position in Kazakhstan, capture our market share, and optimize all internal processes. This will allow us to confidently expand into international markets.
— What Are Your Revenue Streams?
— Custom development of information systems and automation comes at a certain cost, with the average project fee ranging from 3 to 7 million tenge. We charge a fixed fee for implementing our solutions, as well as additional fees for customization. Our business margins vary between 20% and 50%, depending on the complexity of the project and the scope of the tasks.
400% Revenue Growth
— Have you raised investments?
— During the recent IRA accelerator by MOST Business Intelligence, we demonstrated significant traction: our annual revenue grew fourfold, our team tripled in size, and our average project fee increased considerably. We actively reinvest our profits to grow and expand. Additionally, we have a strategic IT partner who acquired a stake in the business, enabling us to confidently develop and strengthen our position in the industry.
— What Are Your Plans for Next Year?
— We plan to automate AI solutions on our platform, create a standalone product, and expand into new markets.
“We Don’t Plan to Stop”
— What do you envision for your startup’s future in the coming years?
— Within the scope of the startup, becoming a unicorn is realistic, but I anticipate that a pivot will be inevitable as new technologies and trends emerge. We will either adopt these advancements or shift to a more profitable and relevant direction. While we can’t guarantee that we’ll stick to our current focus, one thing is certain: we don’t plan to stop.
— What Is Missing in Modern Kazakhstani Businesses When It Comes to Technology?
— Experience shows that modern solutions are adopted only by companies that understand how these technologies can increase revenue, enable scaling, and help them outpace competitors. Those who distrust technology either stagnate or lose their market position. It’s crucial to raise awareness about how technology can help businesses grow.
— What Needs to Be Done for Technology to Be Widely Adopted in Kazakhstan?
— Developing solutions can be expensive for small organizations. The solution lies in creating more startups and affordable options. In Kazakhstan, digitalization is progressing rapidly thanks to the startup ecosystem and its budget-friendly solutions. Our goal is to make these services accessible to everyone, including individuals and small businesses.
— How Can Digital Literacy Be Improved in Kazakhstan?
— Digital literacy in Kazakhstan is already quite strong due to the implementation of super apps and electronic government systems. The IT market has also grown over the past five years, thanks to subsidies in this sector. While the IT business no longer suffers from a shortage of employees, there is still a lack of qualified specialists. Increasing their numbers would further enhance digital literacy.
— How Do You Develop Yourself to Foster Your Startup’s Growth?
— I never miss IT events and forums. I participate as an expert and continually improve my skills. I take courses for executives, while our technical directors, marketers, and sales managers enhance their qualifications in their respective areas. Kazakhstan offers a wide variety of acceleration programs that also provide opportunities to expand expertise.
— What Acceleration Programs Have You Completed?
— Recently, my team and I have completed the following acceleration programs:
- Global Outsourcer by Astana Hub – Focused on helping IT companies sell their services abroad.
- IRA by MOST Business Intelligence – Prepares projects for attracting investments.
- Astana Smart City Accelerator by Astana Hub – Aimed at the digitalization of cities.
- GROWTHHACK by Terrikon Valley – Focused on scaling startups.
Together, these programs have helped us increase our expertise, gain the necessary competencies, and move forward with growth and action.
— How Does the Metaverse Work in Your Startup?
—Our metaverse is a cross-platform environment where individuals and businesses can establish their presence, create custom locations, and host events. We’ve already organized several events, including collaborations with the Republic Party, the Committee for International Information, and various government and private organizations. We’ve hosted hybrid-format forums, which were particularly popular during the pandemic. This format is convenient for participants from other countries.
In our metaverse, attendees can not only listen to speakers but also explore, interact with other participants, and engage with artificial intelligence.
Clients often approach us with requests to develop custom spaces, mini-games, or exploration-style environments, or to host events. From there, we build personalized spaces within our metaverse.
— What Achievements of Your Startup Are You Proud Of?
— Over the past year, we’ve become industry leaders and, in November, received an award from Astana Hub for our contribution to developing the country’s IT export sector. Our market, clients, and business models are well-established and already generating solid profits. We’re now in the scaling phase.
— Which Sport Best Represents Your Startup?
— An IT startup is like running a marathon: you’re constantly moving toward your goal without stopping. Along the way, you may experience fatigue and face challenges, and it’s crucial to find your second wind to overcome certain stages of the startup’s development.
