Sportradar Wednesday announced that Behshad Behzadi, a Google employee since 2006 and co-founder of products such as Google Lens and Google Assistant, has been named Chief Technology Officer and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, effective May 1.
Behzadi will be charged with driving the usage and adoption of AI and cutting-edge technology to enhance product offerings and deliver hyper-personalized experiences for sports fans. His experience in leading initiatives to improve internal operational efficiency will help optimize Sportradar’s processes, and drive innovation.
Behzadi will be based at the organization’s headquarters in Switzerland and report directly to Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl.
“We are proud to welcome Behshad, a world-renowned leader in harnessing generative AI and other advanced technologies, who marries a unique blend of technical expertise and business acumen,” said Koerl in a statement. “His proven track record in developing and commercializing product strategies to accelerate growth and innovation, as well as spearheading initiatives aimed at improving internal operational efficiency, will bolster our leadership position, keeping Sportradar at the forefront of technological advancement.”
Behzadi has over 20 years of experience as a computer scientist and global technology leader, with expertise in algorithms, search ranking, natural language processing, speech recognition, machine learning and generative AI. He earned a PhD in Bioinformatics from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, France, and did postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, Germany.
Behzadi joined Google Zurich in 2006 and has played a key role in Google’s AI-first strategy as co-founder of Google Assistant, Google Lens, Google Smart Display and the Next Gen Assistant, the mobile assistant technology with on-device machine learning.
Most recently, Behzadi led Google Cloud’s Conversational AI and Applied Generative AI initiative.
“Sportradar is an exceptional company and category leader operating at the global intersection of sports, technology and digital content,” Behzadi said. “I am very excited to join an organization that pushes the boundaries on technology and puts a premium on innovation. I look forward to working alongside Carsten, the rest of the executive management team and their talented group of creators to continue Sportradar’s history of innovation as the Company enters its next exciting chapter.”
