Market participants increasingly describe Central Asia as one of the fastest-growing IT regions, while international vendors such as BMC Helix, Mastercard, Qlik, and Cohesity are already strengthening their presence through local partners. During GITEX AI Kazakhstan — one of the region’s largest technology events, held in Central Asia for the first time — Er10.kz CEO Elnora Rozmukhamedova recorded a series of podcasts with representatives and partners of Redington Group. She spoke with major business leaders about why they are scaling operations in Central Asia and how modern technologies are helping them do so.
Central Asia: Scaling Through the Silk Road
Timur Tyulegenov, Cluster Manager for Central Asia at Redington, explained that the company is now focusing not only on importing solutions but also on developing local expertise:
“Historically, distribution businesses revolved around delivering technologies and products. But today, a distributor’s role is not simply to bring hardware or software into a country — it is to facilitate the transfer of international technologies and build local expertise.”
According to Timur, the company is actively expanding its regional presence. A full office has already been established in Kazakhstan, with a growing local team, while expansion into Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and other Central Asian countries is part of the near-term roadmap.
“We are strengthening not only sales operations, but also technical expertise, marketing, and operational capabilities — building a fully localized company that will operate in Kazakhstan on a long-term basis.”
He also noted that the regional market is becoming increasingly mature, with demand for AI, analytics, and cybersecurity growing across nearly every industry.
This trend is also confirmed by international vendors. Ahmed Shalaby, Sales Director at BMC Helix, emphasized that participation in GITEX AI Kazakhstan is part of the company’s long-term regional strategy:
“It is important for us that GITEX itself has turned its attention to this region — one of the fastest-growing in the world. Our presence here is part of a long-term strategy and investment plan that we intend to continue.”
GITEX AI Kazakhstan has become a platform where government institutions, financial organizations, technology companies, and startups can engage in meaningful dialogue and discuss key development challenges. Partnerships formed at such forums often become highly important for the region’s digital economy.
Sanzhar Zhamalov, Country Manager, Mastercard Kazakhstan and Central Asia , added:
“As a technology company, Mastercard continuously participates in such events to remain at the center of ongoing transformation while sharing our expertise and practical experience.”
According to Shalaby, the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus are highly dynamic, but each requires a distinct approach:
“I would not divide countries into ‘better’ or ‘worse.’ Every market in the region has its own character and specifics. The key is understanding local nuances and working closely with partners who possess local expertise.”
He noted that Kazakhstan currently leads the region in digital transformation and fintech maturity, Azerbaijan is rapidly advancing in oil & gas digitalization, and Uzbekistan remains one of the region’s fastest-growing markets.
Artificial Intelligence: Powerful and Disruptive
One of the central themes of GITEX AI Kazakhstan was artificial intelligence. Representatives of international companies agreed that AI has become an essential component of modern business operations and daily workflows.
Sina Onat, Distribution Manager MEA & Partner Sales Turkey/CIS at Qlik, noted that the market is shifting from simply “using AI” to deriving measurable value from it.
“AI and machine learning are becoming absolutely essential technologies for the financial sector. Digital transformation is now inevitable, and companies can no longer ignore it. The focus is shifting from the idea of ‘doing AI’ to ‘getting value from AI.’ This is a very important mindset shift.”
According to Onat, financial organizations increasingly use AI in everyday operations, including anomaly detection and fraud prevention.
He also explained that companies are building full ecosystems around AI. At Qlik, AI is deeply integrated into internal workflows and used daily:
“At Qlik, we truly use the solutions we sell to clients. For example, we have our own AI tool — something like an internal GPT integrated with CRM systems and corporate data sources.”
Additionally, the company has been using AI agents for several years:
“We have dedicated AI agents for analytics, search, data processing, and internal operations. Our goal is to maximize the potential of enterprise data.”
A similar approach is used by BMC Helix. Ahmed Shalaby explained that the company started actively investing in AI well before the global boom:
“At BMC Helix, we began working on this direction several years ago. We have our own system — Helix GPT. We started developing it around three years ago, even before the current AI boom.”
