Abu Dhabi’s G42-owned Presight AI wants its data analysis to be at the center of everything — even sports

DUBAI: Thomas Pramotedham really knows his cricket – or rather, what data analytics combined with AI can do for players, teams and coaches.

“We are working with Knights of Abu Dhabi (ILT20 in the UAE), which is an extension of (Bollywood superstar) Shah Rukh Khan’s KKR franchise,” said Pramotedham, CEO of Presight AI, which is based in Abu Dhabi’s G42 is part of the group and is in the final stages of an IPO.

“Data analytics can be applied to how batters match up with specific pitchers, wheel distribution, and even insight into pitching conditions. Over time, data analytics can help scouts get better at what they’re doing — disrupting The whole ‘Moneyball’ scouting game.”

Pramotedham will certainly make his point clear to those who think that data analytics and AI are only for government to provide smart services or digitization, or to be deployed in financial services and high-tech industries.

In fact, Presight AI has identified sports as a key vertical whose insights can be leveraged for good results across the board.

That’s when Pramotedham changed tack and mentioned another sport – football – to make a definitive statement. “By providing data analysis, we hope to help scouts find the next Ronaldo or Messi before they are discovered,” he added.

This may need to be determined in the future. A lot has happened to Presight at the moment, whether these are large-scale projects by the UAE federal authorities and overseas, in Africa and Central Asia. In addition, there is the IPO, the subscription that ends today. (According to market parlance, Presight AI had no problem hitting the oversubscribed mark at the outset of the IPO. This is the second G42-owned entity to prepare to list on the ADX, the first being Bayanat AI.)

Only three years old, Presight AI has built a track record around large federal government projects. “These projects are not quite enterprise-scale right now – although they are quite large,” the CEO said. “We work hard to create recurring revenue contracts, usually 3-year terms.

“Our contract sizes are increasing – the net zero movement (on carbon emissions) presents a significant opportunity to use big data analytics for climate change initiatives. This is where we see future opportunities for multi-year contracts.”

Presight Ai is the holding company for several entities focused on artificial intelligence. (Sister entity Bayanat AI is also deeply involved in high tech, with self-driving services at its core.)

The space in which Presight AI operates “represents a $1.5 trillion addressable market across four sectors,” Pramotedham said. “As we ultimately (hyper)grow, what we do creates shareholder value.”

Outside the UAE, the company sees the best possibilities in Africa, as well as some Central Asian markets, many of which are in various stages of digitizing government services. In the near future, Presight AI’s influence may expand to South Asia.

Being part of the G42 hierarchy really helps, with visibility and influence. G42 just invested $100 million in ByteDance, the company behind TikTok. This is indeed high profile.

Plus, there’s the G42’s new connection to Mercedes-AMG Petronas’ F1 team. Racing is another field of sports that Presight AI wants to focus on a large amount of data analysis…