Next New Title In Sports…AI Honcho…Is Coming…

We have written about those first mover jobs to look for in the past…from Director  of Gaming to Head of Health and Safety and so on. A few recent articles, and lots of talk, have led us to the next one that we will see teams and leagues start to look for; VP of Artificial Intelligence.

Last week’s announcement of Apple’s latest Vision Pro Device, brought us again back to the ties between the only thing most people watch live…sports…and the amazing advances AI can have in the consumer space. There was Tim Cook, Apple CEO, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, ready to test drive some of the functionality that AI, and a potential partnership with leagues like the NBA, can have.

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That visual connection is just a small piece of where AI will go with the sports industry, and as teams look for everything from ticket sales, to concessions to brand engagement with all forms of what has been the growing business of business intelligence, your AI chief will be front and center. It will not be the behind the scenes business dealings that will fall under the growing field as well. You will see more and more smart decisions made with game presentation, with historical moments, with gamification in and away from the arena, that an AI leader will have to synthesize. Oh and lets not forget on field or on court performance, and how AI is going to help redefine training, identifying and preventing injuries, and treating injuries in real time. Machine learning…as a tool not a replacement for humans…will have engagement points for every aspect of the industry.

One of the first questions we ask young people coming into the industry revolves around language; how many can you speak to be part of the global conversations that every team, league or brand today needs. Then there is the language of technology. Do you have an understanding of coding that is so vital for Next Gen business that will be done. For those who do, the potential success will be literally at their fingertips.

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Now very often sports as a business is rushing to the buzz, looking for how all can be involved in the trendiest or the trendy. 3D TV anyone? NFT’s you say? Esports for two? All had their rush, and all have had their issues with big time adoption. The difference with AI is that it is not new, it is evolving faster than ever from the pieces of disruption we have seen for over a decade. Robots as customer service options were tried several years ago, we have seen holograms try and deliver facts and figures with various forms of success and failure for quite a while. Google Glasses ended up courtside at the NBA All Star game at least ten years ago. The difference now is that machine learning has advanced, those learning are advancing, and the etch is just better.

Will this new honcho be in place in the coming months in Sacramento and Baltimore and New York? Probably not, it will be a bit evolutionary. However the need for understanding, human learning and adapting best practices not just from sports but from other industries where AI is thriving…medicine, insurance, etc.…is going to be critical for success in sport.

The advice? Learn and be curious and find ways to develop skills that fit the profile and will address the coming need for executives to get smart quickly. If you can understand, synthesize, suggest and lead, the jobs, as they come can be yours.