Born in Sabunchu, near Baku, Russian Empire, Baibakov finished secondary school in 1928 and entered the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, from which he graduated in 1931 as a mining engineer. In 1935, he was drafted into the armed forces. After completing his military service, he was appointed chief of the oilfield production department in an industrial complex in the USSR. Later he was promoted to chief engineer, then general director. He was responsible for evacuating oil industry facilities to the eastern regions during the Nazi invasion.