Kazakhstan’s president calls for AI across industry and agriculture

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for wider use of AI in industry and agriculture as part of a broader push to build a digital economy. The practical test, he acknowledged, is whether technology delivers useful results rather than expensive software and automation for their own sake.

Watch Desk analysis

What happened

In his 28 October state-of-the-nation address, Tokayev called for a government programme to apply digital technologies across the economy. He said Kazakhstan had begun commercialising AI, while pointing to infrastructure already under way: two supercomputers have been launched, a third is due by year’s end, and a fibre-optic trunk line across the Caspian Sea is being laid.

For agriculture, Tokayev urged the government to start introducing AI, alongside water-saving and agrochemical technologies. He also called for better digital management of water resources and for regional pilot projects next year to help rural producers market their goods. The Astana Times account of the address reports these as proposals and calls, not evidence that the projects are already operating.

Why it matters

This is a national technology agenda tied to practical sectors, not simply an AI slogan: agriculture, geological exploration, water management and regional business all feature. The proposed pilots could show whether digital tools help producers reach markets and whether AI has a useful role in farming.

Tokayev also acknowledged the gap between buying technology and proving its benefits. That makes implementation, local expertise and measurable results the important next steps. Supercomputers make an impressive backdrop; they do not, on their own, improve a harvest.

Our read

The strongest part of the agenda is its emphasis on applying technology to specific economic problems, while recognising that adoption is not the same as success. Kazakhstan has set out a direction, but the address leaves the harder questions open: what systems will be used, who will run them, and how will the government tell whether they work?

What to watch

• Whether the government publishes the promised programme for applying digital technologies.
• Which regions and agricultural problems are included in next year’s pilot projects.
• Whether AI use in farming produces measurable benefits for producers and water management.

Discussion spark: Should Kazakhstan prioritise AI in agriculture now, or first publish a clear plan for how it will measure whether the technology helps farmers?

Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.