Today we have the honor of interviewing Darcy Norman, the director of performance for the Chicago Fire FC a top MLS team.

Darcy Norman is the Director of Performance at Chicago Fire FC, where he oversees medical services, physical performance, nutrition, and sports psychology across the first team, Fire II, and the academy. With nearly 30 years in sports science and elite performance, Norman has worked at the highest levels—including the U.S. Men’s National Team (2019–2024), the German National Team during their 2014 World Cup win, AS Roma, and Bayern Munich. A licensed physical therapist and strength & conditioning specialist, he brings a data-driven and evidence-based approach developed through roles at Kitman Labs, EXOS, and international athletics, consistently building performance systems rooted in clear purpose, interdisciplinary trust, and athlete-first planning.

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on:

* His journey & influences

* His goal-driven technology adoption approach

* His multi-directional training philosophy

* Innovation vs. fundamentals

* Similarities and differences between working for European Vs US teams

* The future of performance in MLS

* On the most impressive players he worked with

* His personal reflection on success

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Darcy located at the top of this blog post.

Here are the quotes from the interview with Darcy:

Q1. Your Journey & Influences

"I’ve worked with two national teams—the German and the U.S.—and three clubs: Bayern Munich fc, AS Roma, and now Chicago Fire FC. What I’ve learned over 20 years is that everything starts with trust and transparency. Whether it's a coach-to-therapist, player-to-practitioner, or practitioner-to-practitioner relationship, it’s all about putting the athlete first. The athlete is there to perform—for their club or their country—and our role is to support them holistically. That means thinking about what information the other side needs when an athlete transitions between environments. It’s about being communicative, passing on testing data, wellness info, GPS metrics—everything—so the athlete doesn’t miss a beat. And critically, putting yourself in the shoes of your counterparts helps build a truly athlete-first performance model."

"There’s no one right way to do this work. There are best practices, yes, but you have to stay flexible because every team, coach, and culture is different. It’s about understanding that context and adapting while keeping your standards high."

Q2. Goal-Driven Technology Adoption

"It starts with purpose—understanding exactly what you're trying to accomplish. That clarity drives everything. Then, you map out your planning, periodization, and education strategy. Technology doesn’t come first. You first define the questions you're trying to answer or the behaviors you're trying to reinforce. Then you ask: will this tool actually help me solve this specific problem or improve our process? If it does, it’s worth considering. If not, it’s noise."

"You’ve also got to evaluate the tech practically—does it fit into your workflow, or does it disrupt it? Is it intuitive to use, or do you need extra staff just to operate it? Can it integrate with your other systems? Can you collect the data often enough to run applied research and actually improve your process over time? And perhaps most importantly: does the company have your interests in mind, or are they just chasing investment returns?"

"At the end of the day, the dream is this: I have a question, I push a button, and I get a meaningful answer. That’s when technology is really working for you."

Q3. Multi-Directional Training Philosophy

"We look at movement from a foundational level. First, can the athlete even get into the right shapes? Do they have the range of motion to access basic skill positions—whether that’s for acceleration, deceleration, or change of direction? Then we look at functional movement patterns—squats, lunges, single-leg balance—and ask: can they do these well? Then we evaluate capacity: strength, strength endurance, power, power endurance, relative strength. All of this leads up to how well they express these qualities in linear or multi-directional movement—the very things that define soccer."

"Soccer is inherently multi-directional, yet some players can’t drop their hips or create strong base positions when changing direction. That affects performance and injury risk. So we break it down and figure out what’s limiting them—then individualize their programming to fix it. You can absolutely improve how someone moves. It’s not just talent. It’s a skill you can coach and train."

"We use external cueing and constraints-based drills to help players self-organize better mechanics. When you design drills that demand a certain body shape or action—like cutting around a tilted pole—they naturally adopt better mechanics without needing constant verbal cues. That’s how you create real, lasting change in movement quality."

Q4. Innovation vs. Fundamentals

"I’ve been in this space for 30 years. When I started, all we had were a stopwatch, a tape measure, and a clipboard. So you had to rely on your planning, your programming, and your coaching ability. And those fundamentals—how you progress, how you periodize, how you educate—still matter more than anything else."

"Now we have all this data, but if you don’t have a solid framework to interpret and apply it, it’s useless. What I see sometimes is young practitioners jumping into tech first, without a foundation. You’ve got to reverse that. Start with your purpose. Then build the methods and select tools that enhance what you’re already doing. Technology should serve the plan—not the other way around."

Q5. On Similarities and Differences between working for European Vs US teams

"It’s really not that different. It comes down to coaching philosophies and club philosophies. Do they have a really clear purpose in how they’re trying to do things? What’s their standard? Are they applying best practices and science—and how well are they communicating and integrating that into their day-to-day?"

"In North America now, definitely the resources are getting better and better. At Chicago Fire, I would say we’re applying best practices across the board—from recovery to training, periodization, technology, and science."

Q6. It’s Not Europe vs. U.S.—It’s Standards vs. Gaps

"I’ve seen clubs in both North America and Europe that apply phenomenal best practices. And I’ve seen clubs in both places that don’t. It really depends on the organization’s clarity of purpose and their commitment to operating at a high level."

Q7. On the Future of Performance in MLS

"Staff development is a huge area of opportunity. Just like on the field, your performance and medical staff need to be a high-functioning team. You’ve got experts from all over—different countries, different training—so the question is: how do you get them all on the same page and working toward a common goal? That’s leadership. That’s culture."

"The other massive area is data integration. The teams that invest in building robust data systems—where everything is connected and contextualized—will be the ones who make faster, more accurate decisions. They’ll be able to refine their systems quickly and outpace the competition. You’ll see the gap grow between teams that understand this and those that don’t. Data alone isn’t the answer—but when structured properly, it becomes a powerful decision-making tool."

Q8. On the Best Coaches He has worked with

"The best coaches I’ve worked with have a really clear purpose, a really clear vision, and a really clear way. They know what they’re trying to accomplish, how they want to do it, and they’re relentless in their ability to execute that."

"It’s not just about the technical and tactical side. The best coaches are also great communicators, great planners, and great people managers”.

Q9. On the Most Impressive Players He Worked with

"The best athletes I’ve worked with are humble. They’re always trying to get better, even if they’re the best in the world. They don’t let their current state define them—they just keep pushing and pushing to understand what’s possible."

"That’s why you see records being broken. That’s why you see players performing at high levels into their late 30s. Guys like Ronaldo or Messi are still operating close to 40 because they’re consistent and focused on making the right choices day after day."

Q10. On Longevity & Support Systems

"I was just at a conference talking about centenarian athletes—guys who’ve played over 60,000 elite-level minutes. What allows them to do that? Clean schedules, consistency, good support teams around them, and removing stress so they can focus on the main thing."

Q11. On His Personal Reflection on Success

"People have complimented me on my success in my career… I don’t think I did anything extraordinary. But what I did do well was know which bus to get on. I always asked myself: do my values match the values of the people I want to work with?"

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Today we have the honor of interviewing Martin O'Reilly, CEO of Output sports, a leading performance company using one sensor including VBT and jump tracking.

Output Sports offers a portable, single-sensor system that allows teams to capture a wide range of performance data, including strength, power, speed, mobility, and balance, all with a single device. This simplicity makes Output particularly attractive for teams that want to collect actionable data quickly and efficiently without the complexity or cost of larger lab-based systems. The platform’s versatility allows practitioners to monitor multiple aspects of an athlete’s development across the full training cycle — from performance testing to return-to-play assessments — while providing immediate feedback that can be shared with both coaches and athletes in real-time.

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

Here is below their mobile app along with their dashboard.

Picture: Output Sports’ dashboard and app.

Here is a video explaining its one sensor:

Picture: Output Sports’ One sensor (Left) and app (Right)

Here is a picture of the dashboard:

Customers / partners: Professional sports teams in rugby, soccer and basketball.

Here is a video testimonial from England Football using Output Sports:

Here is a video testimonial from Spellman performance using Output Sports:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on his background, his company and product, the benefits for teams to use their product and platform. We also talked about his competitive advantage, business model, and his plans for the next 12 months.

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Martin located at the top of this blog post.

Here are the best quotes from the interview with Martin:

Q1: Your journey into sports technology is quite unique. Can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to start Output Sports?

“One of the main things about Output — and really what makes our founding story unique — is that we are a university spinout from University College Dublin. I have three co-founders who all come from very different disciplinary backgrounds. My background is in sports engineering, and my PhD was specifically focused on machine learning of sensor signals. My co-founder is a physiotherapist who has worked directly in elite sport and clinical settings, so he really understands what practitioners need on the ground. And our third co-founder, Julian, comes from a theoretical physics background and was working on banking APIs before we convinced him that sports technology is more fun and impactful! The real beauty was that we had years of interdisciplinary research together starting back in 2013. We were based in the university right up until early 2020, which allowed us to collect around 10 terabytes of proprietary sensor data — a huge foundation for what became our commercial product. Having access to labs, elite teams on campus, and cross-functional experts — from data analytics, engineers, UX, to practitioners — gave us an ideal sandbox to go from research to applied product development.”

Q2: For those unfamiliar, what is Output Sports and what core problem are you solving for performance practitioners and athletes?

“At Output Sports, our mission has always been to make elite-level sports science simple and scalable. Traditionally, high-end biomechanics or performance data was locked inside expensive labs, accessible only to top-tier programs with massive budgets. We wanted to democratize that — to give coaches, physios, and practitioners access to the same level of precision without the burden of expensive, complex setups. Our core product is a single wearable sensor paired with an app that allows you to assess and monitor over 300 different performance metrics — everything from velocity-based training, jump analysis, reactive strength index, mobility, balance, stability, to more niche variables like angular velocity. Initially, we solved the problem of fragmented, time-consuming athlete monitoring. But as we evolved, we also started addressing the ‘so what?’ problem — giving practitioners not just data, but meaningful, actionable insights that help inform day-to-day coaching decisions like fatigue management, exercise prescription, and readiness assessments.”

