Kazakhstan Leads Central Asia in Government AI Readiness, Ranks 60th Globally
ALMATY - Kazakhstan now tops Central Asia in readiness to adopt and govern AI, placing 60th out of 195 countries in the Government AI Readiness Index 2025 by Oxford Insights. The country moved up 16 spots from last year's position at 76th, according to the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development on Dec. 24.
The index measures how prepared governments are to use AI across public administration, the economy, and society while keeping development safe, responsible, and sustainable. Kazakhstan's rise shows tangible progress in institutional capacity, regulation, and the practical use of AI inside government.
Why Kazakhstan moved up
- Public Sector Adoption score of 73.59, driven by widespread digital public services, mature e-government platforms, and a shift toward proactive service delivery.
- Strong digital and telecom infrastructure, including high internet penetration and national digital platforms that support scale.
- Clear political and administrative readiness: strategic policy documents, ongoing regulatory work, and consistent institutional focus on AI.
- Updated 2025 methodology puts more weight on government strategy, regulation, and real-world implementation-areas where Kazakhstan has been active.
What this means for public sector leaders
For government teams, this ranking isn't just good news-it's a signal to double down on execution. The foundation is in place. The next gains will come from delivery at scale and tighter links between policy, procurement, and industry.
- Shift from pilots to production: set a clear pipeline from proof-of-concept to deployment with stage gates, budgets, and owners.
- Modernize procurement for AI: outcome-based tenders, pre-approved vendor lists, and safe sandboxes to speed up testing.
- Strengthen data access: publish high-value datasets, standardize APIs, and enable privacy-preserving data sharing.
- Back local builders: targeted grants, venture co-funding, and simplified rules for AI startups to sell into government.
- Invest in people: practical AI training for policy, operations, and audit teams; define new roles for data stewardship and model oversight.
- Govern responsibly: clear guidelines on model risk, bias testing, human-in-the-loop controls, and transparent impact reporting.
Where progress is still needed
The report points to the next phase: commercialization and deepening the private tech ecosystem. That means making it easier for businesses to access data and finance, and encouraging real use cases that create measurable public value.
- Accelerate commercialization of AI solutions across priority sectors.
- Strengthen the private technology sector and startup pipeline.
- Expand business access to high-quality data and financing tools.
For context and benchmarking, see the Government AI Readiness Index.
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