AI Inside the Milwaukee Bucks: How The City's NBA Team Is Using Tech To Win Off the Court.
Guests Brooke Casazza and Michael Dairyko give an honest and interesting take on AI, data, and tech in sports.
Brooke Casazza’s quick bio:
Leads the Bucks’ revenue-generating tech stack, everything that drives ticket sales, marketing, and fan engagement, plus shapes the organization’s enterprise AI strategy from governance to real-world application.
Came up through AT&T and Samsung with a gift for making tech easily understandable, which landed her in the Bucks’ IT team as the bridge between business problems and technology solutions.
Michael Dairyko’s quick bio:
Oversees a three-pronged analytics operation covering data science, business intelligence, and market research, all focused on the fan experience and the business of basketball.
Holds a PhD in applied mathematics from Iowa State, got recruited into sports via our Milwaukee Brewers, and landed at the Bucks after being handed a business card mid-conversation at a networking event.
Can Mike predict when someone is going to retire from basketball?
Claude’s interview summary:
Brooke and Mike share how the Bucks think about AI as a productivity and revenue driver that touches everything from ticket sales and concessions to fan engagement.
The majority of Bucks fans will never set foot in the Fiserv Forum so the team is building a connected digital ecosystem to engage, personalize, and delight fans wherever they are.
From a PhD in applied mathematics (Mike) to a career in cell phone sales (Brooke), their career paths into sports tech were anything but linear and their advice for the next generation is refreshingly practical.
Both see Milwaukee at an inflection point where investing in data, technology, and local talent could flip the script on brain drain and make the city a serious tech destination.
I almost got lost heading to the interview.
When one has the opportunity to visit the global HQ of our beloved Milwaukee Bucks, one must hustle to make it happen. Being late isn’t an option. And this is coming from someone who just mishandled their calendar and missed a meeting with Bill Davidson from THE Harley-Davidson, another beloved Milwaukee brand.
So, I left early for this interview with the Bucks and I’m lucky I did. I have zero map reading skills. So I new I was doomed when a map was provided to me in an effort to make it easier to locate the Bucks front door. However, after about twenty minutes of searching, I did make it there on time.
Anyway, enough about me and my shortcomings.
Because after all, I did get in and then I got to spend time inside the sacred place with Brooke Casazza, Director of Sales and Marketing Enablement, and Mike Dairyko, Senior Director, Business Strategy and Analytics.
Here’s what happened.
How AI started at the Bucks.
Before the Bucks built anything with AI, they asked a simple question: what is AI? Brooke, who leads the Buck’s enterprise AI strategy, said that getting clarity around that question was the top priority.
You see, she’s getting bombarded with sales calls every day from people selling AI tools. So the team had to cut through the noise and get aligned on the problems they were actually looking to solve, and what responsible use looked like inside their organization.
Most Bucks fans will never step foot in the arena.
Though a definite eye opener, this is just one of the insights that drives a lot of what the Bucks are building.
Whether it’s the frictionless checkout experience inside the Fiserv powered by computer vision, or the personalized digital touch-points for fans who only follow the team from their couch (i,e. me), the Bucks are thinking about the entire connected ecosystem not just the 18,000 people in the seats on a game night.
The data goes deeper than you’d think.
Mike, who holds a PhD in applied mathematics and spent time at the Milwaukee Brewers before joining the Bucks, oversees a business analytics operation that spans data science, Power BI dashboards, market research, and even HR analytics.
Interestingly, it’s NOT about what’s happening on the court.
It’s all about running a smarter business. From staffing the arena efficiently and understanding the voice of the fan to helping sales and marketing teams make faster, better decisions.
Think about it. The Bucks are using an enormous amount of data and analyzing that data to make sure every way you interact with the team brings you value.
Quick note: Let’s hear it for Concurrency and Secure Compliance Solutions! Their financial support keeps the Experience Milwaukee machine running so I can bring stories like this to life!
So how did Brooke and Mike land these jobs?
Brooke sold cell phones. Mike wanted to be a math professor. Neither planned on ending up in sports.
But both landed here because they could take complex problems and translate them into language that moves people to action.
Their advice for anyone trying to break into tech? Be curious. Ask questions. Build in public = don’t be afraid to try things and to get feedback on those things.
Oh, and don’t wait until you have all the answers before you walk into the room.
Like I’m hearing from all of my guests lately, Milwaukee is at a tech inflection point.
Both Brooke and Mike see potential in Milwaukee.
The talent is here. The industries are here. What’s been missing is the willingness to treat technology as a strategic function, not just a support function.
The Bucks are trying to model what that looks like.
And if more Milwaukee companies follow, both believe the brain drain to Chicago, New York, and LA starts to slow down.
Hell yeah.
Here’s the full conversation with Brooke and Mike.
You can also listen on Spotify here.