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Wimbledon’s ‘hidden court 19’ uses IBM Bob to complete 10 years’ work in months

IBM unleashed its artificial intelligence-driven software development technology in preparation for the latest Wimbledon tennis tournament

Karl Flinders
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Published: 22 Jun 2026 5:00

IBM has harnessed artificial intelligence (AI) to convert feedback from tennis fans into the latest digital services that sit behind the upcoming grand slam at Wimbledon.

A tool known as IBM Bob has enabled the supplier to complete 10 years’ worth of development work in just 9 months.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) has worked with IBM since the early 1990s, with the first website for Wimbledon grand slams in 1995, the first app in 2009 and the initial use of AI in 2017.

But the speed of technology advancement, driven by AI, is set to see digital developments come thick and fast. IBM has a team of people working on the technology for the Wimbledon tournament year-round, as part of the contract with AELTC, which was extended in January.

This year’s tournament will see the fruition of two years’ work by IBM, which began with extensive user research, and benchmarking. “Last year, [we were] speaking to people in the queue about our design ideas for different user personas, to understand if they were resonating,” said Fred Baker, associate partner at IBM Consulting. “These are really important decisions that we put the right care into, and we benchmark against other organisations we work with and what’s working with their designs and their digital experiences.”

This year will see a “fully modernised and redesigned” Wimbledon app and wimbledon.com website, which use IBM’s Watsonx AI-powered capabilities, as well as enhancements to user features.

Usama AL-Qassab, marketing and commercial director at AELTC, said that while there were around 500,000 fans onsite during the two-week tournament last year, there were another 730 million or so who engaged with the tournament from outside of the grounds. “The way to do that is through both traditional broadcasts and, more importantly now, via digital channels,” he said.

“We got 18 billion impressions last year, many of which were through the digital channels and through the innovations that we’ve designed across our multiple platforms alongside partners, like IBM.”

IBM Bob

While the work has been going on for two years, the actual software development was done in nine months, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

Baker said: “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.”

IBM Bob, an AI-powered tool that supports developers through the entire software development lifecycle, supports teams in what Kameryn Stanhouse, vice-president of global sports and entertainment partnerships at IBM, described as: “Court 19, the hidden court that nobody realises [is] where all of this incredible technology is being brought to life.”

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

The tool looks at all online assets, around15,000, including photos, videos, articles, and it learns the relationship they have with one another and how they are interconnected.

“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.”

According to Stanhouse, for IBM, the work “serves fans a living, breathing case study of what our capabilities are”.

It puts IBM’s technology in the hands of consumers normally oblivious to their engagements with the IT giant’s enterprise technology.  “A lot of people interact with our technology every day and have no idea about it. But through what we do with the AELTC, we put IBM technology in people’s hands and they’re able to touch and feel and be inspired about what’s possible when they work with us.”

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