Strategic Alliance Between Sber and Polyus
The signing of a major agreement between Sber and Polyus, Russia’s largest gold miner, at the Eastern Economic Forum 2025 marks a turning point for both the mining sector and the IT industry. Beyond the partnership itself, the initiative signals a shift from isolated automation to full-scale digital transformation across key industries. Its impact will extend far beyond the two companies involved.
A Push Both Deep and Wide
For Russia’s IT sector, the alliance is set to accelerate development in its most promising fields—artificial intelligence, big data, and machine learning—all closely tied to solving complex industrial challenges.
The practical rollout demands top-level expertise and creates precedents for applying cutting-edge technology in the real economy. The project also carries a strong regional dimension. By deploying advanced solutions in Polyus’s operating regions—Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk, and Magadan—the alliance supports decentralization of Russia’s IT market, creates highly skilled jobs, and builds digital competencies outside Moscow.
The collaboration will focus on four areas: large language models (LLMs), machine learning, process optimization and efficiency improvements, and digital knowledge development. Sber and Polyus will conduct joint research, launch pilot projects, and implement applied scenarios based on LLMs.
A New Horizon of Possibilities
Mining remains a backbone of Russia’s economy but faces rising challenges: depleted deposits, increasingly complex logistics, volatile global prices, and stricter environmental regulations. Digitalization is key to staying competitive.
Using LLMs and AI-driven analytics makes it possible to process vast volumes of geological, technological, and logistics data in real time. This leads to optimization across the board—from forecasting gold content in ore and planning mining operations to predictive equipment maintenance and supply chain management.
Industry 4.0 technologies can lift mining productivity by 10–20% and procurement efficiency by up to 50%. For example, Polyus’s project at the Verninsk mill uses computer vision for ore sorting, directly boosting metal recovery rates and cutting energy use.
Digital twins, such as those deployed at Messoyakhaneftegaz, allow companies to model mining scenarios, minimizing accident risks. Data analytics can also reduce emissions by 15–30%, an essential step toward sustainability and environmental protection.
Not the First, but a Progressive Step
Polyus has consistently led digital adoption in its sector. Its creation of a standalone IT division and annual investments of up to $70 million in digital projects reflect a strategic approach. The company’s March 2025 conference, “IT Reload: Mission Future,” underscored its focus on import substitution and transformative production management.
This is part of a global trend. A prominent Russian example is Gazprom Neft, which began digitalization in 2018 by establishing its own digitalization directorate. The result has been significant advances in applying AI in exploration and production, including Arctic projects.
Prospects: Export and Transformation
If successful, the Sber–Polyus initiative could open two strategic paths.
First is exporting IT solutions. Platforms and use cases proven at one of the world’s largest gold mining companies will find strong demand in resource-driven economies across the CIS, Africa, and Latin America facing similar challenges.
Second, the digital platforms, analytics, and management systems developed could be adapted for other mining enterprises, as well as oil, gas, and metallurgy. This would speed the digital transformation of Russia’s broader industrial landscape.
