The digital Frontier: how to ensure leadership in the global IT market

The tenth anniversary conference "Digital Industry of Industrial Russia" has ended in Nizhny Novgorod. The main topic of the event was the development of digital technologies and their implementation in industry and other sectors of the Russian economy. The IT industry has made a huge leap in recent years: the widespread introduction of artificial intelligence, the integration of services and the creation of ecosystems has become not just a trend, but a new reality. And this trend is relevant not only for Russian companies, it is actively followed abroad. What steps need to be taken in order for the ecosystem to make a real breakthrough — using the example of fintech company Freedom Holding Corp.

All in one

In May 2025, the market capitalization of Freedom Holding Corp. exceeded $10 billion for the first time. The holding's shares were included in the prestigious Russell 3000 index, and at the peak of trading on NASDAQ they reached $183 per share. However, for Timur Turlov, the founder of the company, this is not the main achievement.

—The launch of SuperApp is more important to me than market capitalization: market value is an external label, and the real value lies in how the integration of services accelerates share growth and reduces the cost of customer acquisition," he stressed at a recent Investors Day in London.

The application integrates banking, insurance, brokerage services, e-commerce and lifestyle directions in one window. Users can pay for goods, invest, insure property, book tickets, and use mobile communications. The SuperApp also has a built—in Freedom investment currency, a tool that allows users to accumulate fractional shares of the holding in the form of cashback. The model, according to Timur Turlov, founder of Freedom Finance, is designed to expand beyond Kazakhstan.

— We are convinced that the combination of "bank + insurance + broker" should be replicated in other countries. As a result, it will be superaps that will defeat single services — history has already proved this in Asia, he is sure.

Turlov emphasizes that the launch of the application was the culmination of eight years of work on building the ecosystem.

— Now we see how the market share is accelerating after integration, and we understand that the vision was correct, — Timur Turlov noted.

Focus on artificial intelligence

The second key of the company is deep work with data.

— We have, perhaps, the deepest and most structured "data lake" in the region. Machine learning allows you to instantly approve loans from a bank, and in our insurance companies, for example, set a personal CTP price — a good driver no longer subsidizes a bad one," explains Timur Turlov.

AI tools are used in all areas: from scoring (assessment of customer solvency) and anti-fraud (anti-fraud system) in banking and insurance to multilingual translation of news for brokerage clients.

— Deep integration of AI will make finance as "monopolized" as Google search: 70-80% of the market will be occupied by several ecosystems, the rest will get crumbs, — predicts Turlov.

This is already yielding results: 30% of new customers of the Freedom insurance business come thanks to personalized AI offers.

Fintech Bridge construction

Freedom Finance is building a model that is initially focused not only on the domestic market of Kazakhstan, but also on global competition. At the center of the strategy is a replicated digital platform capable of competing with leading international players.

"My dream is to build a global banking network on the same digital platform to compete with Revolut in Europe and with American players in the United States, but at the same time preserve the "Eurasian DNA" of our model — deep integration with local financial and government systems," Timur Turlov said at Investor Day.

Today, the holding company operates in 22 countries. Licenses have also been obtained and are being implemented in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and a broker is being launched in Turkey. The next growth areas are the Middle East. The potential of the international Freedom model is also confirmed by the company's partners.

— Central Asia has 100 million people, half of them do not have access to such services. The potential is gigantic," independent Director Philippe Vogler said at London Investors Day.

At the same time, Freedom Finance is developing the telecom sector: a new generation data center is being built in Almaty, which will become a regional hub for the largest cloud services — Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Meta. Such infrastructures, the so—called hyperscale centers, allow you to process data arrays and support highly loaded digital products.

"Almaty will give Amazon and Google a foothold between Eastern Europe and Korea, and us a solid base for scaling," Turlov notes.

Data protection as a priority

It is impossible to create an ecosystem that processes millions of transactions daily without serious investments in security and technological sustainability.

— We already spend tens of millions of dollars a year on cyber security, otherwise any hundreds of millions invested in IT can be lost in one attack. The customer's trust is based on data protection," emphasizes Timur Turlov.

The holding is developing its own digital platform and data center infrastructure in order not to depend on external solutions and independently ensure the reliability of services. This is especially important at times of peak stress, such as during periods of sharp movements in stock markets or massive e-commerce campaigns.

— For a retail broker, volatility is a direct relationship between turnover and revenue. The main technological challenge for us is to ensure stable operation of the infrastructure during such peaks," explains Turlov.

Social utility of investments

Finally, the fifth key to ecosystem development, according to Freedom Finance, is betting on long—term investments in infrastructure and social benefits.

— We don't want to be a cash cow, that is, just pay dividends. Yes, high rates have made a profit, and the best strategy for us is to reinvest it in the future of the ecosystem, rather than fixing current performance, as competitors do," the company's CEO emphasizes.

The social mission of the holding company fits seamlessly into this strategy. Freedom actively invests in supporting children's sports, educational programs, and digital infrastructure. The projects include the Chess Federation of Kazakhstan, the QJ Football League, and support for environmental initiatives.

— In the context of globalization, we are creating the Freedom ecosystem as a single platform where different business segments — from banking and insurance to lifestyle services - interact effectively, serving more than 7 million customers. And we are thinking about the future of this society too," Timur Turlov sums up.