Growing up in the Netherlands, American football was largely a foreign
concept to me. My version of football was The Beautiful
Game, or as most
Americans know it, soccer. Football, futbol, soccer, or
whatever else you call it, will always be something I’m deeply
passionate about, especially my hometown team, Ajax.
When I joined Amazon and Seattle became my new home, I began to see how
my colleagues shared this same level of passion for American football –
and particularly the fervent fans known as “The 12s” of the local team,
the Seattle Seahawks. As I started to better understand this version of
football, it was easy for me to get excited about the game as well as
what was happening behind the scenes. Coaching staffs, decision makers,
and even the announcers are using data to make real-time decisions, each
team constantly working to gain even a fraction of an advantage over its
opponent.
One of the things that I find most interesting about football is how the
evolution of technology is having an impact on its progression. In my
opinion, the Seahawks are one of the best examples of this, where they
have been at the forefront in adopting new technology, like machine
learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), and serverless architecture, to
make improvements from player safety to performance on the field.