“We are a nation of winners.” These were the words of Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the annual August Conference in Astana. They speak to something broader than national ambition. They reflect a growing conviction that Kazakhstan’s future will depend on its ability to develop talent, strengthen education and turn knowledge into innovation. This commitment, which is a strategic national priority for our country, is also reflected in the new Constitution, adopted on 15 March 2026.
This ambition is already visible among Kazakhstan’s younger generation. The country is now home to more than seven million children. Together with young people, they account for almost half of the country’s population. Their potential is increasingly visible on the international stage. This year, for example, Kazakhstani school students competed in 44 international Olympiads and science competitions, winning more than 1,000 medals, including over 200 golds.
Why is Kazakhstan putting talent at the heart of its future?
As AI and other new technologies advance at remarkable speed, the global competition for talent is becoming a strategic priority for countries around the world. Kazakhstan is no exception.
Kazakhstan is seeking to position itself within this global race for talent. In this context, the internationalisation of higher education is becoming an important part of the country’s wider strategy. More than 35,000 international students from 88 countries have already chosen Kazakhstan as a study destination, with many pursuing degrees in fields that will shape the next generation of economies, including engineering, medicine and AI.
The ambition, however, is much greater. Kazakhstan aims to increase the number of international students to 100,000 within the next five years. This presents an opportunity to position the country as a regional centre where talent can flourish, new ideas can emerge and international students can increasingly contribute to Kazakhstan’s growing innovation economy.
When we talk about the opportunities we should create for young people, we are really talking about the future direction of our country. Kazakhstan’s future will depend to a considerable extent on whether its young people are prepared to think ambitiously, generate new ideas, build innovative businesses and, perhaps most importantly, believe in their own ability to succeed through knowledge, perseverance and sustained effort.
Recent research suggests that more than 70% of young people in Kazakhstan believe in the transformative power of education and see it as a key driver of change. There is an important message in this. A new generation increasingly sees the country’s future as lying not primarily in oil and other natural resources, but in knowledge, skills and human capital.
Why international education matters to Kazakhstan’s talent ambitions?
If Kazakhstan is to compete globally, it cannot simply prescribe a future for its young people. It needs to listen to their ambitions, give them the tools to succeed and create the conditions in which their ideas can take shape.
For many of them, international education has become an increasingly important aspiration. Until recently, accessing it largely meant leaving Kazakhstan to study abroad. That equation is beginning to change. With unprecedented support from the President and government of Kazakhstan, our country has opened its higher education system to a new level of international collaboration.
More than 40 strategic partnerships with international universities are now being developed, alongside a growing number of international branch campuses, including Coventry University Kazakhstan. Done properly, internationalisation can bring research, technology and industry closer together.
Coventry University’s own experience illustrates this rather well. Its researchers have worked with companies including Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Lotus and Jaguar Land Rover, and have developed expertise in areas such as digital manufacturing, advanced materials and green transport, including electric vehicles and aviation.
A new generation increasingly sees the country’s future as lying not primarily in oil and other natural resources, but in knowledge, skills and human capital
How can AI help shape Kazakhstan’s ‘nation of winners’?
AI has become one of Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities. But the real bet is not on AI itself. It is on the opportunities it creates and on developing the skills and professions that will define the emerging technological era.
People who know how to work with AI will increasingly have an advantage over those who do not. We can already see demand emerging for new roles, from data engineers and digital solution architects to cybersecurity specialists, experts in technology ethics and developers of intelligent services.
At the same time, the World Economic Forum has consistently highlighted the continuing importance of human capabilities alongside technological skills. Critical thinking, judgement, creativity, resilience and empathy will become more, rather than less, valuable as technology advances. Education therefore faces a paradox: the more sophisticated our technology becomes, the greater the premium we may need to place on distinctly human qualities.
This is where Kazakhstan’s ambition to become a technologically advanced nation meets the idea of a “nation of winners”. Success in the AI era will be determined not simply by how quickly a country adopts new technologies, but by how effectively it prepares people to use them critically, creatively and responsibly.
What does this mean for universities?
Whatever academic distinctions a university may hold, its reputation ultimately rests, at least in part, on what its graduates go on to achieve. Universities can no longer regard their role as simply providing an education. Being able to say, “We offer a course in AI,” is no longer enough. The real challenge for universities is to make AI part of the wider educational experience, from admissions and academic support to teaching, assessment and student services. In the growing competition for talent, those that can do this thoughtfully and effectively will have a clear advantage.
Education itself is therefore going through a profound transition. Its great strength today is the unprecedented openness of knowledge and the ease with which students can access it. Its weakness is that too much teaching still relies on methods designed for a very different age.
The future of education lies in systems that are flexible, international and increasingly interdisciplinary. Universities can no longer prepare students for one profession and assume that this will sustain them throughout their working lives. Their role is broader: to develop people who are comfortable with change, able to learn and relearn, willing to cross traditional boundaries and confident enough to create rather than simply follow.
Universities therefore need to look beyond education alone and become part of the wider innovation ecosystems in which ideas are turned into new industries, businesses and professions. That requires a much closer relationship between universities and the world of work. By combining academic study with meaningful experience in the workplace, students have the opportunity to test what they learn against real challenges, work alongside professionals and develop an understanding of their chosen field long before they graduate.
Kazakhstan therefore has the potential to become a distinctive international hub for education and talent, attracting students and researchers not only from Central Asia but increasingly from Europe, South Asia, the Middle East and beyond. Its position at the crossroads of East and West offers a particular advantage: the ability to bring together different academic traditions, educational models and ways of thinking.
