The questions we hear most often
Grouped by role, because a founder, a CFO and a security lead ask different things. If yours isn't here, include it in your request and an engineer will answer.
General
What is BlackGust, in plain terms?
A platform plus a team of engineers. The platform links data from your systems into one picture and gives AI agents safe access to it. The engineers embed that into the work of specific departments, from leadership questions to document processing.
How is this different from a ChatGPT chatbot?
A chatbot knows what's on the internet. Our agents work with your data — contracts, accounting, CRM — within the user's permissions, cite their sources and can take actions inside your processes. On top of that: audit logs, controls, and deployment in your jurisdiction or on your servers.
Do you sell a product or services?
Both. The platform is the foundation the solution is built on. Our engineers' work is what makes it useful for your organization specifically. We don't sell the license on its own without delivery.
Who are your clients?
Government bodies, national companies, state enterprises and large holdings in Uzbekistan and across Asia. Smaller companies are served by AISolution with ready-made solutions.
Do you work outside Uzbekistan?
Yes. We are headquartered in Tashkent and work across Central Asia and beyond. Our engineers travel to the client.
How are BlackGust and AISolution related?
BlackGust is AISolution's enterprise platform. AISolution builds AI for companies of every size; BlackGust is the level for government and the largest organizations.
How is BlackGust different from other AI companies and startups?
Most AI companies sell a tool or a chatbot and leave integration to you. BlackGust delivers the whole result: a platform that connects your systems into one model, engineers who work on site until it is in daily use, sovereign deployment with data kept in Uzbekistan, and a fixed-price contract with phase-by-phase acceptance. We work only with government bodies, state corporations and large business, and we are backed by AISolution.
Who leads BlackGust?
BlackGust is a subsidiary product of AISolution and is run by the same leadership: Abbos Khamidov, founder and CEO, and Ziyodulla Tashmukhammadov, co-founder and Managing Director. More on the company page.
Founder & CEO
What impact can we expect?
It depends on the process. Typical outcomes: routine operations take a fraction of the time, leadership questions are answered in seconds instead of days, and fewer losses come from missed deadlines. The diagnostic gives a concrete estimate for your organization, built on your numbers.
How long until the first result?
An opportunity map with estimates in 3–4 weeks. A working pilot on one process 6–10 weeks after the diagnostic.
What if it doesn't work?
The work is split into phases with separate acceptance, and it starts with a diagnostic from $29,000. If we don't find processes where the investment pays back, we say so before any development begins.
Why not build this with our own IT team?
You can, if your team has experience with language models, agents, local-language speech and AI quality evaluation. It's usually faster to start with us and train your engineers in parallel; knowledge transfer is part of every engagement.
Will we become dependent on you?
We design to keep dependency low: documentation, configuration access, training for your engineers. Models can be swapped, and the data stays with you.
Who will work on our project?
A lead engineer who runs the project from diagnostic to launch, plus a team sized to the task. You'll know their names and experience before we start.
Finance
How much does it cost?
The strategy session is free. Diagnostic from $29,000, credited toward development. Turnkey development: Foundation from $90,000, Enterprise from $250,000, Sovereign from $490,000. Details on the pricing page.
What currency do you invoice in?
Prices are in US dollars. Payment is in UZS at the Central Bank of Uzbekistan rate on the invoice date.
What is included in a development contract?
The platform and the modules in scope, engineers on site, integration of your systems, agents, training, documentation and acceptance by milestones. Support after launch is a separate annual contract.
How is acceptance handled?
Each phase ends with a report, a demo and a signed acceptance certificate. Payment is by milestone.
How do you calculate payback?
We record baseline process metrics (time, volume, errors, losses) and measure the same metrics after the pilot. The difference in money, minus support and model costs, is the monthly impact.
IT
Do we need to change our systems?
No. We connect to existing systems through APIs, database replicas or exports. Access is read-only by default.
Which systems do you integrate with?
ERP (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, 1C), CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics), databases and warehouses (PostgreSQL, Oracle, MS SQL, Snowflake, BigQuery), Kafka, document management, email, VoIP telephony, Teams, Slack, CCTV. Anything non-standard is assessed during the audit.
Where is the platform deployed?
In BlackGust Cloud, your private cloud, your own servers, or an air-gapped network. See Deployment.
What servers do local models need?
It depends on load and the models chosen. Air-gapped deployments usually need GPU servers. We prepare the spec during the diagnostic.
How do users sign in?
Through your directory: Active Directory / LDAP, SAML or OIDC. Roles and groups are inherited.
Who supports the solution after launch?
We do, under an SLA. We also train your engineers and hand over documentation so you can make some changes yourselves.
Security
Are models trained on our data?
No. Cloud models are accessed through enterprise APIs that don't train on customer data; local models run inside your infrastructure.
Do you meet data-residency requirements?
Yes. Personal data is stored and processed in the jurisdiction its law requires — in Uzbekistan, under the Law on Personal Data.
Can an agent do something without a human knowing?
Only what its configuration explicitly allows. Changing data, sending documents outside and legally binding actions all require human approval.
Can we review documentation before signing?
Yes. Under NDA we provide an architecture description and threat model, and we complete your security questionnaire. See Security.
Department head
How much of my team's time will this take?
The process owner spends 2–4 hours a week during the pilot. Everyone else joins interviews and testing, 1–2 hours each.
Will AI replace my staff?
The goal is to remove routine so people can focus on work that needs their expertise. Decisions and approvals stay with people.
What if the AI gets something wrong?
Every answer links to its source, so errors are easy to check. Where mistakes are costly, a human approves. Errors we find are added to the reference tests so they don't recur.
Can we change agent instructions without a developer?
Yes. Instructions and rules are configured in the interface, and we train a designated person on your team to do it.
Government & procurement
How can a government body contract with you?
Through a pilot project, a competitive tender, or a direct contract where procurement rules allow. We help prepare the specification and documentation.
Can it run without internet access?
Yes, in an air-gapped environment on local language models.
Can models be trained on our own data?
Yes. In a sovereign deployment, open models are fine-tuned on your documents and terminology inside your perimeter. Neither the data nor the trained weights leave your infrastructure.
Which languages are supported?
English, Russian and Uzbek out of the box, for the interface, agent answers and speech. Other languages, including Kazakh, French, German and Chinese, are configured per project. Uzbek works in both Latin and Cyrillic.
What documents do you hand over?
Project schedule, test program and methodology, user and administrator guides, and a report for each phase. See Government.
Staff
How will staff use the system?
Wherever is convenient: in the web interface, in Teams or Slack, or by voice. There's no complex new software to learn.
Is there training?
Yes, on real tasks, by role, in the team's language. Plus short guides and a contact for questions.
Can the system read my personal messages?
No. Only sources agreed with the organization and its security team are connected, and every data access is logged.
Still have a question?
A consultant replies within an hour, Monday to Saturday, 9:00–19:00 Tashkent time (GMT+5).