Putting Artificial Intelligence to Work in Industry

KRU has announced the results of the national Qostanai AI Industry Hackathon 2026.

The hackathon took place at the regional Smart Centre of Akhmet Baitursynuly Kostanay Regional University.

With a prize fund of KZT 3,000,000, the final brought together leading teams from across Kazakhstan. They demonstrated that young developers are already shaping the future of the country’s industry.

Kostanay has hosted national hackathons before, but this year’s event attracted a record number of applications.

More than 150 applications were received from university students and school pupils across Kazakhstan. This reflects young people’s growing interest in artificial intelligence and their confidence in the opportunities being created in Kostanay Region.

The hackathon was organised by Akhmet Baitursynuly Kostanay Regional University, Qostanai Hub and the Department of Informatisation, Public Service Delivery and Archives of Kostanay Region.

A defining feature of the event was its focus on real challenges faced by operating enterprises, rather than classroom exercises.

Three challenges were set by Kostanay Minerals JSC, Allur Group of Companies JSC, and Akhmet Baitursynuly Kostanay Regional University in partnership with Qostanai Hub:

• “NaryadAI”: An Intelligent System for Issuing and Monitoring Work Orders — a challenge from Kostanay Minerals JSC. Participants were tasked with creating a solution to automate the issuing of work orders and monitor their completion.
• “Digital Twin of an Automotive Plant” — a challenge from Allur Group of Companies JSC. Teams developed a digital model of production to improve visibility and analysis of manufacturing processes.
• “Local Proctoring: Browser Security, Gaze Tracking and Smartphone Detection” — a challenge from Akhmet Baitursynuly Kostanay Regional University and Qostanai Hub. Participants had to create a system to ensure academic integrity during online testing.

Participants trained AI models, wrote code and developed their own solutions. The best projects will be implemented in production.

The first stage took place online. Participants received the challenges and submitted more than 90 solutions.

Experts selected the four strongest teams for each challenge, bringing 12 teams through to the final.

The finalists represented Astana, Almaty, Karaganda and Kostanay.

The final took place on October 16. Teams presented and defended their projects before an expert jury.

The projects were assessed by:

• Sayat Shaimurunov, Director of Human Resources and Social Affairs at Kostanay Minerals JSC;
• Askhat Tishbayev, Head of the 1C Support Department at Allur Group of Companies JSC;
• Vladimir Merzlyakov, Full-Stack Developer and specialist in information systems, databases and information security.

The jury selected three winning teams, each of which received KZT 1,000,000:

• Kostanay Minerals JSC challenge: FenixTech, representing Baitursynuly University and KKCI, Kostanay.
• Allur Group of Companies JSC challenge: OpenToWork, representing KBTU, Almaty.
• Akhmet Baitursynuly Kostanay Regional University and Qostanai Hub challenge: F5 Argus proctoring, representing Astana IT University, Astana.

The winners represent Kostanay, Almaty and Astana, demonstrating the hackathon’s success in bringing together talented young people from across the country.

Initiatives like this benefit everyone involved. Enterprises gain fresh ideas and working prototypes to address real challenges.

University students and school pupils gain experience of working on real projects and an opportunity to showcase their abilities.

The region gains skilled people who understand modern technologies and want to contribute to their country’s development.

The hackathon connects education, business and government, helping bring artificial intelligence into Kazakhstan’s industrial sector.