Ferrari taps IBM AI to cultivate F1 superfans

Two years ago, IBM noticed a significant gap in its sports partnership portfolio: Formula One.

Formula One has become one of the world's most popular sports, especially in the U.S., where Netflix's "Drive to Survive" documented the professional lives of F1 drivers and turned them into mainstream celebrities. The tech-centric sport has also become a prime target for technology companies like AWS, Oracle, and Anthropic, which partner with teams for sponsorship visibility and to provide data analytics and AI tools that offer a competitive advantage.

So when IBM set out to find its next major sports partner, it's no surprise that the company chose F1 and one of its most iconic teams, Scuderia Ferrari HP.

“They’re the most successful team in history,” Kameryn Stanhouse, IBM’s Vice President of Sports and Entertainment Partnerships, told TechCrunch.

At the core of this partnership, however, is what has prompted other teams to collaborate with tech giants: access to more advanced technology solutions that help them leverage artificial intelligence effectively. In fact, Stanhouse noted that one of the greatest advantages of sports is the abundance of data available, which can be used to help people become more comfortable with AI.

“They actually see how it serves them,” she said of how AI is used in sports storytelling.

The IBM-Ferrari partnership revolves around storytelling, aiming to boost fan engagement by revamping the technology behind the Ferrari fan app. To support this effort, Ferrari hired Stefano Pallard in the newly created role of “head of fan development.” He explained that the team’s challenge was not only to reach fans, but also “to make each of them feel like we know them.”

“That begins with capturing data from the track and transforming it into content that is easy to understand and engaging,” he told TechCrunch.

Teams process millions of data points per second during each race, capturing every movement of the driver and car. Converting this data into engaging content for fans is just one example of how advanced enterprise AI can help businesses improve their interactions with consumers.

Among the 11 teams, Ferrari is one of the few—alongside McLaren and Williams—to implement a standalone fan app strategy instead of relying solely on social media or official F1 platforms. This reflects how the sport is gradually beginning to leverage its expanding global fan base.

Image credit:IBM

Some changes to the Ferrari app were straightforward, such as adding an Italian language option. Despite Ferrari being an Italian company with many Italian fans, the fan app did not offer Italian until the partnership with IBM.

Stanhouse explained that the old Ferrari fan app was a destination where users would check race details and then leave. The new app features games that allow fans to play with others, AI-generated race summaries, additional behind-the-scenes content about the team and drivers, a prediction section, and an AI assistant for fans to ask questions.

“There are two drivers, but did you know it takes 24 people working together in just two seconds to change a tire?” Stanhouse said, adding that storytelling helps fans feel more connected to the team.

Unlike other sports apps IBM has developed, Stanhouse said the Ferrari app’s main focus is storytelling, as it aims to keep fans engaged year-round rather than just for a few weeks during events like the Masters. Engagement data for the app has been trending upward since IBM became involved, Stanhouse noted, citing a 62% increase in engagement over race weekends as an example.

Pallard said the team uses AI to analyze engagement signals within the app, such as which content users prefer to read and the sentiment of messages fans send.

“That helps us understand what resonates most with the Tifosi—the nickname for Ferrari fans—and it directly informs how we craft our storytelling and deliver content,” he said.

The team aims to delve deeper into personalization and develop more immersive fan experiences.

The app developers also considered Ferrari’s fan base, which is far more diverse than it was just five years ago. F1 released statistics last year showing that 75% of new fans were women, many of them from Gen Z. A particular attraction for women is the F1 Academy, an all-female racing series designed to nurture the next generation of women drivers. Yet these new fans, much like the old, want one thing: more.

“They are asking for more data, more insight, more features, and we have to be able to deliver that,” Pallard said. “With IBM, our vision for the next five years is to make every fan feel that the experience was designed just for them, whether they have been with us for 30 years or 30 days. That is how you build lasting loyalty.”