The Perth Bears and IBM have announced a landmark Australian-sporting first collaboration where the NRL club and global technology giant will work together on AI and digital innovation.<\/p>\n
Under the collaboration, IBM will work with the new NRL franchise to deploy cutting-edge technology and build tailored AI-powered solutions ahead of the team\u2019s 2027 kick-off.<\/p>\n
Perth Bears CEO Anthony De Ceglie said this collaboration marks a significant step in the club\u2019s journey toward becoming one of the world\u2019s first \u201cAI-First\u201d sports organisations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re feeling very proud that IBM\u2019s partners include Ferrari, Wimbledon, the UFC and now the Perth Bears,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Perth Bears are a blank sheet of paper with zero tech debt, which means we have the chance to do something really special in the digital space that has never been tried before and is truly next generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy collaborating with IBM, we will gain access to cutting-edge tools, data and other insights to make better decisions for our players, fans and commercial choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the agreement, IBM will leverage watsonx AI\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a portfolio of AI products that accelerates the impact of generative AI in enterprise workflows to enhance productivity\u00a0\u2013\u00a0to develop solutions that optimise team performance and deepen fan engagement.<\/p>\n
David Ellis, Managing Partner IBM Consulting ANZ, said the company will also ensure early-career IBMers based in Western Australia are actively involved in delivering these innovations, reinforcing IBM\u2019s commitment to local talent development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to collaborate with the Perth Bears to harness the power of IBM watsonx generative AI, giving the team access to new data and insights to make better decisions across the organisation,\u201d Mr Ellis said.<\/p>\n
IBM\u2019s Richie Paul, IBM ANZ\u2019s Consulting Generative AI and Strategy and Transformation Lead, who is leading the project said IBM has a track record of innovation in sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur AI capabilities are already transforming fan experiences for global events and organisations including Scuderia Ferrari HP, Wimbledon and the US Open. We are excited about AI\u2019s potential for the Perth Bears and for rugby league.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managing Director IBM Technology ANZ, Nick Flood, said the project was another example of how IBM is solving real world business problems with innovative technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI continues to be a game-changer for businesses across many industries including sport as they look to modernise operations, find efficiencies and enhance fan experiences,\u201d Mr Flood said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Perth Bears and IBM have announced a landmark Australian-sporting first collaboration where the NRL club and global…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-367549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}