Bekzat Turapbekov works in the London office of Meta (formerly Facebook). The author of the mobile application Quran.kz.

Would you believe me if I told you that a Kazakh is involved in the high-quality and correct process of uploading your photos to Facebook or Instagram? Our compatriot Bekzat Turapbekov, who works in the London office of Meta (formerly Facebook), works in the team responsible for this function. Before that, he worked for four years at the well-known company Booking.com. In addition, he is the author of the mobile application Quran.kz, which is now popular among Kazakhstanis. We contacted and talked to Bekzat, who has been living abroad for almost eight years, teaching young artists in the country everything he knows.

- Several IT specialists we interviewed said that they themselves did not fully understand this area when they were studying, and that someone else was the reason that they turned to it. Did you have the same experience?

– After I transferred to study at the Kazakh-Turkish Lyceum in Taldykorgan, my brother, who studied there, insisted that I connect my future with the IT sphere. However, at the time when you move from high school, you do not fully understand many things. Then, a year later, I had to choose a specific direction for participation in the Olympiads. I wanted to focus more on mathematics, but my brother still advised me to choose computer science. Because here everything is decided by the computer, and in math competitions the decision is usually made by a judge.Seriously, what do you think IT specialists are good at? The computer will decide whether the code you created is correct or not. All clear, all clear. The computer does not care where you are from, what language you speak and who you are. The main thing is whether the computer considers the solution you found correct or incorrect. If you have this ability, you can become a sought-after specialist. Because today, companies considered IT giants are looking for specialists who can achieve such results. During my studies, I not only studied, but also communicated with IT specialists. I consulted with our compatriot Madiyar Aitbayev, who was improving his skills in a large company like Google, to discuss where to start, what are its features, and asked for advice. While most people were on vacation, I was busy learning programming. It was the right decision, because while my classmates at school were evaluating what direction to work in, my goal and direction were clear. At this point, I would like to tell students that it is very useful to be able to differentiate from an early age what you need and what you don’t. When I first started working in this field, I faced difficulties. Even some of the most influential people in the IT field today say that they did not even know how to use a mouse. However, the “thirst” for knowledge, the constant desire to explore something new and the desire to learn new things will make you a strong specialist worthy of competing even with giants.If you spend a lot of time on research and development as a student, it will pay off handsomely when you become a professional tomorrow. So it is better to act as early as possible. In this regard, the Olympics are also very important. Usually, as soon as children leave school, they run to play. And if you distract his attention and involve him in an event organized in the form of a competition, he will eventually participate in competition after competition and eventually achieve what he wants. On the one hand, winning a medal is certainly nice. On the other hand, preparing for the competition, you acquire new knowledge and form new neurons, even without winning a place in the Olympics. However, the knowledge you gain there will stay with you for life. Thanks to this knowledge, I was accepted to the Engineering Department of Suleyman Demirel University.

– And thanks to this knowledge, you work from the first year.

– Just like at school, at the university I was interested in many things, asked questions, searched. Many graduates think that the university will teach them everything. This is a stupid opinion. You do not need to wait for anyone. The university will show you what opportunities are available to you. And the rest is up to you. It is almost impossible to teach programming there. From that moment on, I began to study iOS. At that time, resources were scarce, unlike today. However, thanks to my desire to know and see, I was able to find what I needed and apply it in projects. I worked in various companies, participated in the development of banking applications and an alternative to WhatsApp. My greatest achievement, I would say, was the relaunch of the Kino.kz mobile application in 2014. Having implemented such a large project, I felt a sense of accomplishment and felt great confidence in myself, saying: “I can do this.” So, when I graduated from university, I had a lot of “baggage”.

– Getting a job in the Amsterdam office of the famous company Booking.com, the world leader in hotel and accommodation booking, right after graduating from university is an opportunity that not everyone gets. As a rule, specialists without experience of working abroad are unlikely to be hired immediately by large global companies. And were you attracted by the large number of Kazakh youth working there?

– Yes, at that time, about 20 Kazakhs worked in the Amsterdam office of Booking.com. They said: “Come to us”. “Booking is currently looking for a lot of specialists,” they said. First, I sent my resume, and then I was invited to Amsterdam for an interview. At first, I was worried that they would not hire me for a permanent job, because I had just graduated from university. However, given my experience in the country, I was invited to join the team and offered a contract. I worked there for four years. As you may have noticed, I have been studying iOS since my first year. I was trying to become an expert in this field. I also worked with iOS at Booking.com. I took part in the development of this application. Previously, you could only book hotels and residential rooms. Together with my team, I created and launched the first airline booking feature.

– What prompted you to move from one large company to another?

– The first person to contact me was a recruiter from Meta and invited me to work. On the one hand, I wanted to try working in another company and develop in a different environment. In addition, Meta is a tech company, and the “scope” of tasks solved there is much broader.So I decided to take a risk and switched from Booking, which I was used to, to Meta. This year marks four years of working in their London office.

- What function are you responsible for at Meta?

- I joined the infrastructure team there. Simply put, I am responsible for all meta applications, including all images uploaded to Facebook and Instagram. For example, if you write a post on your page and take a photo, our team will take care of the high-quality output and fast loading of this image. Obviously, this is technically more complex than what I did before. At first, it was difficult to understand. However, later it had a positive impact on my growth as a professional.

