Sevilla FC transforms the player recruitment process with the power of IBM watsonx generative AI

Sevilla FC today launched Scout Advisor, an innovative generative AI tool that Sevilla FC will use to provide its scouting team with comprehensive, data-driven identification and evaluation of potential signings. Built on watsonx, IBM’s AI and data platform designed for enterprises, Sevilla FC’s Scout Advisor will integrate with its existing set of self-developed data-intensive applications.

Sevilla FC’s data department worked with IBM’s Client Engineering team to build Scout Advisor, leveraging natural language processing and foundational Watsonx models, to search and analyze massive amounts of information present in the Sevilla FC’s existing databases. club to evaluate possible signings. This includes both quantitative data, such as height and weight, speed, number of goals or minutes played, as well as unstructured qualitative data, such as the textual analysis included in its more than 200,000 scout reports.

The solution’s natural language processing (NLP) capabilities have enabled Sevilla FC to use multiple large language models (LLMs) to help improve the accuracy and effectiveness of their player identification. Using linguistic cues from Sevilla FC scouts describing key characteristics of sought-after players, Scout Advisor generates curated lists of candidates based on established requirements and summarizes the full set of reports for each individual player. Additionally, Scout Advisor links each player to Sevilla FC’s own data applications for detailed information on their quantitative performance data.

Decisions to recruit and recruit players into elite sports teams, especially in the football industry, involve multi-million dollar investments, long-term contracts and high levels of uncertainty about performance and return on investment. Traditionally, player recruitment has been based on a combination of subjective human observation and manual data analysis. However, this approach has several limitations, as it is time-consuming and only takes into account a limited number of factors.

Already widely recognized for its huge database of qualitative player assessments, Sevilla FC’s scouting team has attracted global attention for its successful track record of identifying emerging football stars. In addition, Sevilla FC is a pioneer in the development of its own information-intensive applications aimed at characterizing players based on a wide spectrum of quantitative data. Now, Scout Advisor offers Sevilla FC an additional competitive advantage – combining its existing capabilities with the use of generative AI to close the gap between metrics-based scouting and human observations that cannot be so easily measured on the pitch. This automated approach is designed to further improve your player identification process and help you make more efficient and informed recruiting decisions.

IBM watsonx capabilities allow Scout Advisor to unleash the full potential of Sevilla FC’s extensive database of player reports, making it possible to search for players using natural language and identify potential signings based on their key quantitative indicators and the detailed opinion that expert scouts have about them. This provides Sevilla FC with potential competitive advantages, in terms of being able to make more informed recruitment decisions with technology-enhanced insights.

“We are very happy to work with IBM, since this project can be disruptive for Sevilla FC and the entire sports industry” José María del Nido Carrasco, President of Sevilla FC. “Our team of scouts and analysts are committed to finding the best players to support our team’s success and have worked tirelessly to build an impressive database of player reports, and now, with the support of IBM, we are able to use this asset to its full potential. This gives us a significant advantage in the player recruitment process and allows us to find the best players for our team and continue to improve our performance on the football field. We believe that this collaboration will have a positive impact not only for Sevilla FC, but for the sports industry as a whole. With this tool, Sevilla FC also demonstrates that technology is not just an objective, but an intimate companion on the journey towards the future of our entity; It is part of our DNA.”

“We are proud to collaborate with Sevilla FC to use the power of IBM watsonx generative AI to help improve the accuracy and effectiveness of their player recruitment process,” said Ana Paula de Assis, President and CEO of IBM. EMEA. “With the right controls and governance, AI continues to be a game-changer for companies across many sectors looking to modernize their operations. In this case, by generating reliable and explainable knowledge that promotes the objectives of a competitive football club while transforming the work of a football scout.”

“At IBM we are delighted to collaborate with Sevilla FC to transform the player hiring process in the sports industry thanks to the power of generative AI. This project demonstrates our full commitment to continue helping our clients unlock the full potential of their data. This collaboration with Sevilla FC is a clear example of how watsonx helps companies accelerate their adoption of AI, scale and gain a competitive advantage in their respective industries” said Horacio Morell, President of IBM Spain, Portugal, Greece and Isra

The collaboration between IBM and Sevilla FC is part of the club’s overall business and technology strategy, which aims to harness the power of data and AI to improve its football operations. By integrating the watsonx-based solution into its existing data architecture, Sevilla FC aims to increase the ROI of its existing resources with faster, more efficient and better-informed recruiting decisions.