Eurasia’s largest technology forum, AI & Digital Bridge, traditionally opened its doors from October 1 to 3 at the EXPO International Exhibition Center (IEC) in Astana, bringing together leading figures from the worlds of IT, science, education, e-commerce, finance, investment, and blockchain. Guests from 100 countries came to the capital of Kazakhstan for these three days, and on October 2nd, the organizers recorded a record-breaking 25,000 visitors.
As last year, the GREEN-API team participated in the main event of the year, presenting its product line to exhibition guests. We’ll tell you what we saw and demonstrated, and how the conference went overall.
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Digital Bridge now has a new name
At the opening of last year’s forum, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed renaming it AI Bridge, emphasizing that artificial intelligence is now a permanent part of our lives, no longer just a trend but a working tool. Over the past three and a half years, AI has evolved from a chatbot you could use to pass the time by talking about anything to a tool of influence that shapes the direction of the global economy and politics.
(photo by akorda.kz)
The organizers then unequivocally pledged their full support for the President’s initiative, and several weeks before the exhibition, the city was adorned with posters featuring the new name. It’s worth noting that the forum was held with the support of the Astana Hub international innovation cluster, the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, and the Astana City Akimat.
AI & Digital Bridge was the highlight of AI Month, a month of IT events as part of the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. Fintech giants such as Freedom Bank, Kaspi Bank, Halyk Bank, Beeline Kazakhstan, Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhtelecom, and Yandex Qazaqstan served as gold partners of the conference.
Our company, GREEN-API, feels right at home at IT events. This is largely due to our membership in the Astana Hub and our joyful response to their invitations. For us, Kazakhstan is more than just a place on a list where we have an office – it’s home to some of our clients and a team of professionals working together on new and ongoing projects.
The first day is the most private, but no less important
As is typical at such events, the first day of the exhibition and the opening ceremony were held behind closed doors with the participation of officials, foreign delegations, and high-ranking guests. Among them were President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev, Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Holding Corp. Timur Turlov, Chairman of the Management Board of Kazakhtelecom JSC Bagdat Musin, CEO of Sinovation Ventures Kai-Fu Lee, and many other industry figures.
For several years now, the AI & Digital Bridge has begun following the ceremonial speeches of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Speaking to the public, he noted that Kazakhstan’s IT services exports exceeded an impressive $1 billion last year. He then proposed identifying areas of the country’s economy that require improvement and launching an AI Challenge initiative involving Kazakhstani and international specialists, where the best projects will have the opportunity to put their ideas into practice.
He specifically focused on the importance of AI, noting that excessive control and regulation will force promising teams, developments, and capital to relocate, something our country cannot allow. He stated that AI’s potential has not yet been fully realized, so many countries are adapting their development strategies to include it in their strategy.
He emphasized that we live in a time when AI is considered not just a technology, but a tool of influence.
Whether it will benefit or harm global development depends primarily on human intervention
He concluded his speech by saying that the world has entered an era where «Everything is AI» and called for the highest level of responsibility and integrity in relation to AI.
Days two and three: GREEN-API among the industry’s drivers
Starting on the second day, the doors of the IEC EXPO were open to all who had tickets. Within minutes, the exhibition pavilions were filled with people, industry representatives, and event guests. The business program featured 1,500 speakers; over 500 investors attended the presentations of 600 promising startups and projects, and 127,000 visitors from 100 countries came to witness their successes.
The headliners were Balaji Srinivasan, founder of Network School; Yerzat Dulat, founder of Higgsfield AI; and Jamie Beaton, CEO of Crimson Education. More than 90 startups presented their projects to guests at Startup Valley, and 50 IT companies and 60 booths and pavilions were present at the exhibition.