- Several specialists we interviewed told us that you invented the Quran.kz mobile application and developed it while in Kazakhstan. At the same time, I would like to hear from your lips the story of the creation of this useful application.

- This idea came to me when I was a 2nd year student. At that time, the Sajda app was launched, but it only had prayer times integrated. And there was no application for reading the Quran. And I wanted to create a project for reading the Quran on iOS. Initially, I developed it for myself. I did it very quickly and easily. When I looked later, many people were downloading it. So, to get the reward, I gradually developed this app. A year later, my friends invited me to Android and developed it. This year marks ten years since we wrote the first version. When I saw the default version and the code, I thought, “How did I screw this up?” I wonder (laughs).I have learned a lot while developing this app. I have gradually developed and progressed, trying to make the features more and more complex. The main advantage of this app is that it includes the rules of Tajweed for reciting the Quran out loud. There were no such innovations in the country then or now. At first, I did not know this rule either. Later, I learned it myself, and it will benefit others too. Thus, this project contributed to my spiritual and professional development. Moreover, even if you are a developer of an app like Quran.kz, you try to behave decently, observe etiquette and be worthy of the owner of the project. This is a great app, and in addition to information about the Quran, it also has a number of resources built into it. It contains not only Islamic books, but also many useful books on time management, self-development and the formation of useful habits. It goes without saying that we have included not only religious information, as many people think, but also other effective resources that expand your horizons. In order to provide only verified and accurate information, we have entered into an agreement with the publishing house "Samga" and use the products developed by them.

– I understand that, despite the fact that millions of people have downloaded and are using it today, you are not getting any benefit from this project. And you yourself said that it is aimed only at the domestic market. In the future, we plan to enter foreign markets and release versions in other languages.

– No, Quran.kz is not a startup. I would say that we do not make money on this, but rather spend a lot of money. Of course, it would be great if in the future this became a commercial project and became self-sufficient. We launched a function that allows you to purchase books from the Samga publishing house. However, we will send the proceeds to the editorial board that published these books. We are doing all this for charitable purposes. As I said above, I took on this work for the sake of Allah. Despite the fact that, as you said, fewer than a million people used it, Quran.kz was a project worth implementing. Now I am not the only one managing this project, many people have joined me. None of them receive a salary. They are open, ambitious young people like me. I spend my free time mentoring these guys. We have experience, but no time to "share" it. And those who are just starting their path in IT have time and energy, but not enough knowledge. That is why I am making Quran.kz a platform for sharing experiences and learning everything I know. The goal is to make a project that will be used in the future not only by residents of Kazakhstan, but by the whole world. For a long time, the mobile application distributed information only in Kazakh. Starting next month, we added a Russian version.Now many people are asking for versions in other languages. Thus, we plan to gradually enter foreign markets.

- Five years ago, several of your expert friends compared the IT industry of Kazakhstan to a “stupid child” and said that they were unhappy with many things. How do you assess the IT potential of the country?

- There are many talented guys in the country who are passionate about the IT sphere. But many people mistakenly believe that they need to go out and create a project that will change the world. As you know, only a few people were involved in the creation of such tech giants as Telegram and Instagram. I also independently developed Quran.kz, initially with very “bad” code. Needless to say, location in the IT sphere is not as important as they say. As I mentioned above, no one cares who you are, what language you speak, or what color your eyes are. What matters is whether you can compile this code and solve the problem or not. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to create products with the least or most ingredients. Another reason why so many of our kids are inclined towards IT is that our country teaches mathematics very well. Recently, universities have started to pay special attention to the IT sector. And my life is proof that having acquired knowledge in your homeland, you can work productively abroad. There was not a single moment when I felt incompetent in my education, whether in Holland or in England. Our country has a strong educational base.

– When many people hear about young professionals like you going abroad, they complain: “Kazakh brains are going abroad.” “They will never return to the country.” “They do not bring any benefit to the country by staying abroad,” they say.

– I have only one answer to this: Quran.kz. A unique project that has been bringing benefit to the people of Kazakhstan for ten years now. It brings benefit. It has a positive effect. Let me say one thing now. Working abroad in a large company, we not only complete the tasks set, but also hone our skills and hone our skills. Obviously, the company will use this ability of yours to its advantage. However, while traveling abroad, I have noticed the following trend: Kazakhs working abroad, especially at Google, Amazon and Meta, want to share their knowledge with those who remained at home. He wants to somehow benefit the country. We spend the income from our current work on ourselves, our children and our parents. However, even if this is your main job, bringing benefit to your country, the environment and humanity is the second most important task, which is our first priority. Even if you live abroad, the main goal is to bring benefit to your homeland. However, it is quite possible that you will not be able to fully realize your potential while living in Kazakhstan. And what is wrong with learning a lot in a competitive environment abroad and then using the knowledge gained for the benefit of your country? I am calm about this, because the social effect of my project is huge. It brings benefits.In addition, I mentor young professionals in Kazakhstan and teach them everything I know. And then I will say one more thing: I have no right not to return to Kazakhstan. My parents, relatives and friends live there. I have a strong connection with the country. Even when we see each other in the office, we communicate animatedly and do not part until we find out how each other is doing. And people of other nationalities are not so drawn to each other. Therefore, in the future, having acquired more knowledge and experience, I will definitely return to my country.

 

– Thank you for your story!

Interview
Aliya Tleuzhankyzy

Source: "TURKISTAN" газеті