Nomads of the Digital Era Conference Landing Page

International Conference

NOMADS OF DIGITAL ERA

18th of April 2026, Almaty
(9:30-17:30)

Date: April 18, 2026

Time: 9:30 - 17:30

Location: Almaty (Offline + Online Live Stream)

Participants: 200+ (offline)

Participation: Free

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Agenda

09:00 – 10:30

Registration

10:00– 10:20

Opening Keynote by Tom Bartkoske

10:20 – 12:00

Educational Sessions

12:00 – 13:00

Coffee Break

13:00 – 14:00

Speech Contest

14:00 – 15:30

Panel Discussion

15:30 – 16:30

Speech Contest

16:30 – 17:00

Awards & Closing

Mission

Technology amplifies human potential, but people drive change. This conference unites professionals to explore the future of leadership and essential human skills in the digital era.

PUBLIC SPEAKING CULTURE

We foster a culture of public speaking in Russian, English, and Kazakh across Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
SUPPORT FOR PROFESSIONALS

We help specialists and graduates build hard and soft skills, including teamwork and self-presentation.
COMMUNITY & GROWTH PLATFORM

We create a space for growth, knowledge sharing, networking, and new opportunities.

Explore heritage and innovation

Bridging heritage and the digital future

This event blends nomadic heritage with the digital future, exploring communication, leadership, and emotional intelligence to build AI-ready skills and drive change.

Speakers

Tom Bartkoske

Leadership & EQ Trainer
Founder of Almaty Toastmasters Club

International business trainer and coach (Kazakhstan / USA). One of the key figures driving the development of leadership, public speaking, and conscious communication culture in the region.
Michal Moroz

Chief Innovation Officer at Makimo Software Development Services

Chief Innovation Officer and a co-founder of Makimo, a Polish custom software development company. Graduated from Łódź University of Technology, he’s been programming for 17 years now. Acknowledged public speaker, a winner of a Toastmasters speech contest on a national level in Poland. Personally he’s fascinated with philosophy, humans, technology and the future.
Karolina Boguszewska

Karolina Boguszewska, PhD – neuroleader, trainer, scientist and Scrum Master.

With a PhD in medical sciences, Karolina has spent over a decade gaining experience across diverse sectors—from academic research and NGOs, through medtech, e-commerce and HR, to IT - building and leading teams to deliver more value, but in biologically sustainable way. Karolina’s mission is to create environments where business growth coexists with personal well-being.
Akbota Sabetova

TEDx speaker

Kazakhstan public speaking champion, business trainer. A leading expert in public speaking, self-presentation, and impactful communication.
Ivan Lutsenko

Android Tech Lead at Bereke bank

Responsible for codebase health and engineering processes within the team. Recently, he has been actively integrating AI tools into the daily workflows of both the Tech Lead and the team—ranging from automated test generation to streamlining routine tasks. He is the author of the @maliastra Telegram channel, co-organizer of the @almaty_nullptr_party community, and a member of the GDG Almaty organizing committee.
Latina Satarova

Coach (Erickson International, Canada)
Author of the book “Everyone Is OK: Skills of Nonviolent Communication”

Over 13 years of experience in PR and communications. Worked with leading companies in Kazakhstan: ChocoFamily, Aviata, OLX, Beeline Kazakhstan. Former lecturer in the Executive MBA program at Satbayev University (courses: “Communication Strategies for Leaders” and “Motivation and Leadership”).
Madina Imanaliyeva

Director of Communications at MEGA

Over 20 years of experience in corporate and international environments. She specializes in strategic communications, leadership influence, and public speaking, and delivers presentations on personal and team effectiveness.
Margarita Barykina

Actress at the TRI playback theater
Member of the K5 dance team

She began her career with acting courses at the university, has been a playback practitioner since 2021, has participated in KELT (Kazakhstan English Language Theater) theater productions and various acting workshops.
Ilyas Mustafin

CTO at Jet Finance / Enterprise Architect

18+ years in IT, with the last 6 at the intersection of architecture and management in Kazakhstan’s banking sector. Led an IT division of 300+ engineers at Eurasian Bank, and built DevOps teams from scratch at Kaspi and Sberbank. Launched a mobile banking platform, eliminated Oracle vendor lock-in, and passed PCI DSS and National Bank audits. Author of the technical blog imarch.dev — 35 articles and 1K+ readers in the first month.
Renata Nureyeva

ProHunters founder

She is a prominent Kazakhstani entrepreneur and a leading expert in the fields of HR and recruitment. With over 13 years of professional experience, she is the Founder and CEO of ProHunters, a recruitment agency specializing in Executive Search and middle-to-senior level talent acquisition. Under her leadership, the agency has expanded its reach beyond Kazakhstan, successfully filling positions across Europe, Africa, and Latin America.
Gulnara Shakirova

