Ari Kaplan

Ari Kaplan is a leading figure in sports analytics and one of the few long-term baseball leaders with a proven track record at Fortune 500 companies. Known as the "Real Moneyball Guy" and acknowledged by Forrester for revolutionizing and modernizing player assessment, he has developed the "expected" ranking system currently in use. His application of analytics and technology assists coaches in game preparation, helps players understand their strengths and weaknesses, aids general managers in forecasting future performance and risk, and supports executives in making data-driven decisions. Kaplan has worked with over half of all MLB organizations, McLaren Formula 1 racing, NBA, NHL, and Premier League football clubs, and his contributions to baseball span 25 seasons.

Kaplan also holds significant expertise in the IT industry, having served as president of the Independent Oracle Users Group for the world's largest business software company and as CEO of Expand Beyond Corp. This role highlighted his broad recognition in the IT marketplace, where he is considered a founding father of the mobile business software market. His extensive work in this field includes architecting and leading the implementation of some of the most successful data centers and applications for prominent companies such as 3Com, Hallmark, Merck, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Currently, Kaplan is the Global AI Evangelist at DataRobot and co-hosts the "More Intelligent Tomorrow" podcast, a platform where he explores the impact of AI through conversations with industry innovators. His presentations cover a range of topics including technology trends, organizational transformation, and practical applications of AI and analytics. He teaches methods to tie big data and analytics together for actionable insights, and addresses performance trends, actionable patterns in data, and the distinction between luck and skill. Kaplan's insights and methods have been featured by major media outlets like CNN, TIME, the History Channel, Newsweek, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the BBC. Through his work and influence, Kaplan continues to shape the future of analytics in sports and beyond.