Among them was the GREEN-API booth. Our company has been providing developers and businesses with accessible APIs for popular messaging apps like WhatsApp* and Telegram for over 10 years. For a huge platform like AI & Digital Bridge, where automation and AI are discussed all day long, our line of services was a perfect fit. Being present alongside those who shape the market is doubly beneficial, as it’s always helpful to hear the current challenges facing businesses, banking, telecommunications, and the public sector, and to demonstrate how our solutions can help them.
On the pulse of innovation
Kazakhstani companies eagerly demonstrated how AI works in practice. For example, the national digital services platform egov.kz taught ChatGPT how to process user requests for government services, the Kasper assistant is integrated into the Kaspikz ecosystem, and Samruk-Kazyna JSC is saving millions of tenge thanks to AI.
It’s worth noting that during the forum, the head of state announced the start of construction of an AI data center in Kazakhstan, where the Kazakh language will be given significant attention. The parties signed a corresponding agreement. We were excited about this innovation, as chatbot development is also part of the GREEN-API program, which is available in the most popular programming languages, including SDK libraries.
Astana Hub battle
On Saturday, the EXPO grounds resembled a large fairground filled with children and fun. The pavilions buzzed with conversation, background noise, and music, with the focus on the final of the Astana Hub Battle, a startup competition with a $100,000 prize pool. This year, 292 teams from 14 countries applied, and the top 15 advanced to the final round. Each team had three minutes to convince the jury of their worthy claim to the grand prize. Four projects won $25,000 each, and one of them, Aman, received a $200,000 grant from MA7 Ventures.
It’s worth noting that GREEN-API closely monitors these competitions, as Astana Hub is not just an organizer for us, but our IT cluster. Each of these startups and companies is a potential client, so we offer the opportunity to test the service for free before expanding and upgrading to a paid plan.
AI & Digital Bridge awards, records and memoranda
Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov presented the AI & Digital Bridge Awards to the finalists. eGov.CPT was named the best public sector project, Higgsfield AI, an AI-powered video creation service, was named the top international breakthrough, MA7 Ventures was named the venture capital fund of the year, and the music distribution platform ōzen was chosen as the creative project winner.
Another source of pride is the HackAlem AI hackathon in Kazakhstan, which became the largest in the world in terms of number of participants (2,415), surpassing the previous record set in Hyderabad, India. In total, over 60 agreements were reached on the sidelines of the forum, ranging from digital assets to data centers.
GREEN-API booth: What we showed and what we talked about
The GREEN-API booth, as per tradition, occupied a central location in the EXPO pavilion—it was easier to control the flow of people and be visible to everyone. Our colleagues presented the company’s product line to guests, answered questions, and provided consultations to potential clients. We shared information about API solutions for messaging apps, discussed the ability to send and receive messages, transfer files, and create surveys.
For those looking for an official channel, there’s WABA from GREEN-API, the official WhatsApp Business API with template messages, buttons, and a verified business account.
Among other things, we announced a new «Calls» plan for WhatsApp – a promising VoIP telephony technology for call management and recording
Our integrations with Telegram and MAX messengers received special mention. For companies looking to integrate AI, we demonstrated the GREEN-API GPT with libraries and demo chatbots.
In addition to product presentations, our employees distributed informational materials and gave guests branded merchandise. Visitors left satisfied with their experience and promised to return as customers. For us, this is the best result of the work accomplished during the exhibition.
Exhibition results
The three days of the forum flew by. We made new connections, gained fresh ideas, and are confident that the trend toward AI and technology will continue for a long time, meaning our company and its products will always be in demand. We would like to express our gratitude to the organizers of AI & Digital Bridge for the invitation to share the platform, become part of a large-scale event with an international reach, and be among the largest players in the IT market.
We are confident that we were able to effectively present a wide range of our business ideas at AI & Digital Bridge 2026 and meet colleagues from related fields. It is gratifying that others have recognized us, recognizing that GREEN-API is setting the tone for API solutions and services.
At GREEN-API, we monitor all WhatsApp updates to provide you with the latest news and solutions for automating your business processes. Stay tuned to stay up-to-date with all the latest developments!