CEO of ID-Group, a business trainer

A professional strategist and sports psychologist with over 30 years of experience. Holding a DBA and the title of Academician at the IIA, she served for a decade at the University of International Business (UIB), rising from marketer to Vice Rector. Currently, she is the CEO of ID-Group, a business trainer for MBA/DBA programs, and an accredited EBRD consultant. A clinical and sports psychologist, she also provides mental performance coaching for Olympic teams and medalists.
Andrew Kulpecz, PhD

General Manager, Chevronmuaigas, Inc

Andrew has held subsurface and commercial leadership roles across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Kazakhstan. He contributed to light oil and LNG monetization strategies, served as Exploration Advisor for North America, and led deepwater exploration in Western Australia supporting long-term gas supply for the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects.
Alexander Tyutin

DevSecOps at Semrush

CyberSecurity expert with over 15 years of experience and STEM enthusiast. Works on cloud security and AI governance. Google Cloud Certified Architect. Technovation Girls Kazakhstan mentor and partner. Google Developer Group Almaty organizer. Helps to empower and inspire young innovators in Kazakhstan.
Zhanar Makhambetova

CMO at Yandex Cloud

With over 8 years in B2B, cloud tech, and Big Tech, she specializes in taking products to new markets and crafting winning GTM strategies. Having led international campaigns across the CIS and Western markets, she balances her work with a mix of analytics, creativity, and practicality. She is a firm believer in marketing that drives real impact and is convinced that any problem can be "unpacked"—as long as you ask the right questions.
Altynai Zhumagali

Talent Acquisition Partner at Wolt (acquired by Doordash)
ICF certified coach

A Talent Acquisition Partner in Kazakhstan, specializing in hiring for commercial roles across the CIS region. She joined Wolt at the time of its launch in Kazakhstan and has since grown from Customer Support Associate to Team Lead, later transitioning into recruitment. She started in recruitment with high-volume hiring for Customer Support and Wolt Market, and later moved on to hiring for commercial roles, including sales, account management, and onboarding.
Igor Palkin

Founder & CEO of Agesta AI

A business consultant with 18+ years delivering enterprise projects across Kazakhstan, Russia, and Europe. He built and led PMOs for major organizations and developed enterprise software. Today Igor is Founder & CEO of Agesta AI — a platform that replaces project management routine with autonomous AI agents, designed for enterprises where delivery discipline actually matters. He speaks from the intersection of deep PM practice and hands-on AI product development. Not theory.
Ruslan Dudov

PMO Expert

PMO expert and VP of PMI Kazakhstan Chapter with 18+ years of experience in project management across IT, mining, construction, and telecommunications. Has successfully delivered 50+ international projects, driving alignment with strategic goals and achieving measurable business results.
Aigerim Abdrakhmanova

CEO in fintech, career coach, broad experience in FMCG

Aigerim has an extensive commercial experience: 16 years in emerging markets (KZ, CA, CAU) with broader assignments in UK, Ru in top corporations P&G, Mars, Philip Morris. Currently she is a CEO in Choco holding leading fintech platform development. Aigerim is founder of career school for top managers in Kazakhstan, that helps C-level associates build strong career.
Adlet Mazhitov

Founder of Adlex Consulting

Corporate Lawyer | 17 years in the profession, 12 of which working directly with IT businesses. Founder of Adlex Consulting. I help entrepreneurs launch and manage digital businesses across Kazakhstan, Dubai, Singapore, and the USA.
Here, I break down the things most people find out about too late: how IT law actually works, where and how to incorporate companies, and how to avoid losing money on taxes and deals.
Tomiris Kenenbayeva

Founder of Anatili Group, education entrepreneur

I’m an education entrepreneur and former national athlete passionate about building meaningful global partnerships between academia, business, and innovation. I founded and lead Anatili Group, where we work with universities, schools, and companies across Central Asia on language education, corporate training, leadership, and digital learning. What started as an education venture has grown into a broader platform that has supported more than 3,000 learners and helped organizations develop stronger teams, clearer communication, and more meaningful international connections.
Balsulu Tasbulatova

founder of PINCODE

I am the founder of PINCODE, a people analytics platform that provides a comprehensive diagnostic of human potential, including: leadership style and managerial competencies, 40+ core professional competencies, motivation and engagement drivers, role fit and risk zones. Most people problems in business are about wrong decisions made without data. I work with business owners, CEOs and HR leaders who face: high employee turnover, weak leadership pipeline, costly hiring mistakes, burned-out teams. My approach is based on people analytics, diagnostics and evidence-based management.
Daulet Sabyr

Entrepreneur and technology leader

Entrepreneur and technology leader with over 10 years of experience building and scaling digital products. President of Qazaq Toastmasters, where he develops the next generation of public speakers and leaders in Kazakhstan. Director of AlmaU AI Hub, driving commercial AI projects, student-led startups, and real-world solutions for business and the city. His portfolio spans B2B systems for logistics and corporate management to national-scale digital products.

