How Globant and LALIGA are Reinventing Sport with Agentic AI

AI is playing a growing role in sport. From the Women’s Rugby World Cup using Capgemini’s TryZone IQ to provide quick-thinking, contextualised stats to IBM AI being deployed across fan and player experience at Wimbledon, artificial intelligence is becoming part of the fabric of the industry.

A collaboration between LALIGA and Globant is the latest to join this trend, with the pair working together to position one of the world’s most successful football leagues as a global testbed for agentic AI-driven transformation.

As part of their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), LALIGA and Globant are partnering to reimagine how sports organisations operate, analyse performance and engage fans. 

The initiative builds on Globant’s AI Pods  – a subscription-based model that combines autonomous AI agents with human oversight to drive measurable outcomes. 

Globant’s AI Pods are powered by the company’s Enterprise AI platform, which already supports leading organisations in aviation, finance and entertainment.

“At LALIGA, we understand innovation as a strategic pillar for the future of sports,” says Javier Tebas, President of LALIGA.

 “This agreement allows us to incorporate artificial intelligence in a practical and transformative way, reinforcing our commitment to operational excellence and to an increasingly modern, efficient and fan-centric competition. 

“With this alliance, we take another step toward keeping LALIGA at the forefront of the industry.”

The rise of agentic AI

At its core, agentic AI refers to systems composed of semi-autonomous agents that collaborate, coordinate and self-improve within defined parameters. 

Unlike traditional ML models that respond passively to input, agentic systems act proactively – making decisions, escalating exceptions and even generating new workflows or insights.

Globant’s AI Pods are a real-world example of this. Each ‘pod’ functions as a dedicated unit made up of AI agents supervised by Globant’s specialists. 

Together, these pods provide continuous value creation – learning and improving through interaction with organisational data, human teams,and dynamic goals.

“LALIGA is taking a historic step by becoming the first global sports organisation to adopt agentic AI models to reinvent its business,” says Martín Umaran, EMEA President and Co-Founder of Globant.

“With this vision, not only will it achieve new levels of efficiency, but it will also open the door to innovations and outcomes that will forever transform how sport is managed, played and experienced.” 

The growth of Sportian

LALIGA and Globant’s collaboration leverages Sportian, a joint venture between the two companies dedicated to transforming the sports industry through technology. 

Sportian will design, deploy and orchestrate AI agents across key organisational domains such as player talent development, content creation, data analytics and operational management. 

Each agent will handle a specific function – analysing player tracking data to provide performance recommendations, generating real-time content for fans or automating internal workflows – all integrated into a single federated platform.

Sportian has built a reputation as one of the most ambitious technology enablers in global sport, with its client portfolio spanning more than 40 organisations across five continents – including the Saudi Pro League, Lega Serie A, Club América, MotoGP, ONE Championship and the Belgian Pro League. 

The new LALIGA initiative extends that reach, creating what may become the most comprehensive application of agentic AI in world sport.

Luis Ureta, CEO of Sportian, says: “With this agreement, we are supporting LALIGA on its innovation journey, reinforcing its position as a global benchmark in sport. 

“Through the integration of AI solutions and agentic models, together we will build the most efficient, scalable and transformative operating model in the global sports industry.”

Human-AI symbiosis in elite sport

The key to this alliance’s sustainability lies not only in AI deployment but in the fusion of data science and human expertise. 

For LALIGA, the AI Pods won’t simply automate decision-making but augment the insights of managers, analysts and operations teams. 

This mirrors an enterprise-wide movement toward co-intelligence – humans and machines forming dynamic partnerships for problem-solving and creativity.

“We are proud to begin a new chapter of collaboration between Globant and LALIGA,” Martín Migoya, CEO and Co-Founder of Globant, adds.

“This agreement, which supports our ability to carry out concrete and effective transformations, is also an example of how disruptive technologies drive sustainable value and how people, empowered by artificial intelligence, can redefine everything they set their minds to.”