Q3: The simplicity and portability of your single-sensor system are quite disruptive. Can you walk us through how Output works and what sets it apart?

“One framework I often use to describe where we sit is the ‘value-burden matrix,’ an idea from one of our advisory board members, Jo Cook. On one axis, you have how valuable and accurate the data is; on the other, how burdensome it is to collect, analyze, and implement that data. Traditional lab systems — force plates, motion capture, etc. — are extremely valuable but come with huge costs in terms of time, setup, and money. On the flip side, you have consumer wearables — super easy to use, low burden, but often lacking the precision needed for serious performance applications. Our unique proposition is that we sit at the intersection of high-value, actionable data with minimal burden. With just one sensor and one app, you can collect highly accurate data across multiple key performance domains, implement it instantly in any environment — weight room, field, rehab setting — and get real-time feedback. Portability, scalability, and reliability together make us very distinct.”

Q4: What does your customer base look like today — are you seeing more traction in elite sports, colleges, or private training?

“Our client base today spans over 1,000 organizations, and what’s quite unique is how evenly it splits across different sectors. In Europe, a significant portion is weighted toward elite professional sport — particularly soccer — where we serve teams across multiple leagues and divisions. But in the U.S., while we do have great flagship teams in each of the major leagues, we actually see even stronger traction at the collegiate, high school, and private training facility levels. The U.S. has a very strong private performance ecosystem that doesn’t exist in quite the same way in Europe. Overall, it’s almost a perfect split — roughly 50% in Europe and 50% in North America — with an even balance across elite sport, educational institutions, and private training providers.”

Q5: How are you thinking about expansion? What's on the roadmap for the next 12–18 months?

“We’ve really only just begun to tap into the full market potential. Geographically, we’re staying focused on North America and Europe while also exploring partnerships in other regions. But from a product perspective, the next big frontier is automation and data-driven insights. Right now, we’re capturing over 10 to 12 million reps of exercise data every month, which gives us an incredibly rich dataset. We’ve recently started heavily investing in AI and data science — hiring an AI-first product manager and additional algorithm developers — with the goal of delivering more sophisticated recommendations, training adjustments, and even predictive insights that assist both coaches and athletes directly. In parallel, we’re also exploring adjacent markets like the high-end fitness space, where we believe we can provide very robust strength, power, and movement assessments that complement existing wearables like Garmin or WHOOP. Ultimately, while we started as a hardware-first company, we increasingly see ourselves evolving into a software and data company with hardware as an enabler.”

Q6: Do you see Output playing a bigger role in the integrated data ecosystem alongside AMS, GPS, force plates, etc.?

“Absolutely, we see the growing need for integration across the entire athlete data ecosystem. But we’re very clear on our role — we specialize in strength, power, movement, and speed. That’s our lane, and we aim to do it better than anyone else. Rather than trying to become an all-encompassing AMS system, our philosophy is to make it as easy as possible for our highly accurate data to integrate into broader ecosystems that include GPS, force plates, heart rate monitors, and other emerging tools. We don’t want to become a services company or an AMS vendor; we want to remain a product company focused on generating top-tier data that can slot into whatever integrated system an organization uses. Every team’s needs are different, so we want to empower them with the most reliable strength and movement data possible.”

Q7. Does your software adapt to the specificity of each sports?

“Right now, we allow coaches to customize the system to fit the specific needs of their sport. So within a multi-sport organization — let’s say a university with basketball, Olympic sports, and American football — each sport can build its own dashboards, determine what metrics matter most to track, and set up corresponding workouts or protocols based on those measurements. We give teams the flexibility to structure Output in a way that’s meaningful for their environment.

Beyond that, because we have a growing user base across different sports, we’re starting to see broader trends emerge in the data. For example, we can analyze which strength and power characteristics are associated with faster baseball pitchers or more powerful golf swings. That opens the door for us to eventually provide more automated, sport-specific recommendations — not just at the sport level, but also for specific positions, age groups, and even developmental stages.

As our dataset continues to grow, we’ll be able to stratify those insights and deliver even more tailored recommendations that reflect the unique demands of each sport and position. That’s one of the most exciting parts about having Output deployed at scale — the ability to move from general performance tracking to highly specific, data-driven personalization across different athletic populations.”

Q8: What are your plans for the next 12 months?

“Although we now have over a thousand clients, we’re really just scratching the surface of how big the sports performance market can be. Geographically, our main focus will continue to be North America and Europe. We feel like we’re over the initial product-market fit hump, but there’s still a long way to go to scale significantly within these markets.

From a product development standpoint, we’re investing heavily in building data-driven insights and recommendations. We’ve started hiring specifically for this — we recently brought on an AI-first product manager and two new data science hires for our algorithms team. The goal is to move from just capturing and visualizing data to actually generating intelligent, automated insights for coaches and athletes.

On top of that, while we continue to focus on elite sport, universities, and private training, we’re also starting to explore adjacent markets. For example, we see strong potential in the high-end fitness space — working with gym chains and fitness communities — where people may already be using wearables like Garmin or WHOOP but don’t yet have access to robust strength, power, and movement data like we can provide.

So overall, over the next 12 to 18 months, it’s about expanding geographically, building out the software insights layer, and exploring how we can serve adjacent markets beyond traditional elite sports.”

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Today we have the honor to interview a interviewing a group of sports performance experts (MLS, Ligue 1, NHL, NFL).

* Rick Cost, the High Performance Director at l’Olympique Lyonnais (Ligue 1 team).

* Alexi Pianosi, the head of S&C conditioning coach for the Colorado Avalanche (NHL team).

* Karam Al Hamdani , the director of sports medicine at CF Montreal (MLS team).

* Adam Quigley, an experienced athletic trainer in the MLS (LA Galaxy), NFL (Saints) & US Soccer national teams.

Through the interview we touched on the following questions:

* Mental preparation: How are MLS and Ligue 1 clubs, NHL approaching the mental and cognitive aspects of performance in 2025—especially given the high-pressure environments and the younger player profiles coming through?

* Injury reduction: What are the biggest lessons or surprises your clubs have learned over the past year when it comes to injury reduction—anything that challenged traditional beliefs or changed internal protocols?

* Change of Direction (CoD): Change of direction ability is critical in soccer, yet many clubs still struggle to accurately assess and train it. What are the biggest challenges you've faced in capturing CoD metrics in the field—and why is improving this capacity so essential to injury prevention and performance?

* Pain management: Pain management is evolving fast, with everything from red light therapy to neuromodulation gaining traction. What are the most effective modalities you've personally seen make a difference in your athletes’ recovery and performance—and how do you decide which tool to use and when?

* FIFA Club World Cup: With the FIFA Club World Cup kicking off this month and featuring top clubs from every continent, which team do you see standing out—and what performance trends or tactical evolutions are you most curious to observe during the tournament?

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

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You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Rick, Alexi, Karam, and Adam located at the top of this blog post.Here are the quotes from the interview with them:

Q1: Mental and Cognitive Aspects of Performance

Rick Cost:

“We’re really at the beginning stages of integrating cognitive and mental performance more deeply into our player evaluation and development. It starts on the scouting end — we’re now looking beyond just technical skills and physical abilities and evaluating players' mindsets. We use specific questionnaires where players rate themselves on items like mental resilience, leadership, growth mindset, and adaptability. Then we cross-check their answers with feedback from coaches or people who know them well to look for discrepancies or alignment. Once the players are in, we create individualized goals based on their scores and reassess every three months. This helps us guide them in areas like leadership development or mental toughness. What’s fascinating is seeing how eager some players are to engage with this process — many really want to grow in this area. It’s still very new, especially compared to my previous experiences in the U.S. or the Netherlands, but there’s a clear appetite for it.”

Alexi Pianosi:

“At the NHL level, I think we’re seeing more and more players privately seeking out their own mental performance coaches or psychologists, often through personal networks. The challenge at the team level is trust — players might be hesitant to open up to someone affiliated directly with the organization. My approach is to normalize these conversations about growth mindset, process orientation, and resilience, much like we do with strength training or nutrition. Instead of mandating sessions, I try to create an environment where mental skills are valued and discussed openly — sharing articles, anecdotes, or research to spark interest. That way, when a player feels ready, they know these resources exist and can engage in a way that feels safe and voluntary.”

Adam Quigley:

“It’s interesting to reflect on how these roles have evolved. Historically, staff like us were often the de facto mental therapists — players would bring their personal issues to us because we were trusted support figures. Now, as clubs bring in dedicated mental performance coaches or sports psychologists, there’s a transition happening. We’re figuring out how to integrate both roles and create standardized assessments while still respecting individual privacy and needs. Beyond cognitive performance, there’s the emotional health side — a player whose partner is pregnant and struggling to sleep, for example, may have very different needs than someone working on reaction time or decision-making. It’s a complex space where trust, timing, and individualization are absolutely critical.”

Karam Al Hamdani:

“The trust element is huge. Players may perceive working with a mental coach employed by the club as a vulnerability, worrying about how information might be shared with upper management. From my perspective, it’s always about the player's wellbeing — I’m here to help them perform at their best, whether physically or mentally. Seeking mental support shouldn’t be seen as weakness; if anything, it takes great strength to acknowledge where you need help and be proactive about it.”

Q2: Injury Reduction Lessons

Karam Al Hamdani:

“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how multifactorial injury risk truly is. We often fixate on GPS data — how much they run, sprint distance, high-speed efforts — but that’s just one part of the picture. Sleep quality, hydration, emotional stress, contract negotiations, HRV, mental state — all these factors matter. Sometimes everything looks perfect on paper — all the data says they should be ready — and yet they still get injured. We had a player last year who suffered a minor adductor strain, went through flawless rehab, passed all our objective measures, yet reinjured the same muscle minutes into his first game back. It’s a reminder that despite all our technology, there are still elements of randomness and unpredictability we cannot fully control.”