MORE SPEAKERS
WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON

What is a Division Contest?

After winning Club and Area levels, top speakers advance to the Division Contest, showcasing strong speaking and evaluation skills before the District level.

Core Objectives:

Identify Excellence: To select the most proficient speakers to represent the Division at the District Conference.
Educational Growth: To offer a masterclass experience in high-quality speaking and evaluation.

Common Contest Categories at the Division level include:

International Speech Contest: Original 5–7 minute speeches (the path to the World Championship).
Evaluation Contest: Contestants provide "on-the-spot" feedback for a test speaker.

Achieve professional growth

Gain practical skills, unlock leadership insights, and boost your professional presence. Network and explore future-of-work perspectives. This conference is your gateway to success.

Communication skills

Gain practical communication skills.
Leadership insights

Unlock leadership insights.
Professional presence

Boost your professional presence.
Networking

Seize meaningful networking opportunities.

Register

Educational tracks: impactful speeches, practical workshops

AI & Technology

AI and Technologies are the tools that can enhance human potential, not fully replace it. This track focuses on practical application of AI
Leadership & Future of Work

In the constantly changing environment only true leaders who can inspire and guide teams will achieve success. This track is built around developing leadership skills and adapting to new reality.
Communication & Influence

The main difference between people and AI - is a comination of skills that help us communicate and bring changes. In this track speakers and trainers will share best practices and how to apply them in real life.

Who should attend?

This conference is for professionals, students, and entrepreneurs. Enhance your skills and stay ahead in a changing world.

Experienced Professionals

For professionals who want to strengthen communication, leadership, and emotional intelligence to stay relevant and lead with confidence in the digital era..

Entrepreneurs & Founders

For builders, founders, and business leaders who want to pitch ideas clearly, influence people effectively, and grow through human-centered leadership.

Emerging Leaders & Career Builders

For ambitious professionals who want to grow their confidence, strengthen people skills, and prepare for bigger leadership opportunities in a fast-changing digital world.

Register

Results of Conference

2025

The first Nomads of the Digital Era conference took place on April 26, 2025.

150 offline participants
50 online participants
10 speakers
5 panel discussion experts
Hands-on workshops
Networking sessions
2 Toastmasters International speech contests

The conference brought together experts from the international Toastmasters community and representatives from leading local and global companies, including Mars, Glovo, Alstom, Forte Market, Air Org, and People Consulting. Participants gained access to practical insights from the worlds of international business, corporate leadership, human resources, finance, and communications.

The 2025 conference was supported by partners operating at the intersection of education, career development, youth leadership, and professional communities: Orator Club, FinMentor, PinCode, and AIESEC.

Conference 2025 Highlight Video:

Elevate your skills

Join dynamic workshops with industry experts to enhance communication, leadership, and future-ready skills.

Effective communication

Learn techniques for clear, concise, and persuasive communication to captivate any audience.
Future-ready strategies

Explore strategies to navigate the digital era and thrive in the face of rapid technological advancements.
Innovative leadership

Develop leadership skills to inspire teams and drive innovation in a changing world.

Toastmasters International

A global non-profit organization founded in 1924 that helps people develop communication, public speaking, and leadership skills through hands-on practice and supportive feedback in local clubs.

Key benefits of Toastmasters:

Develop confident public speaking and presentation skills
Improve communication and clarity of thought
Build leadership and teamwork abilities
Strengthen emotional intelligence and self-awareness
Practice impromptu speaking and quick thinking
Receive structured, supportive feedback for continuous improvement

Our Partners

If you are interested in becoming a partner or sponsor, please feel free to contact us.

Contact

University of International Business (UIB)

Address: Abay Ave 8A

Easily accessible via public transport. Parking available on-site.

Social Out Program

16 th of April - Welcome Day

14.00 Republic Palace by Cable car (visit Kok Tobe city view peak)

Price: 11 000 KZT per person (*meals not included)

16.30 Return to city

17.30 Dinner at Auyl restaurant

17 th of April - City Tour

Welcome to your curated Friday of culture. Today, we bridge the gap between historic landmarks and the cutting edge of Central Asian contemporary art.

