Scoutables Founder, MLB Analytics Pioneer
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Ari is a leading figure in sports analytics, having worked with over half of all MLB organizations and many global sports media organizations during his 30 seasons in baseball. He received Caltech's "Alumni of the Decade" distinction for pioneering groundbreaking sabermetrics used to evaluate pitcher talent. Kaplan has received great recognition for his work in baseball analytics, Sports Illustrated named Ari a "Top Ten General Manager Candidate", Crain's Chicago Business Journal included him in their annual "40 Under 40" cover story and IBM Watson team a "Data Science Celebrity".
Kaplan is the founder of Scoutables with Fred Claire, the former World Champion Dodgers GM. Scoutables has provided advance scouting and analytics to broadcast and online media and over half of all MLB organizations. In 2010, Cubs owner Tom Ricketts brought in Kaplan to create and lead the organization's analytics department. During his tenure, Kaplan led the in-house analytical and technical transformation. Kaplan is has been a special assistant to GM of the Baltimore Orioles which included three post-season appearances in the past seven years. Taking this course will be similar to sitting in his office for one hour every week - it is an opportunity of a lifetime for baseball sabermetricians.
Ari is one of the few long-term baseball leaders with a proven track record at Fortune 500 companies, as well as successfully running several high-profile organizations as CEO or President. On the media front, Ari co-authored five best-selling books on analytics, databases, and baseball. Ari's work has been profiled on CNN, Chris Matthews, and the Today Show and one of his high-profile analytics projects was turned into a documentary on the History Channel.
Ari has traveled the world many times, consulting with the McLaren’s F1 race strategy team, using data, analytics and AI to help drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. He also has worked for years with IndyCar and IMSA teams including Mario Andretti and Robert McGennis.
