Competency Mapping for Industry 4.0: An Empirical Study of Kazakhstan’s Entrepreneurial Sector

Amid rapid digitalization and the ongoing transformation of the economy, the need to revise approaches to the assessment and development of human capital is growing. This study aims to develop an empirically grounded competency map to support strategic human capital management in Kazakhstan’s entrepreneurial sector. The research employed a cross-sectional survey of 368 enterprises, selected through proportional stratified sampling to reflect the official structure of small, medium, and large businesses. The data was collected using an online questionnaire that included 12 key competencies: cognitive, soft, digital, environmental, and technological skills. Primary data processing employed indexing and tabular aggregation methods, while the analysis involved descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and clustering techniques, implemented using Jamovi software. The results show that basic cognitive and soft competencies such as adaptability (59.9%) and environmental thinking (65.9%) are most common in all types of enterprises, while advanced digital and technological skills, including working with robotic systems (33.4%) and artificial intelligence (38.0%), remain underdeveloped., especially in the SME sector. ANOVA revealed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) for 11 of the 12 competencies in terms of enterprise size, with large companies demonstrating a higher level of digital and technological skills. The findings formed the basis for the development of a visualized radar map reflecting the integrated competency profile by enterprise size. The results presented contribute to the formation of evidence-based strategies for the development of human capital under conditions of industrial and digital transformation.