Rick Cost:

“The only thing that’s truly challenged my understanding isn’t a new technology — it’s the concept of entropy in movement. Stable systems create predictable patterns, but when things become disorganized — due to poorly timed training loads, poorly sequenced strength sessions, or even subtle fatigue — we see players start to drop with soft tissue injuries like hamstring strains. We still don’t have reliable ways to measure this movement variability in real time, but I believe if we can eventually quantify ‘system entropy’ — the underlying stability of the neuromuscular system — it might unlock an entirely new way to understand injury risk.”

Adam Quigley:

“The biggest unknown right now is how to synthesize all the available data into something actionable in real time. There are vendors working on predictive models that claim they’ll soon be able to say, ‘This player is entering a danger zone — pull them now.’ But even if we develop that capability, ultimately the coach and medical team will still need to make tough decisions: Is it worth pulling a star player in the 4th quarter? Human judgment will always play a role.”

Q3: Challenges in Measuring and Training Change of Direction (CoD)

Alexi Pianosi:

“In hockey, change of direction is very different than most sports because you’re not on solid ground — you’re on skates with less friction, different biomechanics, and wearing significant gear. You also rarely change direction repeatedly without a puck or without reacting to a defender. So, isolated drills don’t always translate well. What we do is study high-performing players — how they pivot, accelerate, and stop under pressure — then we try to replicate and strengthen the qualities that enable those movement patterns in off-ice training. For players who are already world-class, it's often about refining very specific elements of their game based on their role.”

Rick Cost:

“When I was growing up, kids played endless games of tag, capture the flag, dodgeball — all requiring constant change of direction. That spontaneous, unstructured agility has been lost with today’s youth spending more time behind screens. We became obsessed with high-speed running metrics and linear conditioning, often neglecting the type of multi-directional agility that once came naturally. Now we’re realizing how much we’ve lost. Fortunately, there’s renewed focus on re-integrating these drills — curvilinear runs, T-drills, quick reactive drills — back into warm-ups and training. It’s almost like rediscovering what we already knew decades ago.”

Q4: Pain Management Modalities

Karam Al Hamdani:

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned recently is how much of pain management comes down to coaching the brain to remove the threat response. We had a player who took a bad bruise to the calf — couldn’t walk initially — but through guided movement, dorsiflexion, and progressive load coaching, combined with compression and constant flushing, we convinced his brain it was safe to move again. He played the next day. Neuromodulation isn’t always about fancy machines — sometimes it’s about reframing the perception of danger.”

Alexi Pianosi:

“You have to distinguish between discomfort and pain rooted in pathology. A stiff back may just need some soft tissue work and mobility, but a tibial plateau bruise that hurts with every plant could increase injury risk dramatically. That’s where pain becomes a movement quality issue, not just a symptom. Modalities like red light, cryo, or compression sleeves are tools to support recovery and comfort, but they don’t resolve the underlying injury.”

Adam Quigley:

“I’ve started looking at pain management more holistically — not just what happens in the treatment room, but how athletes spend the rest of their day. Can they stay active with safe alternatives? Can they stay engaged with their team socially and mentally? The more we keep athletes mentally stimulated and involved, the less consumed they become by the pain itself.”

Rick Cost:

“Players often request treatments based on what worked for them previously. One might swear by infrared therapy, another by compression sleeves. Whether or not these modalities have strong scientific backing, the psychological trust factor is huge. If the athlete believes it helps, sometimes that’s just as important as the intervention itself.”

Q5: FIFA Club World Cup Performance Trends

Adam Quigley:

“What makes this tournament so fascinating is how these completely different tactical styles will clash. MLS clubs rarely face the same level of high-pressing, technically dominant teams like PSG or Manchester City. It’ll be a real test of adaptability — how quickly coaches can adjust mid-match when their initial game plan isn’t working. The MLS sides will take this extremely seriously — it’s a rare chance to prove themselves on a global stage.”

Rick Cost:

“In Europe, the high press has evolved into more of a mid-block, with strikers sitting a bit deeper to conserve energy for decisive moments. MLS teams often press much higher and with more energy, which could be risky against teams who excel at playing through pressure. Add in the variables of heat, humidity, altitude, and heavy travel — especially for European clubs unaccustomed to this — and you’ve got a very unpredictable environment. I’m especially curious to see which young players break through in this setting.”

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Today we have the honor of interviewing Neil Craig, involved in high performance sports both as a sports scientists and coach and now coaching the coaches.

Neil Craig is an Australian Australian rules football coach and former player. He is best known as being coach of the Adelaide Football Club from 2004 to 2011. He also notably served as caretaker coach of the Melbourne Football Club in 2013. He played for the Norwood Football Club, Sturt Football Club and the North Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

Picture: Neil Craig

He has worked as a fitness adviser, coach of the Adelaide Football Club, a caretaker coach of the Melbourne Football Club, head of performance at the Essendon Football Club, as well as director of coaching at the Carlton Football Club. From 2017 to 2022 he was high performance manager for the England rugby union team, working with head coach Eddie Jones.

Picture: Neil Craig (Left), Eddie Jones (Right)

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on:

* His background.

* His most consistent 'North Star' or guiding principle in building high-performance environments.

* The role and science behind being a 'critical friend' to head coaches.

* Balancing data/sports science with the “human element”.

* The evolution of leadership in elite sport—significant shifts and emerging trends.

* One actionable piece of advice for aspiring coaches or leaders.

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Neil located at the top of this blog post.

Here are the quotes from the interview with Neil:

Q1. Tell me about your background:

"My background is pretty insular—I’ve only ever really known high-performance sport. I played Australian football for about 17 or 18 years, back when the game wasn’t fully professional. While I was playing, I trained as a sports scientist and eventually got a job as a physiologist with the South Australian Sports Institute, working mainly with track cycling. That took me to world championships, World Cups, and Olympic Games for nearly 15 to 20 years. When I finished playing, I was invited to be a head coach at one of my old clubs, which was a steep learning curve—I made plenty of mistakes early on. From there, I became an assistant coach and then a head coach in the AFL as the league was turning fully professional. Since 2011, I’ve been involved in director of coaching roles at various AFL clubs, but in the last few years, I’ve focused more on working directly with head and assistant coaches—essentially coaching the coaches. The idea is that just as we expect athletes to continually improve, we should expect the same from our coaches, and that’s a concept that’s gaining momentum both in Australia and overseas."

Q2. Most consistent 'North Star' or guiding principle in building high-performance environments:

"I have a strong feeling that the best player or athlete development comes from strong coach development. I genuinely believe coaches have the biggest influence on performance, so we need to make sure we know what we’re doing. It’s not just about the athletes getting better every day—coaches need to be on that same journey of continual improvement. If we support and develop our coaches, that flows directly into the environment and the athletes’ performance. That’s really been my North Star throughout my career, no matter the sport or team."

Q3. The role and science behind being a 'critical friend' to head coaches:

"The role of a trusted, critical friend is essential. It’s someone who will tell you the truth, but for that to work, the head coach has to genuinely want that support—you can’t force it. The relationship has to be built on trust. I spent a long time working with Eddie Jones, and he trusted me to come into his environment and tell him what I saw and heard, even if he didn’t always agree. The job of head coach is massive now, with so much pressure—internal, external, media, supporters, and personal life. If I had my time again as a head coach, I’d definitely have a critical friend—someone to check the temperature of the environment and my own behavior, especially under stress. That’s when you really need honest feedback, because it’s easy to lose perspective. It’s not just about challenging feedback; sometimes it’s just listening or being a sounding board. Having someone to share the load can be incredibly therapeutic and helps you make better decisions."

Q4. Balancing data/sports science with the 'human element':

"As the head coach, you set the tone for the environment because of the power of your position, so you need to be clear about the environment you want to create. Ideally, it’s one where people thrive under pressure—not just the athletes, but also the support staff. That means people feel valued, feel like they’re improving, their opinions matter, they have some autonomy, and they’re learning life skills. The job is huge, and coaches are making so many decisions every day—about selection, training, managing up, travel, and more. With all the data and science available, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers, but you can’t lose sight of the human side. The best environments are those where people feel safe to contribute, where there’s healthy conflict and debate, and where the leader values other people’s opinions. That’s how you get the best answers and create a culture where everyone is striving for improvement."

Q5. Evolution of leadership in elite sport—significant shifts and emerging trends:

"The best environments are those where the leader values other people's opinions and is only interested in getting the best answer, regardless of where it comes from. That requires leaders to put their ego in their back pocket. Too often, leaders feel they need to have all the answers, but nobody does. The healthiest environments are where there’s debate, discussion, and rigor—everyone feels comfortable putting their opinion on the table, knowing that at the end of the day, someone will make the final call. If I walk into a meeting and everyone just agrees, my antenna goes up—that’s not a safe environment. The best leaders have a clear philosophy and value system that guides their decisions, and they’re willing to confront issues early and encourage others to speak up. That’s what drives sustained success and resilience in teams."

Q6. One actionable piece of advice for aspiring coaches or leaders:

"Leadership is a skill, and as soon as you influence someone, you’re leading—hopefully in a positive way. If everything was black and white, we wouldn’t need leaders, but it rarely is. Another quote that resonates with me is, 'You haven’t really led until you wake up two or three mornings in a row and, as soon as you open your eyes, you say, "Oh, f**k."' That’s the reality of leadership—sometimes you’re faced with tough decisions and uncertainty. The more you can practice leadership, the better you get. My advice is to really think about what you would do in a range of different situations and why. That process will help you develop your values and philosophy, which you’ll need as a leader. Otherwise, you’ll just be all over the place. Think about your philosophy on recruitment, learning environments, empowerment, alignment, and wellbeing. The more you think these things through, the better prepared you’ll be to lead."

