Alikhan Smailov was born on December 18, 1972, in Almaty. He graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University with a degree in Applied Mathematics, and later from the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP) with a degree in Public Administration.

He began his career in the 1990s working in the Ministry of Finance and the Government Office. Over the years, he has held several high-level government positions, including:

• Assistant to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan,

• Minister of Finance,

• First Deputy Prime Minister,

• Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2022–2024).

Since 2024, he has been serving as the Chairman of the Supreme Audit Chamber of the Republic of Kazakhstan.