Scoutables Founder, MLB Analytics Pioneer
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Ari is a leading figure in sports analytics, having worked with over half of all MLB organizations, Formula 1, NBA teams, World Baseball Classic during his 35 seasons in sports. He received Caltech's "Alumni of the Decade" distinction for pioneering groundbreaking sabermetrics used to evaluate pitcher talent. Sports Illustrated named Ari a "Top Ten General Manager Candidate", he is a DataIQ "Top 20 Influencer in AI", Crain's Chicago Business Journal included him in their "40 Under 40" cover story and IBM Watson team a "Data Science Celebrity".
In 2010, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts brought in Kaplan to create and lead the organization's analytics department. During his tenure, Kaplan led the in-house analytical and technical transformation. Kaplan has been special assistant to many GMs including the Dodgers, Orioles, Astros, Cardinals, Twins, and Expos. Taking this course will be similar to sitting in his office for one hour every week - it is an opportunity of a lifetime for baseball sabermetricians.
Ari is one of the few long-term baseball leaders with a proven track record at Fortune 500 companies, as well as successfully running several high-profile organizations as CEO or President. On the media front, Ari co-authored five best-selling books on analytics, databases, and baseball. Ari's work has been profiled on CNN, Chris Matthews, and the Today Show and one of his high-profile analytics projects was turned into a documentary on the History Channel.
Ari has traveled the world many times, consulting with the McLaren’s F1 race strategy team, using data, analytics and AI to help drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. He also has worked for years with IndyCar and IMSA teams including Mario Andretti and Robert McGennis. He is currently the global head of evangelism at Databricks, the leading data & AI company with a $44b market cap.