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Today we have the honor of interviewing Steven Lund, the head of sales at Cerbrec, a leading AI agent development platform.

Cerbrec is an AI agent development platform designed to make powerful, enterprise-grade AI accessible to everyone—from high school students to professional sports teams—without requiring coding skills. The platform, developed over three years, enables users to build customizable AI agents for tasks like player evaluation, NIL value analysis, roster optimization, draft tracking, sponsorship management, and more. With a strong focus on personalization and data privacy, Cerbrec integrates proprietary tools (like its Graph Book platform) with cloud and on-premise deployments, allowing teams to use their own private data securely.

Picture: Cerbrec’s dashboard

The company is also one of 20 selected for AWS’s generative AI program, and is rapidly expanding into college and professional sports, offering flexible, responsive, and highly tailored solutions to meet the unique needs of each team.

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on his background, his company and product, the benefits of the AI agent platform and approach to sports organizations and teams. We also talked about his competitive advantage, business model, and his plans for the next 12 months.

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Steve located at the top of this blog post.

Of note, Steven will also be presenting at our VIP dinner at the NBA Summer league on July 15 at the Wynn hotel.

Here are the quotes from the interview with Steven:

1. Your Background

“I’ve got about three decades of experience in high tech. I’ve worked for some of the biggest names in the industry—Apple Computer, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard—where I led and scaled teams focused on cutting-edge innovation. Over the last 15 years, I’ve shifted my focus almost exclusively to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and more recently, generative AI and intelligent agents. I’ve founded and successfully exited five companies across different industries. Currently, I’m building Cerbrec, which we started about three to four years ago, with a vision to democratize AI and apply it across verticals, including financial services, biotech, manufacturing, and now, sports.”

2. Your Company and Product

“Cerbrec is an AI agent development platform that’s been in the works for over three years. From day one, our vision has been to make AI accessible to everyone—not just developers or engineers. So we built CRE, our proprietary end-to-end platform, to allow even high school students to create and deploy their own AI agents. It supports deployment both in the cloud and on-premise, which is critical for data-sensitive industries like sports. We’re also one of only 20 companies selected for AWS’s elite generative AI partner program, which gives us access to the latest in infrastructure and security. What really makes us different is the ability to build highly personalized agents that are tailored to each customer’s private data, workflows, and business needs.”

3. The Main Use Cases Your Solution Addresses

“Our use cases in sports are growing rapidly, but they generally fall into a few core buckets. First, we have what we call player agents—these are used for things like contract evaluation, NIL valuation, and performance analysis. Then there are development agents, which help coaches and staff create personalized training and development programs. We also work with brands on sponsorship agents that manage inventory and partnership data. For an MLB team, we built a draft optimization agent that tracks players, alerts staff when key prospects enter the draft, and even evaluates potential picks across pro and college levels. We’re also building event agents, which can create personalized fan experiences for attending games—booking travel, hotels, restaurants, and more. The beauty is, these agents can be mixed and matched to address whatever operational or performance need a team may have.”

4. Benefits for Teams and Athletes to Use Your AI Solution

“The biggest benefit for teams and athletes is flexibility and scale without complexity. With traditional apps, you’re often stuck with rigid functionality, but our agents evolve as your needs evolve. They never go out of date—they update automatically as your data updates. We’ve designed our system to accept any kind of data format, from spreadsheets to video, and we use that to generate deeper insights, predictions, and performance trends. It’s also fully customizable—teams can have their own look, feel, templates, and queries. Most importantly, you don’t need to write a single line of code. Coaches, analysts, or even athletes themselves can talk to the agent in plain language and get intelligent, actionable responses on anything from player load management to contract ROI.”

5. Your Competitive Advantage

“What sets us apart is not just our technology—it’s the simplicity and customization we offer. There are a lot of platforms that say they’re low-code or no-code, but the reality is, many of them still require technical people to implement and maintain. We’ve built Reck so that even someone with zero engineering background can use it, customize it, and extract real value from it. We also do deep-dive workshops with teams to understand their exact problems—whether it’s operational inefficiencies, roster issues, or player health—and we build solutions that solve those problems specifically. On top of that, we’re developing dashboards that allow different users—coaches, front office, medical staff—to fine-tune what they see, how they weigh different factors, and how they generate reports. That level of user control is rare in this space.”

6. What Teams and Customers Like the Most

“One of the things we hear over and over again is how fast and responsive we are. A team will reach out in the morning asking for a new feature or tweak, and by that afternoon, we’ve already delivered it. They love the level of personal attention and customization we provide. No two agents are the same because no two teams are the same. Our clients also appreciate how easy it is to integrate their own data and workflows into our platform. Whether it’s Excel sheets, scouting videos, or internal databases, we make it seamless. And because we’re still relatively small, we treat every client like a top priority—we act more like an embedded tech partner than a vendor.”

7. Your Business Model

“Our business model is built on flexibility and long-term partnership. We license our Graph Book platform on an annual per-user basis, and then layer on custom development and support based on the specific agents a team wants. For example, if a team wants a Roster Optimization Agent, we’ll charge a development fee for that, bundle it into a managed service agreement (MSA), and provide daily support and updates for a 12-month term. That support isn’t static—we’re constantly iterating, improving, and responding to client requests throughout the year. We also support both cloud-based and on-prem deployments, depending on the client’s security needs.”

8. Your Plans for the Next 12 Months

“The next 12 months are all about growth, focus, and expansion. We’re actively raising capital to scale our operations, double down on sports, and continue to enhance the platform. Sports—especially college and pro teams—are still relatively underserved when it comes to sophisticated AI. So we see a big opportunity to bring enterprise-grade tech into this space. We’re currently working with teams in college football, MLB, and have projects in development with NBA franchises. We're also exploring opportunities in European soccer. Our product roadmap includes new agent types, more intelligent dashboards, and expansion into new geographies. We’re committed to building a platform that becomes the AI backbone for sports organizations across disciplines.”

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This week we have the honor to interview a group of experts in the science of movements in elite sports.

* Abdul Sillah, experienced performance coach. Abdul has worked with Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka.

* Brijesh Patel, Associate Athletic Director, Director of Athletic Performance at Quinnipiac University (NCAA).

* Dr Ryan Ting, founder of RNA Sports. He is also an MD, MPH, and Medical Director at Arthur Ting Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine.

* Marc Drobenko, ATC, and DNSP, Former Assistant Athletic Trainer in college and professional sports.

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on the following questions:

* How has the science of movement evolved in the last 5–10 years across elite sports like the NBA, NHL, and tennis — and what’s driving that evolution?

* What are the most important biomechanical or neuromuscular factors practitioners should assess to optimize movement quality and reduce injury risk?

* How do you approach movement retraining or re-patterning with elite athletes who already perform at a high level but have asymmetries or inefficiencies?

* Which tools, technologies, or methodologies are you most excited about right now for evaluating or enhancing movement in elite settings?

* How do you effectively communicate complex movement data to coaches and athletes — and ensure it drives meaningful change in training or performance?

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview located at the top of this blog post.

Here are some of the best quotes of our conversation with Abdul, Ryan, Brijesh and Marc:

Q1. How has the science of movement evolved in the last 5–10 years across elite sports like the NBA, NHL, and tennis — and what’s driving that evolution?

Brijesh Patel:

“Over the last five to ten years, we've seen a massive shift in how we approach keeping players healthy. That’s really what's driving the evolution in movement science — job security. Sports is big business, and athletes are the assets. If they're not on the field, the team suffers — and so does the organization. Practitioners are constantly looking for ways to protect those assets. We’ve gone from using movement screens like FMS and Y-Balance to more advanced tools like force plates, high-speed cameras, and GPS monitors that quantify external loads and the cost of movement. But what we often forget is the art of coaching — the feel, the eye test, the relationships with athletes. Sometimes, the obsession with numbers can blind us to what we’re actually seeing. Athletes start to game the system — cheating a jump test or adjusting their sprint to hit a better number, even if it’s not the most efficient or safe way to move. That’s why it has to be a blend of technology and coaching artistry.”

Dr Ryan Ting:

“In Silicon Valley, everything is data-driven. So the demand from youth athletes and parents has grown — they want to know how to jump higher, run faster, and prove it objectively. But while we’ve collected more data and developed more technologies over the last decade, I still think we’re missing the mark in how well we translate that data. We talk a lot about performance numbers, but we don’t focus enough on quality — on biomechanics and body control. That’s where the real injury prevention happens. We need to stop treating data like the final answer. It’s just a piece of the puzzle.”

“At the youth level, the stakes might not be job security like it is in the pros — it’s roster security. Parents are desperate to get their kids on varsity or in front of scouts. But when you prioritize explosive performance metrics without checking movement mechanics and body control, you're setting kids up for chronic injuries. I've always said — the body mechanics and proprioception have to come first. Otherwise, no matter how fast or high they go, it’s just a matter of time before the wheels come off.”

Abdul Sillah:

“We’re becoming too dependent on lab data and not enough on our own eyes. The eye doesn’t lie. We spend the most time with these athletes — we know their bodies, their fatigue levels, and their limits better than anyone sitting in a lab. The last five to ten years, I’ve seen too many practitioners lean on tech and lose that personal connection. But that’s where the real insights come from. I trust myself more than any device — and so do my athletes. That trust is earned over time on the field, not in front of a screen.”

Marc Drobenko:

“Just to add a little bit on top of what Coach B and Dr. Ryan said, in regards to data — it helps decision-making to a point, but that’s where the artistry of coaching comes in. One coach might take the same data and go one way, while another coach uses it in a completely different way that’s more effective for that athlete or team. I always go back to something I heard from Dr. Craig Liebenson in L.A.: ‘You have to move well, then move often.’ If you do both, and then load those patterns correctly, you’re going to build a robust system”.

