SmartBiz: building a new standard for BI services in Central Asia

Nurdoolot Satyvaldiyev, founder of SmartBiz, shared in an interview how his startup emerged, how the team was built, and how the company managed to grow despite limited resources. Today, SmartBiz is preparing for expansion and entering international markets.

Nurdoolot Satyvaldiyev, Bishkek city, founder of SmartBiz, Instagram

How it all began

I am the founder of SmartBiz and SmartBiz Academy. I first became interested in BI analytics in 2021, during my final year at university. After graduation, I began working as an independent BI specialist, offering services such as report automation, Power BI implementation, and accounting system optimization for small and medium-sized businesses.

For two years, I worked on my own, gaining practical experience and managing projects in various industries. The workload gradually increased, the projects became more complex, and clients more demanding. By the end of 2023, I realized it was time to take the next step. I registered with SmartBiz and began assembling a team in early 2024.

This company was not created as a startup driven by a business idea — it developed naturally as the next stage of my professional growth and as a response to the growing demand for high-quality BI analytics and digital transformation services.

Team

When I registered the company at the end of 2023, I did not have a full team — at first, it was just me and my assistant. I continued to manage projects personally while setting up internal processes and recruiting new team members.

By spring 2024, we began expanding the team — first adding an operations director, then analysts, a project manager, a finance specialist, and developers. Recruitment happened gradually through active projects: I delegated my tasks, onboarded new people, and helped them adapt to our specific service model.

It was not an easy phase — I had to train, build culture, and communicate our quality standards.
After six months, I managed to step back from day-to-day operations, and by early 2025, we had a structured system with implementation, marketing, and sales departments — working as one unified team.

I would like to take this moment to thank my team for their belief and contribution — you are truly amazing.

Target audience

SmartBiz focuses on small and medium-sized businesses in Central Asia — companies that are just beginning their digital transformation or struggling with it. These are usually businesses without proper reporting systems, where decisions are made “in the dark.”

We help them digitize their processes, implement BI analytics, automate reporting, and bring order to management — creating the conditions for growth and freeing business owners from operational overload.

At the same time, we also work with larger enterprises seeking digital transformation. We help them replace outdated tools and systems, developing tailored digital solutions based on modern technologies.

Our second business, SmartBiz Academy, trains new BI analysts and helps upskill existing professionals — accountants, financial analysts, and CFOs.

To date, more than 40 companies have used our services, including KICB, Novotel, Matkasymov, Ala-Too University, Etnomedia, and the Ministries of Education and Culture of Kyrgyzstan. Over 80 students have completed our training programs.

Incubation and acceleration programs

In 2024, we participated in the Accelerate Prosperity acceleration program and became one of the finalists. This experience gave us validation and a new perspective on scaling the business.

The company’s funding initially came from project revenues and short-term private investors who received a share of profits. Now that SmartBiz is stable and profitable, we are considering long-term strategic investors interested in joining the project’s development.

Challenges

One of the biggest challenges was the transition from being a specialist to becoming a leader. Before launching SmartBiz, I had worked independently for years, but managing a team turned out to be a completely different skill set. Management is a separate profession — one that I had to learn through real experience and mistakes.

There were also financial challenges. The IT sector is capital-intensive: good specialists are expensive, and scaling services is difficult — growing the team does not always immediately increase revenue. In the first months, expenses exceeded income, and I had to look for creative solutions.

Operational challenges were also part of the journey: client misunderstandings, payment delays, project bottlenecks, unreliable contractors. All of this had to be overcome — and each challenge helped us grow stronger.

Today, I view these difficulties as a necessary part of the journey. They shape the company’s character. For us, there are no “problems” — only tasks to solve, and that is where growth happens.

Achievements

We started 2024 with just two people — myself and an assistant. By 2025, SmartBiz has grown to 15 specialists, with fully developed departments for sales, marketing, and implementation. Processes are systematized, and every project follows a clear framework.

Each team member now understands their role and responsibilities, while maintaining flexibility and adaptability. This became possible thanks to my experience working with dozens of companies from different industries — I saw how effective processes were built and applied the best practices in my own business.

At the beginning of 2025, we launched SmartBiz Academy as a separate company. Within the first three months, it became profitable and established a strong position in the BI education market.

Yet, we still see ourselves at the very beginning of our journey.

Plans

In 2025, we will continue developing in both directions.

At SmartBiz, we are launching a series of ready-made BI solutions that can be implemented quickly. Our goal is to manage 20-25 projects simultaneously.

At SmartBiz Academy, we aim to steadily increase the number of students with each intake, improve our training programs, and expand learning formats.

We are also preparing to enter the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan markets — a strategic step that will provide scale and access to new segments.

Additionally, we have started developing our own BI products with artificial intelligence elements, designed for automated data analysis and report generation. We understand the market well, see the real needs of businesses, and are ready to create tools that truly help companies grow.

Finally, we are preparing to attract long-term strategic partners and investors. We have built a sustainable and efficient company — now we are ready to scale internationally.