He highlighted the company’s “customer zero” approach, where solutions are first tested internally before being introduced to the market. AI is now integrated into BMC Helix’s daily operations, including:
- Analytics
- Team collaboration
- Market research
- Reporting
- Automation
According to Shalaby, the next major wave will be agentic AI and AI-driven service operations:
“Agentic AI and intelligent systems will enable fintech and financial institutions to achieve greater automation, reduce human error, and free employees to focus on creativity and innovation instead of routine tasks.”
Cybersecurity and the Rise of Sophisticated Fraud
As AI and digitalization accelerate, so do cybersecurity threats.
Yudum Yonak from Cohesity, responsible for Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the CIS, emphasized that the financial sector remains one of the most heavily targeted industries:
“The financial sector is one of the most attacked industries in the world because it is extremely attractive to cybercriminals.”
According to Yonak, modern cybersecurity extends far beyond traditional backup systems. Organizations must now ensure secure and rapid data recovery capabilities.
Sanzhar Zhamalov also noted that while AI optimizes business processes, it simultaneously makes fraud schemes more sophisticated:
“Under these conditions, companies must not only invest in technological development but also systematically strengthen data protection.”
He pointed out that many cybersecurity solutions remain either too complex or financially inaccessible for mid-sized companies.
Mastercard has invested more than $10.7 billion in cybersecurity innovation since 2018. At GITEX AI Kazakhstan, Mastercard and Redington Group introduced several cybersecurity solutions:
- Cyber Quant — quantifies cyber risk in financial terms;
- RiskRecon — monitors supplier and partner risks;
- Threat Protection — protects infrastructure against attacks in real time.
“Implementing new technologies and digital solutions creates significant opportunities for businesses. However, as digitalization continues to advance, the importance of cybersecurity is also growing. Today, protecting data, infrastructure, and business processes has become the number one priority in the digital environment” Zhamalov explained.
The partnership between the companies has opened new opportunities for businesses across Central Asia.
Cohesity is also actively integrating AI into its own products. One example is Gaia, an AI-powered tool that helps clients intelligently utilize backup data.
Yonak added:
“We are evolving alongside AI trends while ensuring their secure adoption.”
Market participants increasingly view AI not only as a tool for automation but also as a critical weapon against fraud. Timur Tyulegenov shared examples of AI already being used to combat telecom fraud.
Will AI Replace Humans?
Despite rapid AI adoption, participants agreed that AI will not completely replace people. Instead, it will transform the role of specialists within organizations.
Sina Onat believes automation will allow employees to focus on higher-value and more creative tasks:
“We will no longer need to spend time on routine tasks — AI agents and automation will handle them. But humans will still need to create additional value on top of that.”
Timur Tyulegenov expressed a similar view:
“Routine processes will indeed become automated. But human creativity, communication, and interaction will remain essential. AI and IT will support people rather than fully replace them.”
The Future of Fintech
The speakers also discussed the evolution of fintech in the region.
According to Ahmed Shalaby, the modern financial sector can no longer operate effectively with fragmented data and isolated systems:
“It is crucial to unify everything into a single data environment — a single source of truth and management interface.”
He also emphasized the importance of predictive analytics — the ability to anticipate incidents before they occur.
Sanzhar Zhamalov added that every integration creates a potential attack vector:
“The fintech ecosystem in Kazakhstan — and across Central Asia more broadly — is becoming increasingly interconnected. Banks are integrating with payment providers, cloud services, open banking APIs, and a growing number of specialized third-party vendors. Every such integration is a potential entry point for threats.”
Sina Onat added that banks will increasingly move toward service personalization:
“Personalization will become the key trend. But the more personalization there is, the more data, variables, risks, fraud threats, and compliance challenges arise.”
Continuous Learning as the Main Skill
Nearly all participants agreed on one thing: the most important skill for the coming years will be the ability to continuously learn and adapt.
“Learn, learn, and learn again. It is especially important today to constantly study new technologies, experiment with them, and keep moving forward,” said Timur Tyulegenov.
According to the speakers, the combination of local expertise, international technologies, and a willingness to rapidly implement innovation will define the development of Central Asia’s IT market in the coming years.
More insights on AI, fintech, and regional development can be found in the exclusive PRO ERTEN interview series recorded with each of the speakers.