“What I’ve been focusing on at the higher levels is: how do athletes move under extreme stress? Do their patterns change? Does their breathing change? Where do their eyes go? I’ve seen it in huddles — elite players have calm breathing and focused eyes. Players who aren’t performing at that same level? Their eyes are all over the place. They’re distracted. There’s a clear connection between how athletes move and how they manage stress. The best movers are often the most composed — and vice versa”.

Q2. What are the most important biomechanical or neuromuscular factors practitioners should assess to optimize movement quality and reduce injury risk?

Marc Drobenko:

“When I assess an athlete, I’m looking at their firing patterns — especially in the posterior chain. It might sound simple, but you’d be surprised how many elite performers have dysfunctional firing sequences. For example, when a person lies face-down and lifts a leg, the first muscles that should fire are the glute max and the hamstring. Instead, I’ll often see the lumbar spine fire first, then the wrong muscles in the wrong order. These imbalances tell me how unstable their pelvis might be and how well — or poorly — they can coordinate complex movements. If they can’t stabilize the pelvis, how can they control the hips in rotation, acceleration, or deceleration? So before they even hit the field or the gym, I start on the table and try to get their sequencing right — so we can hand them off to a performance coach like Brijesh in a much better place.”

Brijesh Patel:

“My first question with any movement assessment is: can the athlete even get into the position we’re asking for? If they can’t achieve the position — unilaterally or bilaterally — that tells you everything. Then I’ll ask: can you feel it? Can you feel your glute? Your big toe? Your scapula? If they can’t sense it, they can’t control it. And if they can’t control it, they can’t change it. So many athletes come in and don’t even understand how to feel their own body. But with consistent cueing and education, we help them open up that sensory feedback loop. That’s how you build better movers — not just stronger ones.”

Dr Ryan Ting:

“We talk about load management, acceleration, and deceleration — but we need to look at the mechanics under the hood. Are they overstriding? Where is their center of mass when they plant? Do they land like a gymnast or like a wrecking ball? Athletes often get injured not because of how they move forward, but because of how they absorb and control force. If you can’t handle eccentric loads properly, you’re just setting up for chronic injuries. We’ve got to stop just chasing force production and start focusing on force absorption.”

Abdul Sillah:

“There’s not much to say because they covered all grounds actually. I mean, Dr. Ryan Ting came in and basically covered the other end of it. That was really interesting, especially about changing your stride length instead of opening it up like everyone typically teaches. I had chronic hamstring issues back in my track days, especially when we went to state. It was because of that — overstriding. And that’s when I learned how to adjust my stride length. Not doing the typical long stride, but actually shortening it and learning how to maintain speed without constantly accelerating. So when Ryan mentioned that, I was like — that’s perfect. That’s exactly what I went through. It connected immediately.

Q3. How do you approach movement retraining or re-patterning with elite athletes who already perform at a high level but have asymmetries or inefficiencies?

Marc Drobenko:

“There’s a fine line between helping and over-coaching. Elite athletes often have asymmetries that actually make them great. A punter in the NFL who only kicks with one leg is naturally going to be asymmetric — and that’s okay. A swimmer who breathes only to the right? Same thing. What I care about is whether that asymmetry is causing a problem. If it’s not, leave it alone. But if it’s creating a risk or a recurring issue, then we educate. We explain the why and the how — and then we reassess. Ultimately, we’re not here to make everyone symmetrical — we’re here to make them efficient and sustainable.”

Dr Ryan Ting:

“You’re not going to walk up to a guy like Odell Beckham Jr. and say, ‘You’ve got to change how you run.’ That’s not realistic. But what we can do is refine the movement to make it more efficient — without changing the signature that makes them special. It’s like writing — everyone has a different handwriting. You don’t ask someone to change their signature, but you can help them write more clearly. That’s how we approach movement retraining.”

Brijesh Patel:

“For me, it’s about giving athletes variability — the ability to move side-to-side, to decelerate, to rotate both ways. You’re not trying to fix everything. You’re just trying to make sure they have the movement options they need to stay healthy and perform. We use isometrics, eccentrics, and sequencing to help clean up the inefficiencies — but we never take away the individuality of their movement. That’s sacred.”

Abdul Sillah:

“If you don’t catch these patterns early, by the time the athlete’s making millions, they’re locked in. You can’t walk in and start over. At that point, it’s all about education and awareness. If you’ve built trust with them, they’ll listen. But you’ve got to meet them where they are and work with their movement style, not against it.”

Q4. Which tools, technologies, or methodologies are you most excited about right now for evaluating or enhancing movement in elite settings?

Brijesh Patel:

“Honestly, my most powerful tools are my eyes and my ears. Those are the things I train every day. No device can replace what I see when an athlete walks, cuts, or jumps. That visual feedback, combined with what the athlete tells me, helps me make better coaching decisions than any tech. That said, I’d love to have access to force plates — they can confirm what I’m already seeing and make it easier to explain the ‘why’ to the athlete. But I always start with what I can see and feel.”

Abdul Sillah:

“I’ve used the gadgets — force plates, wearables, motion capture. They’re great, but what makes us special is our instinct, our creativity. You can’t automate experience. The moment the athlete starts moving, I know if something is off. That’s not something a screen can tell me before I do. And that instinct is what helps me keep athletes like Serena or Naomi healthy — because I’m watching them 24/7. I’m not sitting in a lab. I’m on the court with them. That’s what matters.”

Dr Ryan Ting:

“If we can use motion capture and joint tracking in real-time to enhance what we already know — that’s powerful. The key is: don’t let the tech replace coaching. Let it enhance it. A coach with a sharp eye doesn’t need confirmation, but the data helps communicate with others — whether it’s other staff, parents, or the athletes themselves.”

Marc Drobenko:

“Piggybacking off of what Coach Abdul said — the body tells a story. You show up to the court, and you can see it. There are times where you look at an athlete and just know something’s off. Depending on what I’m seeing — how they’re moving, their posture, their rhythm — I can predict things like, ‘That backhand might be a problem today.’ The movement speaks before the athlete does”.

“So the real tool? It’s not a force plate or a wearable. It’s your eyes. The best practitioners are the ones who’ve trained their eye over years and years. Without any words, the body language tells you what you need to know. That’s how I evaluate movement first — I watch. I listen. Then I make decisions. Technology is great, but if you can’t see what’s happening in real time with your own eyes, you’re going to miss the story that the athlete’s body is telling you.”

Q5. How do you effectively communicate complex movement data to coaches and athletes — and ensure it drives meaningful change in training or performance?

Abdul Sillah:

“My background is in psychology, not kinesiology. So for me, it’s all about communication. Every athlete — no matter how elite — has a way to reach them. You just have to listen and learn how they think. It’s not about barking orders. It’s about showing them their goal, then helping them understand what it takes to get there. I remember when Serena first started training with me, I told her: no headphones when we’re working. I needed her full attention. Fifteen years later, after winning dozens of titles, she still remembered that rule. That’s respect. That’s trust. And that’s how you get through to a champion.”

Marc Drobenko:

“With elite athletes, it’s about education, not correction. I once worked with a martial artist who had kicked thousands of times in his career. But when I pointed out that his support foot’s big toe was lifting off the ground, and asked him to keep it down, his next kick sent the bag flying — farther than ever before. He said, ‘How did you know that?’ That’s how you earn trust. You show them, not tell them. When they feel the difference, that’s when change happens.”

Dr Ryan Ting:

“If we can explain the ‘why’ behind the movement and connect it to their goals — and if we can back that up with data or immediate results — then we get buy-in. Elite athletes have egos, and they should. They’ve earned it. So we meet them with respect, and then show them how to keep what they’ve built and extend their careers. That’s how you move mountains.”

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Today as part of our continued effort on AI and the impact on elite sports, we have the honor to interview a interviewing a group of experts in AI and elite sports:

* Dr Bill Burgos, the CEO of LONU a next generation AI based nutrition platform. Bill is also a highly accomplished strength and conditioning expert with extensive experience in the NBA, having served as the Head of Strength and Conditioning for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, and New York Knicks.

* Adam Cheyer, a renowned computer scientist and entrepreneur best known as the co-founder and original developer of Siri, the intelligent voice assistant later acquired by Apple in 2010. He was also a founding member of Change.org and has held key roles at companies like Viv Labs (acquired by Samsung) and SRI International. Cheyer is recognized for pioneering work in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and human-computer interaction.

* Jordan Stewart-Mackie, a performance scientist currently affiliated with the NBA Academy Africa, where he focuses on optimizing athlete development through tailored training and nutrition programs. Jordan has also served as an Applied Performance Scientist at Playermaker and has held roles in professional football clubs across Europe and Asia, including Buriram United FC and Leicester City FC.

* Adam Douglas, the head S&C coach for the Pittsburgh penguins, an NHL team.

You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Bill, Adam C, Adam D and Jordan located at the top of this blog post.Here are the quotes from the interview with them:

Q1. How do you see Generative AI evolving over the next 2–5 years in elite sports and beyond?

Adam Cheyer (Co-founder of Siri):

“Today, most generative AI tools rely on pre-trained models and a simple chat interface. But over the next three to five years, I expect three major shifts. First, the interface will evolve. Just like the early web was static and eventually became interactive and commerce-driven, AI interfaces will become richer—blending graphical systems with natural language to better serve human users.Second, AI needs to move beyond cached knowledge. Right now, these models don’t access live APIs or current data, which makes them outdated. Future AI systems need to know and do—interact with real-time data, execute actions, and learn dynamically. Third, we need to build an AI ecosystem—like the app ecosystems for mobile and web—so that brands, partners, and capabilities can plug in directly. It’s not just about crawling or scraping anymore. AI must enable direct collaboration with those who own the data and know the domain. That’s where the transformation lies.”

