Time
Main Hall - Istiqlol
09:00 – 09:45
Exhibition visit by the First Deputy Prime Minister and VIP delegations
09:45 – 10:15
Official Opening
1. H.E. Hokim Kholiqzoda, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan
2. H.E. Sherali Kabir, Minister of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan
3. Amandeep Singh Gill, Under-Secretary-General and Envoy on Technology, United Nations
3. Welcome remarks: OSCE Program Office in the Republic of Tajikistan
4. Azizjon Azimi, Chair of AI Council
10:15 – 10:30
Networking Coffee
10:30 – 10:50
Keynote 1 – Sunil Gupta - CEO & Managing Director, Yotta
10:50 – 11:20
Area AI Launch & Signing
Speaker: Azizjon Azimi, Chair of AI Council
11:20 – 11:40
Keynote 2 – Sara Hooker - Co-founder and CEO, Adaption Labs (ex-VP of Research at Cohere)
11:40 – 12:00
Keynote 3 – Janneta Tabakov - Enterprise Growth Lead, Perplexity AI
12:00 – 12:10
AI Industry Showcase: Ferrum AI
12:10 – 12:15
Opening wrap-up
12:15 – 13:15
Lunch
13:15 – 14:00
Dushanbe Expo Visits

Panel Discussions

Time
Main Hall - Istiqlol
Room 1 - Bokhtar
Room 2 - Sarazm
14:00 – 14:45
AI at the Crossroads of AGI: Trends & Directions
Moderator: Shuhrat Khalilbekov - Vice President of Product, zypl.ai
1. Brooke Peterson - Vice President, Cognition AI
2. Dr. Ocariz Borde - AI Academic, University of Cambridge
3. Max Sapo - Founder & CEO, Happyverse AI
4. Dmitriy Istomin - Vice President， Constructor Technology
Funding AI Ecosystems: From MENA to Central Asia
Moderator: Firuzjon Sodiqov - Chief Executive Officer, Area AI
1. Ala Aljayyusi - Managing Director, Commercial Bank International
2. Dauren Rakhimzhanov - Managing Director, Eurasian Development Bank
3. Jasur Tursunbayev - Board member, UzCard
4. Davronbek Parmonov - General Partner, AloqaVentures
Dilshod Jurazoda - General Director, TajInvest
AI for All: Reimagining Inclusive Education in the Age of AI
Moderator: Bonu Boboeva - Chief Operating Officer, zehnlab.ai
1. Christopher Fabian - Co-Founder/Co-Lead, Giga UNICEF
2. Auken Tungatarova - Digital Education Specialist, UNICEF
3. Luda Bujoreanu - Senior Digital Specialist, World Bank
14:45 – 15:30
Beyond the Hype: The Real Deal of AI Compute
Moderator: Kristina Zaalishvili - Chief Operating Officer, darya.ai
1. Mohamed Taha Benssiba - Vice President and Head of AI Infrastructure, Oracle
2. James Coomer - Senior Vice President of Products, DDN
3. Matthew Thauberger - Senior Vice President of Strategy, Supermicro
4. Anton Dzhoraev - Regional Director for CIS, NVIDIA
5. David Halpert - Founder, Penataran/darya.ai
Investing in Intelligence: The AI VC Revolution
Moderator: Aslan Sultanov - Chief Executive Officer, White Hill Capital
1. Youssef Salem - Chief Financial Officer, ADNOC Drilling
2. Giovanni Everduin - Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Commercial Bank International
3. Dan Weirich - General Partner, Carbide Ventures
4. Varun Rekhi - EMEA Growth Investor, Speedinvest
Andrea Azzolari - Ventures Lead, Plug & Play
Tech Dive #1 Data Visualization for Physical AI
Moderator: Bonu Boboeva - Chief Operating Officer, zehnlab.ai
1. Adam Raudonis - Software Lead, Tesla Optimus
Time
Main Hall - Istiqlol
15:30 – 15:50
Keynote 4: Natalia Vassilieva - Chief Technology Officer, Cerebras Systems
15:50 – 16:10
Project Soro Launch: UNICEF, AI Council & zypl.ai

Panel Discussions

Time
Main Hall - Istiqlol
Room 1 - Bokhtar
Room 2 - Sarazm
16:10 – 16:55
AI-GOV and Smart Cities: Next Frontier of Digital Governance
Moderator: Masrur Nazari - Deputy Chair of AI Council under the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies
1. Aziz Nazar - Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan
2. Bodurshozoda Merali - Deputy Director, Agency of Innovation and Digital Technologies under the President of Tajikistan
3. H.E. Muhammad Al Nuaimi - Chairman, Chamber of Commerce & Industry of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah of the UAE
4. Sadi Samadzod - General Director, Smart City Dushanbe
5. Maxat Koshumbayev - Regional Director, Presight (G42)
Redefining Finance: AI Applications in Financial Services
Moderator: Mihir Modi - Vice President of Strategy, zypl.ai
1. Paul Kayrouz - Chief Fintech Officer, UAE Central Bank
2. Randa Kreidieh - Chief Risk Officer, Commercial Bank International (UAE)
3. Farrukh Makhkamov - Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aloqabank
4. Ghassan Muasher - Chief Executive Officer, Ahli Fintech
5. Gulanor Atobek - Chief Executive Officer, Alif Bank
Tech Dive #2: Sovereign AI vs AI Polyglots
Moderator: Bonu Boboeva - Chief Operating Officer, zehnlab.ai
Dr. Haitz Sáez de (Ocáriz) Borde - AI Researcher and Founder, Visiting Academic at the University of Cambridge
Time
Main Hall - Istiqlol
16:55 – 17:30
Signing ceremony
17:30 – 18:00
Fireside chat, Kareem Ayoub - Vice President for AI Technical Strategy, Google DeepMind
18:00 – 18:10
AI Talk: ‘The World’s First AI CEO’ by Xiaoyin Qu - Chief Executive Officer, HeyBoss AI
18:10 – 18:20
AI Talk: ‘How AGI Could Help Increase Happiness & Wellbeing for Millions of People’ by Max Sapo - Chief Executive Officer, Happyverse AI
18:20 – 18:30
AI Startup Showcase
1. Fairetail: AI in retail
2. QullaAI: AI-powered defensive drones
18:30
Closing ceremony