How IBM's AI tool 'Bob' completed 10 years of Wimbledon development work in 9 months

IBM 's artificial intelligence tool has become a boon for Wimbledon . According to the tech giant, its AI-powered tool "Bob" helped deliver what it describes as 10 years' worth of software development work in just nine months. This has accelerated the rollout of new digital experiences for tennis fans ahead of this year's tournament.



The technology company said Bob played a key role in building the redesigned Wimbledon app and website, both of which use IBM's Watsonx AI capabilities. While the broader project involved two years of planning, user research and design work, IBM said AI significantly shortened the development phase.



“We’ve used AI to help us deliver what is effectively 10 years’ worth of development in the past nine months in time for this year’s championship. That wouldn’t have been possible with the team of 50 people, but it’s possible with a team of 50 people and a team of digital workers, which is what we refer to as IBM Bob,” Fred Baker, associate partner at IBM Consulting, told Computer Weekly.



IBM has worked with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club since the early 1990s, helping launch Wimbledon’s first website in 1995, its first mobile app in 2009 and AI-powered features beginning in 2017.



How IBM Bob accelerated Wimbledon development



According to IBM, Bob functions as an AI-powered assistant that supports teams throughout the software development lifecycle. Internally, the company refers to the technology initiative as "Court 19" — a reference to the behind-the-scenes work that powers Wimbledon’s digital platforms.



Kameryn Stanhouse, vice-president of global sports and entertainment partnerships at IBM, described it as: “Court 19, the hidden court that nobody realises [is] where all of this incredible technology is being brought to life.” Stanhouse said the tool enables developers to complete tasks that would traditionally require significantly more time and resources.



“IBM Bob helps them to do things in a matter of minutes that would take weeks,” he added.



One example involved the migration of digital content. IBM said Bob analysed approximately 15,000 online assets, including articles, photographs and videos, identifying how they were connected and organising them into a knowledge graph.



“We use it to create a knowledge graph of all these interactions online,” said Stanhouse. “And then we’re able to transfer all of those to the new platforms in 47 minutes. So, something that would take four or five specialists about two to three months to execute took [IBM Bob] about a week to develop and then 47 minutes to transfer the assets,” Stanhouse noted



The technology upgrade comes as Wimbledon continues to expand its reach beyond spectators attending the tournament in person. According to Usama Al-Qassab, marketing and commercial director at the AELTC, around 500,000 fans attended Wimbledon last year, while approximately 730 million people followed the tournament remotely through digital and broadcast channels.