Adam Douglas (Pittsburgh Penguins):

“In elite sport, I want AI to be the eyes I don’t have. As a practitioner, I’m flooded with data—GPS from practices, biometric data from training, scouting reports from coaches—and I can’t possibly process everything. AI should be there to flag what I’m missing, filter the noise, and highlight trends I wouldn’t see on my own. But it’s not just about knowing—it’s about doing. When AI reaches the point where it can know and act in the same breath, while still allowing me to apply the sporting context, that’s when it becomes a true performance enhancer.”

Jordan Stewart-Mackie (EPL/NBA Performance Expert):

“We're not trying to replicate humans with AI—we’re trying to enhance our ability to represent human cognition in high-performance environments. AI’s role is to help us iterate, adapt, and innovate. It’s about bridging the gap between the instinctive and the analytical, helping us make smarter decisions while respecting the complexity of elite sport. The danger is when people think AI is about replacing the human side—what we’re really trying to do is augment it in the right ways.”

Q2. What are the most impactful AI use cases in elite sports?

Adam Cheyer:

“I think one of the most powerful applications is collaborative decision-making. I saw this firsthand when I was a guest coach for the Nigerian Olympic basketball team. Watching the coaches debate who to bring to the Olympics was fascinating—it’s all about trade-offs: youth vs. experience, speed vs. leadership, chemistry vs. individual skill. Imagine having AI tools that don’t just give you data, but help you understand where disagreements lie within your staff and pinpoint what decisions need deeper analysis. Decision-making in sport is rarely individual—it’s collective. AI can support that collaboration in ways we’ve never seen before.”

Jordan Stewart-Mackie:

“There are two big areas: First, real-time decision-making under pressure. In elite sport, everything is fast, complex, and constantly changing. AI can help us cut through uncertainty in the heat of the moment—during a game, during recovery, during return-to-play scenarios. Second, talent identification. With the rise of pattern recognition and large datasets, AI can spot potential in ways human scouts can’t. But it’s not just about identifying talent—it’s about customizing development pathways, saving time, and making better long-term bets on athletes. That could transform recruiting and player development.”

Adam Douglas:

“For me, the key benefit is time and cost efficiency. A few years ago, we were deciding whether to build out our analytics internally or work with an AI vendor. Hiring new staff and building models in-house would’ve taken years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. With a vendor, we could access a mature platform immediately. And in elite sports, where every hour counts, being able to turn around actionable insights in real time is worth its weight in gold. AI doesn’t just replace time-consuming tasks—it frees us up to focus on the human aspects of coaching and decision-making.”

Bill Burgos:

“People often overlook the human element in all this. AI is only as good as the people feeding it. Who’s labeling your datasets? Who’s interpreting the information? That matters. If you don’t have qualified strength coaches, dietitians, or PTs involved, you’re not getting the best out of the technology. So for me, AI is a support tool—but the real differentiator is the practitioner. The more we invest in the people who understand both performance and AI, the more useful those tools become.”

Q3: What specific use cases do you believe will have the biggest performance or competitive impact in elite sports?

Adam Cheyer:

“One of the most powerful applications of AI in elite sport is collaborative decision-making. I had the chance to be a guest coach for the Nigerian Olympic team and sit in on roster decisions. It was fascinating — trade-offs between veteran leadership and athletic youth, positional balance, role diversity. It’s all incredibly nuanced. What struck me was how valuable it would be to have tools that surface fine-grained disagreement and trade-off zones among coaching staff — tools that don't just show data, but help experts deliberate and make collective, optimal choices. Every organization makes hundreds of decisions like these — from lineup selections to rehab timing — and AI can become a real-time facilitator of smarter, more aligned decisions.”

Jordan Stewart-Mackie:

“There are two big domains where I think AI will have a transformative effect.First, in decision-making under uncertainty — not just in training or planning, but in the moment. The game is chaotic, time-pressured, emotionally charged. AI could help filter and prioritize the right information so coaches make better live calls without being overwhelmed. Second is talent identification. The ability of AI to analyze large datasets, recognize subtle performance patterns, and project long-term growth is huge. But it’s not just about discovery — it’s about building individualized development pathways with more efficiency and precision. That will reshape the way teams recruit and groom talent.”

Adam Douglas:

“For me, it’s about time, efficiency, and money. I remember our analytics director saying, ‘We can either pay this vendor $50,000 or spend 10x that amount hiring someone, training them, and waiting two to four years to build the infrastructure ourselves.’ That was eye-opening. Teams are under pressure to make fast, high-quality decisions. And AI can massively reduce the turnaround time between collecting data and making use of it. Whether it’s training loads, rehab monitoring, or player profiling, having that speed gives you a real competitive edge.”

Bill Burgos:

“The big one for me is the human layer around AI. AI might process tons of data, but it doesn’t understand the culture of a locker room or how to connect with a player. When wearables first came to the NBA, players thought we were using the data against them. There was no trust. Now, the CBA requires us to explain exactly what metrics we’re using, why, and how it benefits the player — in layman’s terms. The future of AI in sport depends on educating athletes and earning their buy-in. If you get that right, AI becomes a powerful tool. If not, it becomes a distraction.”

Q4: What are the biggest limitations or risks of applying AI in high-performance settings like pro sports?

Adam Cheyer:

“There are three critical limitations:Accuracy — these models are trained on massive amounts of data, but when they don’t know something, they tend to guess. They hallucinate. That’s dangerous in high-stakes decisions.Transparency — these systems are black boxes. Even when you ask why they gave a certain output, they’ll invent a reason. Press refresh and you’ll get a different explanation. That undermines trust.And third, they lack true human context and experience. They don’t understand what it means to compete, to be injured, or to feel pressure. That’s why human judgment will always matter. You should treat AI like a smart intern — useful, but not yet fully reliable.”

Adam Douglas:

“The biggest issue is data quality and standardization. Take hockey, for example. Wearables weren’t even formalized in the CBA until two years ago, and now we have a league-mandated system that teams are required to use — but we don’t really know how valid or reliable it is. If I don’t trust the input, I can’t trust the output. Worse, if my data and another team’s data are processed differently, how do we train models that work across organizations? Even within one club, if we’ve only got three years of clean, trustworthy data, we’re building AI on a small foundation. Garbage in, garbage out. That applies even more in elite sports, where margins are razor-thin.”

Bill Burgos:

“AI is only as good as the practitioners who use it. When I was finishing my doctorate, I studied electronic medical records — and the biggest cause of system failure was user error. Same thing with AI: if the data going in is mislabeled, incomplete, or interpreted wrong, your entire model is flawed. And then there’s the player interaction piece. In the NBA, I had athletes who responded totally differently to the same feedback. AI doesn’t know your players — you do. So if you’re not tailoring your communication and engagement around those human factors, you’ll lose buy-in. AI can’t replace the coach–player relationship — it can only support it.”

Jordan Stewart-Mackie:

“One of the biggest risks is when players self-interpret AI insights without context. I’ve seen athletes change their training plans because a wearable said something — even when it wasn’t the right move. With money and private trainers, they go off-script and potentially harm themselves. We need to train athletes to own their data responsibly and understand what it means in context. AI might give us the data, but we need to shape the behavior. And that only happens with education, clarity, and trust in the system.”

Q5: How should professional teams and federations structure their AI strategies? Should they build in-house, partner with startups, or use off-the-shelf platforms?

Adam Douglas:

“We were seriously weighing whether to build AI capabilities in-house or partner with an external company. Internally, building out analytics from scratch meant hiring full-time staff, training them, designing models, and waiting years to see results. It was going to cost 10 times more than what a vendor was offering.But we also had to factor in data privacy and league regulations. In hockey, the CBA is still playing catch-up, and there are limitations on what data can be shared. So while external vendors offer speed and cost efficiency, they also bring concerns around ownership and control.The best approach right now is a hybrid model: teams partner with proven vendors who already have the infrastructure but stay vigilant about how the data is used and who has access.”

Adam Cheyer:

“AI will be used across every function in an organization — not just performance. From marketing to HR to scouting, it’s going to touch everything.Some departments can absolutely use off-the-shelf tools like ChatGPT or Copilot. But when it comes to sport-specific performance use cases, like injury forecasting or lineup optimization, you’ll need vendors who understand the sport deeply. That’s where startup partnerships shine — they’re agile, they iterate quickly, and they solve niche problems.The key is for teams to develop a clear AI vendor qualification framework. Who are the best partners? What’s their track record? How do they handle sensitive data? The answers to those questions will shape your long-term AI strategy.”

Bill Burgos:

“Startups are great in theory — but they can add to your workload instead of reducing it. I’ve been in situations where a company made big promises, got us excited, and then a year later, we were still waiting for something usable. Meanwhile, I was doing twice as much work trying to support them.So my checklist now is:

* What have you already built?

* How fast can you deliver?

* Will this simplify my day-to-day or make it more complicated?Time and simplicity matter in sports. We don’t have the luxury to wait.”

Jordan Stewart-Mackie:

“For me, the most important piece is contextual alignment. If you’re going to use AI models, they must reflect the specific characteristics of your environment — your athletes, your processes, your coaching philosophy.That’s why in-house models can be powerful — they include the errors, anomalies, and learnings that are unique to your team. But not every team has the capability to build those. So it’s about striking the right balance: partner with vendors when it makes sense, but don’t become totally dependent on them. Otherwise, you lose your ability to adapt, and you’re at the mercy of someone else’s roadmap.”

Q6: What skills or roles will become essential as AI becomes more embedded in elite sports and business?

Adam Cheyer:

“The number one shift is that every job will evolve. Whether you’re in scouting, fan engagement, or coaching — AI will become part of how you work.The key skill is learning to use AI as a co-pilot. That means knowing how to prompt it, how to interpret results, how to validate outputs, and how to integrate its suggestions without blindly following them.And yes, kids are already learning this. In China, they’re starting AI education at age six. That’s why I always say: AI won’t take your job, but someone using AI will. You want to be that someone.”

