Reading 'not starstruck' as PSG visit League One club for AI summit

Reading Head of AI Stuart Fenton says Paris St-Germain's visit to the League One club for a summit on the technology shows the progress the Royals have made.

The reigning European champions and Dutch giants Ajax are among the clubs participating in the conference at Reading's Bearwood Park training complex on Friday, a year after the Royals set up a pioneering AI department driven by new owner Rob Couhig .

"PSG won the Champions League last year, so it's super exciting that we get teams like that coming to Reading," Fenton told BBC Radio Berkshire.

"We're doing some really good things here but it's not in isolation. We want to hear what some of these top teams around the world are doing.

"It also puts Reading in the conversation with those kinds of people. Every football fan - I'm a Reading fan myself - dreams of those European nights playing these teams.

"We're having the conversation with them around AI in football and where football's going.

"That's a real testament to the programme we're running here and how much advancement we've made in the last year."

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Inspired by the success teams such as Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford have had through their use of data, Reading are using AI predominantly for recruitment but have also applied it to areas including tactics, retail and tending to the turf at their Select Car Leasing Stadium home.

"It's [about] creating the culture across the club where people are thinking differently - not how we can use it to replace humans, but how we can empower them and actually get them to do their job in a more effective way," said Fenton, who is the first Head of AI in English football.

"We've got some really talented people here but one of the big challenges is that data is huge in football.

"How do we use the AI and technology available to effectively streamline that data and give our team more information on players all across the world?

"Everyone thinks AI is like a light switch - you flick it and suddenly you're the world's most intelligent team. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it. The benefits for us compound across the club.

"I had our ground staff come to me yesterday saying they're now using AI when they're doing the grass cutting. The models are looking at grass protection. AI is giving them the best possible formulas [in terms of] what they need.

"It's impacting everything across the club. What really excites me is when somebody comes up to me and says 'Stu - I've had this idea. Can we do it?'

"We've already started putting certain things in place. It's creating that culture of innovation across a football team."

Premier League side Crystal Palace and Champions League club Como are among the visitors who will hear about Reading's work and share their insights, with the event also being used to launch a new programme between the club and Setanta College on sports technology and artificial intelligence.

"We're not starstruck by these teams," added Fenton. "The exciting thing is they're coming to us - we're not going to them."

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