Olympics AI Engagement Forum

AI in Sport Has Entered Its Defining Decade. The Cost of Poor Governance Will Be Measured in Trust, Safety and Competitive Integrity

When the International Olympic Committee convened its first Olympic Movement AI Engagement Forum in Lausanne this month, it sent a clear message to every federation, club and organising committee: AI is no longer a future scenario. It is now part of the competitive, medical and commercial infrastructure of global sport. And if you do not govern it, it will govern you.

The Forum gathered partners from Deloitte, Samsung, Allianz, Omega and others to tackle a simple question with enormous consequence: How do we support athletes, protect fair play and safeguard sport at scale in an era defined by data, automation and intelligence?

Sarah Walker put it bluntly.This Forum is about more than technology; it’s about people. We're bringing leaders together to share what’s working and what’s next, guided by a shared goal: to ensure AI is used responsibly while keeping athletes at the heart of our decisions. It's an important step in building a future for sport that is both innovative and human (Olympics.com, 2025).

This is the line that every sports organisation should sit with. Because AI is now shaping the athlete journey from talent pathways to training optimisation to judging accuracy. At the same time it is reshaping integrity work, injury prevention, anti doping, cyber abuse detection and mental health support. The benefits are enormous. So are the risks.

Kompass Sport works at this intersection: where innovation meets oversight, where opportunity meets accountability, and where governance becomes the engine for trust.

The Olympic AI Agenda and What It Means for the Rest of the Sports Ecosystem

The IOC’s new Olympic AI Agenda is not just a statement of intent. It is a governance blueprint. It follows Olympic Agenda 2020 and Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and recognises something sport has avoided naming out loud: AI will transform every facet of operations, and without oversight the consequences will land on athletes first.

The Agenda highlights two realities.

First, AI is already deeply embedded across the Olympic Movement.During Paris 2024, AI tools protected athletes from cyber abuse in real time. Judging was supported by automated precision metrics. Broadcasters used AI for intelligent replay and athlete tracking. Organisers used predictive analytics to plan logistics and manage energy consumption.

Second, the sector has no unified approach to identify risk, evaluate systems, or ensure compliance with rapidly tightening global rules. Europe has the most mature regulatory environment, but the US is moving quickly on synthetic media, consent requirements, biometric data protection and sporting integrity. Commercial partners are embedding AI into apparel, timing, wearables and athlete engagement tools faster than regulators can respond.

This combination creates the most important strategic question in sport: Who carries the legal, reputational and financial liability when something goes wrong? Not the tech provider. Not the sponsor. The organising body.

The ROI Case for Responsible AI in Sport

Kompass Sport supports organisations that want to stay ahead of regulation and ahead of risk. For high performance programmes, governing bodies and event organisers, the ROI falls into four categories.

Compliance certainty

The coming wave of regulation touches athlete data, biometrics, mental health information, injury analytics and synthetic media. Failing to comply is not a theoretical hazard. It threatens funding, insurance, sponsorship and public legitimacy. Investing in governance now is significantly cheaper than responding to a regulatory breach later.

Risk reduction

AI introduces new classes of operational, ethical and safety risk. The organisations that build oversight systems early can prevent integrity scandals, scoring controversies and preventable harm. This risk reduction has a measurable financial benefit: fewer legal exposures, fewer sponsor exits and more stable operations.

Performance advantage

When AI is used responsibly, it accelerates talent identification, improves training efficiency and enables medical teams to make better decisions. The key word is responsibly. Systems that are poorly trained, poorly monitored or biased create unfairness and erode confidence. Governance is the key to unlocking performance gains without compromising fairness.

Trust

Trust is now the currency of modern sport. Athletes, parents, sponsors, fans and regulators all expect transparency in how data and AI systems are deployed. Organisations that can prove they are responsible will attract more talent, more partners and more public credibility.

If trust collapses, so does the business model. Governance is how you protect both.

Why the IOC’s Direction Matters for Federations Everywhere

The IOC is signalling what every sports body will soon be required to do: develop clear governance frameworks, establish oversight committees, train staff in responsible AI use and ensure that any system affecting athletes is tested, monitored and accountable.

The Olympic AI Agenda also reminds us that the future of AI in sport is not a solo effort. It requires coordination across international federations, national committees, athlete groups, partners, and event organisers. This is where the sector has fallen behind. There is extraordinary innovation but very little shared structure.

Kompass Sport helps close that gap.

What Kompass Sport Brings to Organisations Preparing for the AI Era

Our work supports leadership teams that want to move from good intentions to operational clarity. We help sports organisations:

• Build AI governance frameworks aligned with global standards• Establish oversight systems that protect athletes and ensure fair competition• Conduct risk and readiness assessments• Implement safety and integrity protocols for AI supported

• Support compliance with the EU AI Act, GDPR, athlete data protection laws and emerging US and UK rules

• Train staff, coaches, medical teams and administrators in responsible AI use

• Prepare organisations for sponsor expectations around accountability and safety

• Build trust with athletes, parents, regulators and the public

Sport is entering a new era. AI is not the threat. The threat is adopting AI without governance.

The IOC has set the direction. The sector now needs partners who can turn principles into practice and translate oversight into real competitive, financial and safety benefits. That is the work of Kompass Sport.

When sport gets AI right, the result is simple: safer athletes, cleaner competition, stronger trust and a healthier business model built for the next decade