Adam Douglas:

“It’s like the early internet days. At first, some people resisted it — now no one can do their job without it. AI will follow that same curve. It’s already showing up in emails, calendars, scouting systems, and player management software. The difference is, practitioners who embrace it now will be the ones who lead later. And those who resist it will fall behind. It’s coming — it’s not optional anymore.”

Bill Burgos:

“I’ve worked with both the oldest and the youngest teams in the NBA, and the difference is stark. The older players didn’t grow up with tech, so there was skepticism. The younger guys? They’re digital natives. They’re already asking deep questions about AI, training loads, recovery data — at age 15. That’s the future. In five years, the NBA, NFL, and NHL will be filled with athletes who expect tech integration. So if you’re a practitioner and you’re not learning how AI works, you’re going to be disconnected from your athletes.”

Jordan Stewart-Mackie:

“The biggest long-term value of AI isn’t in stats — it’s in how it enhances human growth. If used properly, AI helps us learn faster, think deeper, and become more creative. That’s where the edge is — not in automation, but in evolution.We need to train ourselves and our athletes not just to use AI, but to understand it, question it, and apply it wisely. That’s how we unlock its full potential.”

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This week we have the honor to interview again a group of sports performance executives to talk about the latest trends in the world of sports performance and rehabilitation.

* Jason Han, the former head of rehabilitation at LAFC (MLS). Jason is also the head of business development in North America at OneBase health.

* Michael Messer, the head of rehabilitation, Nashville SC (MLS).

You can watch the video interview below or you can listen to the audio interview above:

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on:

* Biohacking: We're seeing more interest in biohacking across elite sports — from cold exposure to red light therapy. What biohacking tools or methods are actually making an impact in MLS environments?

* Biohacking - evaluation: How do you evaluate whether a new biohacking trend is worth integrating into your protocols — and how do you balance innovation with scientific rigor?

* Shiny objects: With so many technologies and “shiny objects” in the performance and recovery space, how do you ensure that your team stays focused on core performance goals rather than chasing trends?

* MLS Teams’ evolution: Where do you think MLS teams need to innovate next to stay globally competitive — whether in staff structure, tech, or player development?

* PSG’s win in the CL finals: What did you think about PSG winning the Champions league this weekend? Were you surprised?

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview located at the top of this blog post.

Here are some of the best quotes of our conversation with Michael and Jason:

Q1. Biohacking Tools Making an Impact in MLS

Jason Han:

“What got me hooked on the Oura Ring was my time at LAFC. We wanted to improve athlete sleep, but to do that, we needed to understand what their sleep actually looked like. So we went heavy into Oura in season two or three. I’ve been using it ever since. You can ask an athlete, ‘How did you sleep?’ and they’ll say ‘Good,’ but when you actually see the data, you realize they were in bed for seven hours but only got five hours of real sleep. Then you look at metrics like resting heart rate, deep sleep versus REM — now you have real insights to work with. That gave us the tools to educate players and shift habits. In my last two years at LAFC, we even started posting team sleep scores to create awareness and accountability. Some players didn’t care, but others became more invested. It wasn’t just data — it sparked real behavior change.”

Mike Messer:

“We’ve dabbled in a variety of biohacking tools — Whoop bands, red light therapy, infrared saunas, hyperbaric and cryo chambers. But one of the most impactful things has been sweat testing. We wanted to optimize hydration for each athlete, so we used patch-based tools and even saliva testing to build individualized hydration profiles. It’s easy to overlook, but hydration directly affects performance. We've also seen personal devices like Oura Rings grow in popularity. Some players wear them independently, and the cool part is it opens up conversations. Personally, my Oura Ring has been dead-on predicting when I or others are about to get sick. It gives a warning — and sometimes you can’t avoid it, but it allows us to take proactive steps. That level of early insight has been surprisingly valuable.”

Q2. Evaluating Biohacking Trends with Scientific Rigor

Jason Han:

“Whenever we consider something new, we ideally try to roll it out one thing at a time. If you bring in too many things at once, you lose clarity on what’s actually making an impact. My go-to example is hyperbaric chambers. If we only use it once a week, we might wrongly conclude it doesn’t work. But used properly and frequently, we’ve seen solid results. That’s why education is critical — how to use it, when to use it, and what to track. Scientific evidence helps, but I also like to try things personally before pushing them on players. A lot of the published hyperbaric studies are on 2.0 ATA chambers, but I’ve seen great results using 1.3 or 1.5 ATA mild chambers when protocols are followed. Sometimes the science hasn’t caught up to real-world use cases.”

Mike Messer:

“Budget is often the first filter. There are great tools out there, but we can’t chase them all. After that, we look at whether there’s a logical mechanism of action and, importantly, whether our athletes are requesting it. Sometimes they’ve used something elsewhere or heard about it from a teammate. That opens the door. If we can try it via a demo or trial period, that’s a huge plus. That hands-on experience — for staff and players — goes a long way. We’ve seen some formal evaluation frameworks, but honestly, our process is case-by-case. It’s less about ticking boxes and more about: does it solve a real problem we’re facing with our guys right now?”

Q3. Avoiding Shiny Object Syndrome

Jason Han:

“At LAFC, we had performance and rehab meetings every morning and after training. That structure was critical. It kept us grounded in the ‘why’ — why are we using this tool? What’s the actual player availability? How many are training? Who’s missing games? Once you see the patterns — maybe it’s a sleep issue, maybe it’s recovery, maybe it’s behavioral — then you can look at what tool can actually help. Tech for tech’s sake doesn’t make sense. We also made sure that for each new piece of technology, one person on staff owned it. They’d become the go-to expert so we weren’t just scratching the surface across four different staff. It kept our protocols efficient and impactful.”

Mike Messer:

“A lot of our technology adoption has started with a specific question. I remember early on, we had a player recovering from a quad injury. I wanted a way to track kicking mechanics during rehab. That led us to PlayerMaker, and we’ve slowly expanded our use since. It wasn’t about chasing trends — it was about solving a real rehab need. That mindset — start with the question, not the tool — helps prevent tech clutter and keeps us aligned with performance goals.”

Q4. Where MLS Needs to Innovate Next

Mike Messer:

“One major gap we still see is in the youth development system. Overseas, soccer is everything — it’s part of daily culture. In the U.S., we’re still fragmented. Programs like MLS NEXT and MLS NEXT Pro are good steps, but we haven’t reached that all-in cultural integration. Then on the staffing side, we’re still lean compared to top clubs abroad. They have more people in the building, and when that staff is well-aligned and resourced, it makes a huge difference. I’m a Manchester United fan, but you compare them to City — City made structural changes behind the scenes, and the results speak for themselves. It’s not just the players — it’s the system supporting them.”

Jason Han:

“I agree with Mike. It's not just about hiring more people — it's about hiring the right people and giving them tools. At LAFC, there were times I’d go months without sitting and watching a full training session. Why? Because we always had players in rehab. There’s never downtime. If you’re managing eight to twelve athletes with one or two rehab staff, it’s hard to give each player the individualized attention they need. Now imagine what’s possible if teams invested in more depth and specialization — physios, nutritionists, mental coaches — especially for long seasons. More staff doesn’t guarantee better outcomes, but it enables them when you have the right culture.”

Q5. PSG Winning the Champions League

Mike Messer:

“Honestly, I was a bit surprised — not because they aren’t capable, but because I haven’t followed the Champions League as closely this year with new parenthood in the mix. But from what I’ve gathered, PSG made deliberate changes. It wasn’t just about stars anymore — it was about system and culture. From what I’ve heard, they restructured their philosophy and staff approach over the last few years, and this win seems like the payoff for that. A 5–0 result in a final? That’s more than talent — that’s cohesion and alignment.”

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Dear colleague,This week I sat down with David Daoud, CEO of Compliance Standards to share my thoughts on on how elite teams vet sports tech startups, on the common mistakes made by startups. We also discussed the world of elite sports which is based on relationships. We also touched on the tech budget side of teams, and the need to get internal champions to successfully do pilots with teams. We also touched on what makes a strong founder in the eyes of teams.

You can listen to the audio interview by clicking on the above button or just watch the full video interview by clicking on the “Watch the video interview” below. You can also check out the best quotes of my interview in the section below.

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, I touched on:

* On how elite teams vet sports tech startups

* On common startup mistakes

* On relationships and breaking in

* On scientific validation

* On budget and internal champions

* On pilots and workflow fit

* On what makes a strong founder

Best,

You can read the full transcript of the interview located at the top of this blog post. Here are below the best quotes from my interview:

🔍 On How Elite Teams Vet Sports Tech Startups

“There are really two types of teams when it comes to adopting sports tech. The first group—usually the more experienced teams—start with clearly defined goals, like reducing soft tissue injuries, improving sleep quality, or speeding up recovery. Once they identify the outcome they want, they go out and actively search for technologies that can support that specific goal. They’re methodical and selective. On the other hand, you have younger or less experienced practitioners who tend to jump on the latest shiny object just because it looks cool or because someone else recommended it—without a clear idea of how it actually fits into their workflow or objectives. And that often leads to poor integration and wasted time.”

“The process most teams follow is not random. First, there’s an intro meeting or demo. If they’re interested, they set up a pilot—usually lasting one to three months. That’s when both sides test how well the product fits into the team’s ecosystem. But one thing many startups overlook is that even if the product works, teams will always reach out to their peers and ask, ‘What do you think about this company? Is it legit?’ Peer validation is huge. That’s why we built a peer-review section into the Upside platform—so teams can share real feedback, not just rely on vendor claims.”