10:30 | Morning Promenade Route: Hotel Kazakhstan to Almaty Museum of Arts

The Vibe: Begin at the "Crown of Almaty." The 20-minute walk down Kurmangazy or Abai Avenue is beautiful in mid-April as the city's famous apple blossoms and tulips begin to appear. Price: 5000 KZT per person (meals and optional activities paid separatly)

11:30 | Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA)

What’s On: Don't miss the landmark inaugural exhibition "I Understand Everything" by Almagul Menlibayeva, one of Central Asia's most powerful contemporary voices. You can also explore "Qonaqtar" (The Guests), a collection that perfectly fits your group's theme of gathering and hospitality.

14:00 | Lunch Break

The Taste: There are several excellent spots near the museum. Since you'll be heading toward the river next, it’s a great time to enjoy a quiet meal before the afternoon stroll.

15:00 | Esentai Riverside Walk Route: Esentai River to Tselinnyi

The Vibe: Walk along the Esentai riverbank. In April, the mountain melt makes the river particularly lively. The fresh air here is the perfect palate cleanser between art spaces.

16:00 | Tselinnyi Center of Contemporary Culture

What’s On: You are catching the final weekend of the "Union of Artists" exhibition (closing April 19th). It’s a fascinating look at creative duos and artistic partnerships across Central Asia, housed in a stunningly repurposed Soviet-era cinema.

18:00 | Dinner & Kazakh cuisine

Pro-Tip for April 17th: While it's daytime "sunny" (around 18°C), the temperature drops quickly once the sun goes down over the mountains, so a light layers are your best friend!

18th April - Main Conference Day

After -Party: 18.00–23.00: Networking dinner and Karaoke

Price: 10 000 KZT per person(include meal).

Option 2: 18.00 - 19.30 Shibari masterclass up to 20 people (1,5 hour)

Price: 8 000 KZT single, 12 000 KZT for couple

“Shibari is the liberation of internal boundaries through the external limitations of the body, a path of trust and the discovery of new horizons.”

19 th April - The Otkeldi Gorge

10:00 | Location: Meeting point at bus stop near the First President's Park.Group Departure: For beginner hikers who want to catch the fresh air on a trail.

The Experience: We begin our journey at the Otkeldi Gorge. The trail offers a refreshing escape through lush landscapes and unique rock formations, providing a perfect natural backdrop for meaningful conversations and fresh perspectives. Price: 5000 KZT per person (for lunch pre-order)

14:00 | Mountain Lunch at Tary Ausai (Anyone who wants to join can come directly to the place, but availability of places is not guaranteed)

The Vibe: Time to rest those legs! We’ll enjoy a hearty lunch amidst the peaks. There’s nothing quite like the taste of hot tea and a meal shared in the heart of the mountains.

16:00 | Return to the City

Transition: We head back down the trail, taking in the final views of the mountains before the drive back to Almaty to prepare for the evening’s networking.

17:00 – 23:00 | Almaty Bolashaq Networking Club Location: Bolashaq Club Space

Dinner & Socializing: We’ll swap our hiking boots for a more comfortable setting. Enjoy a delicious dinner while connecting with members of the Bolashaq community—a hub for active, forward-thinking professionals in Almaty. Table Games: The evening heats up with friendly competition! Whether it's strategy games or classic favorites, it's the ultimate way to break the ice and build new friendships.

19 th April - Kolsay tour

One-Day Tour to the Kolsai Lakes
A Journey to the Heart of the Tien Shan

6:00 AM — Pick-up and departure from Almaty (Kazakhstan Hotel) Departure from the Kazakhstan Hotel. An early departure allows you to avoid traffic jams and fully enjoy nature. Along the way, enjoy picturesque views of the steppes, canyons, and mountain passes.

8:30–9:00 AM — Breakfast Stop A short rest stop and the opportunity to drink coffee or have breakfast (optional). Price: 12 000 KZT per person(meals and optional activities paid separatly)*payments non-refundable

12:00 PM — Arrival at Kolsai Lake No. 1 The national park's crown jewel greets guests with emerald waters surrounded by spruce slopes and mountain peaks.

Free time: Walk along the lake; Photo sessions at panoramic points; Boating (optional); Relaxing by the water; Easy trekking along mountain trails.

2:30 PM — Lunch and rest Free time for lunch or a picnic in nature.

4:00 PM — Departure back to Almaty En route, stops at beautiful locations for photos and rest.

10:00 PM — Return to Almaty Arrival at the Kazakhstan Hotel. Important to know! Difficulty level: easy (suitable for all ages) Comfortable shoes and a warm jacket are recommended. Don't forget sunglasses and water.

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Nomads of Digital Era conference Social out activities registration form

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FAQ

Nomads of the Digital Era

2026.