💡 On Common Startup Mistakes

“One of the biggest mistakes I see from startups is overpromising. They say their product will reduce injuries, improve load management, predict fatigue, and do everything else under the sun. But when they show up for the demo, either the product doesn’t work or it does far less than what was promised. And at this level, you only get one shot. If your demo fails—or even just confuses the staff—you’re done. These teams are incredibly busy. They won’t circle back six months later.”

“Another issue is that some founders just aren’t coachable. They don’t listen to feedback from teams or advisors. Sometimes they come from top schools or strong engineering backgrounds and think that makes them ready for elite sports—but they don’t understand the culture, the demands, or the daily grind that staff go through. I’ve seen founders alienate teams by being too aggressive or by not respecting their time. And when I hear that from a team, I won’t recommend that vendor again. Because if they’re difficult with me, they’ll definitely be difficult for the team.”

🤝 On Relationships and Breaking In

“This industry is one of the hardest to break into. People think that just sending LinkedIn messages or emails will get them a meeting, but these practitioners are inundated with pitches every week and don’t have time for unproven vendors. If you don’t have a warm intro, or you haven’t built a relationship through an advisor, mentor, or a conference meeting, your chances of getting in are slim.”

“The key is relationships. One of my former colleagues at Samsung used to say, ‘People will work with you if they like you.’ It might sound simple, but it’s true. If you’re likable, respectful, and helpful, teams will remember you. It’s not just about closing the deal—it’s about showing that you’re in it for the long haul, that you care about solving their problems, not just pushing your product.”

🧪 On Scientific Validation

“Scientific validation is one of the most underrated assets for a startup. Right now, less than 30% of performance-focused sports tech companies have published peer-reviewed studies. But those that do are far more likely to raise capital and land major clients. Especially in the performance and medical categories—if you’re making big claims about reducing injury risk or improving recovery—you need to back that up with real research. Teams are getting more sophisticated, and they want proof before they invest time or money.”

📊 On Budget and Internal Champions

“Budgets vary by league, but for context, most NBA teams allocate between $200K and $300K a year for performance tech. MLS teams are usually in the $75K to $100K range. But budget alone doesn’t mean a deal will close. You need an internal champion—someone who believes in your product and will advocate for it internally—and you also need to win over the budget gatekeeper, which is often the GM. Sometimes the person who writes the check isn’t the same as the person using the product every day. You need to win both.”

🔁 On Pilots and Workflow Fit

“A good pilot is short—usually 1 to 3 months—and focused. The best ones start small, integrate lightly, and avoid disrupting the team's workflow. If your solution requires a massive process change, you're likely to lose the team. The smartest vendors offer simple data exports, sample dashboards, or light API integrations so they can show value fast. The goal isn’t to overhaul the system—it’s to fit into it with minimal friction.”

🧠 On What Makes a Strong Founder

“I can’t emphasize this enough: the strength of the founding team is everything. I’ve seen startups with incredible tech fall apart because the CEO didn’t listen, didn’t know the market, or wasn’t responsive to teams’ needs. Great founders know how to raise money, how to build a team, how to take feedback, and most importantly—how to support their customers. In elite sports, customer success is everything. If a team emails and you don’t respond in 24 hours, you’re out. Full stop.”

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Today we have the honor of interviewing Ralph Pethica , the CEO of Genetrainer, a data & personalization platform for professional sports teams.

Genetrainer builds bespoke performance software systems for professional sports teams with feature rich platforms that extend from administrative and planning functionalities, to load management and medical.

* Communication: The Genetrainer platform facilitates the acquisition, processing, and correlation of performance data to improve communication and decision making.

* Automation: Automating time consuming and repetitive processes, so that staff spend more time with athletes and less time behind a computer.

Getting the details right wins games. Genetrainer’s mission is to ensure that the right information is available to the right person, at the right time, in order to make the right decision.

No two platforms are the same, and all Genetrainer contracts include dedicated engineering time to customise the platform to your priorities and maximise impact.

Picture: Genetrainer’s dashboard

Customers / partners: Professional sports teams in rugby, soccer and basketball.

📝Show Notes: Through this interview, we touched on his background, his company and product, the benefits of the platform and approach to sports organizations and teams. We also talked about his competitive advantage, business model, and his plans for the next 12 months.

You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Ralph located at the top of this blog post.

Here are the quotes from the interview with Ralph:

Q1. Tell me about your background.

“My background is originally in biology, computer science, and then I did a PhD in what I guess would be considered computational biology and machine learning. And really our focus was on evolution of proteins—understanding evolution on a global scale. I had already been involved with other companies that I'd set up on the way, and I ended up getting involved with Google. So I actually went to work for Google as a product manager during and after my PhD for a while. And then in 2012, I left my job at Google to start the company that I run today—Genetrainer”.

Q2. Tell me about your company and product.

“When we first started this whole project, we were looking at it maybe a bit naively from the outside and thinking, well, the problem today is that we can’t personalize very well to the individual. Coming from the background of being a geneticist and also a Google product manager, you realize the power of personalization when you understand how different people respond—how they recover, how they adapt, even what they eat. Initially, we wanted to use genetics to personalize training and recovery for athletes. But we quickly realized that genetics alone is often only 10% of the story. We are a mix of our genes and our environment. So we began incorporating connected device data, subjective inputs, and other contextual data. That’s when we realized: if personalization is the cherry on the cake, then we needed to build the cake first—which is a system to collect and process data from all relevant sources in order to make better decisions. Fast forward to today, that’s what Genetrainer does.”

Q3. What are the main use cases your solution addresses?

“The goal is always to have the right information with the right person at the right time to make the right decision. There are no silver bullets anymore in high-end sport—it’s not about getting one thing right, it’s about getting all the little details right. Each staff member needs a specific piece of information to improve their decisions. But if you measure everything and show everything to everyone, you get over-interpretation and confusion. So our job is to filter, contextualize, and deliver actionable insights. Another big theme in what we do is automation. Especially for smaller staffs or lower-budget teams, there are repetitive processes—generating reports, processing data—that consume time. We help teams identify and automate those, so practitioners can spend less time behind a screen and more time with their players. That human interaction is often more important than the data itself.”

Q4. What is the state of the AMS market? What are the main challenges?

“We’re seeing a very diverse ecosystem in the AMS space today. When we started in 2012, it was technically difficult to build these platforms. Now it’s easier, so teams can build their own, or they use generic systems, or they just stay in Excel. The problem with generic systems is that they often don’t solve the specific problems teams face. And when teams try to build something in-house, they face recruiting and retention issues, plus lack of breadth to test ideas beyond their own data. We offer something in between—we include custom development with every contract. We’ve also started supporting teams who already have internal devs but need help scaling. Some teams want to host the platform on their own servers. Others have completely white-labeled our product so it becomes part of their own brand. We’re open to sharing codebases and long-term licenses because we believe that’s where the market is going: toward greater control and ownership by teams.”

Q5. What are the benefits for teams and athletes using your AMS solution?

“Every single team has different challenges—some are technical, some are cultural, some are related to the specific demands of the sport. Our whole philosophy is built around adapting to the particular needs of each team. If you try to apply a generic system, it’s really hard to get buy-in from the staff. You lose traction because it doesn’t solve their day-to-day problems. We start every project by asking: What are the specific communication or data challenges here? Then we build around that. It doesn’t mean every team needs a fully bespoke system, but even small adaptations to meet teams where they are can make a massive difference in adoption and impact.”

Q6. What is your competitive advantage?

“One of the things we decided early on is that we would never have tech support people. Everyone talking to teams is either a founder or someone who has been with the project a long time and really understands the system. That’s because the closer you are to your users, the better your product will be. It also means when a team needs something or has a question, they’re speaking to someone who can make a decision and fix it—no bureaucracy. Of course, from a scalability perspective that makes no sense—but we chose that path on purpose. It means we’re closer to the problem, we build better solutions, and we keep improving. Also, we use our own product. I’m doing a triathlon tomorrow morning and all my training data is tracked through the same system. So when we change something, we feel it ourselves immediately.”

Q7. What do teams and customers like most about your solution?

“One of the things teams really value is that we build with them, not just for them. Every contract includes custom development time. Teams can literally say, ‘We need this feature built,’ and we’ll scope it, agree on the delivery date, and make it happen. We even bake specific features into contracts with deadlines—if we don’t deliver, there’s no contract. That level of partnership is rare. On top of that, because they’re working directly with founders and engineers, things get done quickly and they feel heard. They also know we understand the domain deeply—we know what it’s like to be on a high-performance team, to need something now, to have stakes attached to data.”

Q8. Tell me about your business model.

“It’s a classic software-as-a-service model—teams sign annual contracts. The price depends on the size of the deployment, the number of athletes, and the complexity of custom work. It usually starts around $10K for very small implementations and goes up depending on scope. What makes us different is that every contract includes development hours, which means you’re not just buying software—you’re buying access to an engineering team that will build what you need. On top of that, teams can negotiate larger feature builds into the contract with hard deadlines. So if they say, ‘We want this performance review system integrated by the start of the season,’ we’ll include that in writing and deliver. It’s collaborative, flexible, and outcome-focused.”

Q9. What are your plans for the next 12 months?

“We’re expanding internationally—working with more national teams, which is really exciting. One major priority is using AI in more impactful, rather than superficial, ways. We’re not just trying to tick the AI buzzword box. We’re exploring real use cases—like enabling staff to query their data in natural language and get precise answers: ‘Which players are trending in a certain metric?’ ‘How much training load did we accumulate this week?’ That kind of real utility is where AI can shine. We’re also revamping the athlete-facing mobile app. It’s not just about showing players their data. It’s about showing them meaningful context. For example, they log an RPE, and we show them how it compares to their last 10 sessions, what it correlates with, and what that might imply. Lastly, we’re using passive phone data—like motion sensors—to gather useful insights on sleep, background activity, even circadian rhythms. These invisible data streams can be powerful over time.”

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