速度与远见，正在重塑赛车运动的未来。
内容总结：
【科技赋能赛车运动新纪元：Formula E携手印孚瑟斯以数据与AI重塑观赛体验】
当国际汽联电动方程式世界锦标赛（Formula E）于2014年在北京奥林匹克公园完成首秀时，全电动赛车运动尚处实验阶段。十年间，这项赛事已发展为覆盖150个国家的全球性娱乐品牌，不仅推动着技术革新，更引领着体育文化的变革。
“明年即将推出的Gen4赛车，其表现将令人惊叹，甚至可能让人们对电动车的性能认知产生颠覆。”Formula E首席技术与信息官丹·切罗布里尔表示。这种“颠覆”不仅体现在赛道上。通过与全球数字服务商印孚瑟斯（Infosys）的合作，Formula E正以数字化转型重新定义“粉丝”的含义。
从实时排行榜、预测工具，到根据粉丝偏好（无论是车手对决还是电池性能）生成的个性化赛事叙事，双方利用AI平台打造出如比赛般动态的观赛体验。“技术不仅满足期待，更在提升整体体验，让运动更具包容性。”印孚瑟斯首席技术专家罗希特·阿格尼霍特里指出。
AI同样深刻改变着赛事运营。切罗布里尔坦言，过去是技术部门“推着”全公司使用新系统、上云，如今AI工具已让各部门主动“敲门”寻求应用。这种转变在提升效率的同时，也助力赛事践行可持续发展承诺。机器学习工具帮助优化全球电池运输的碳足迹路径，远程制作技术大幅减少了人员差旅排放，并促进了团队成员的多元化与工作灵活性。
“我们的目标很明确：助力Formula E成为全球最具数字化与可持续性的赛车运动。”阿格尼霍特里强调。随着Gen4赛车的临近与AI驱动的“赛事中心”等互动平台上线，这项以电动化、数据化为基因的赛事，正为体育娱乐、技术创新与环境责任的协同发展提供前瞻范本。
中文翻译：
赞助内容
速度与远见者正在重塑赛车运动
印孚瑟斯首席技术专家罗希特·阿格尼霍特里与FE电动方程式锦标赛首席技术与信息官丹·切罗布里尔表示，从预测性分析到个性化粉丝体验，数据和人工智能正驱动着下一代赛车运动的发展。
与印孚瑟斯联合呈现
2014年，ABB国际汽联FE电动方程式世界锦标赛在北京奥林匹克公园举办了首场比赛，当时全电动赛车运动的概念仍近乎实验性质。电池尚无法支撑完整赛程，车手不得不在比赛中途更换车辆。仅仅十年多之后，FE电动方程式已发展成为一个在全球150个国家转播的全球性娱乐品牌，同时推动着体育领域的技术创新与文化变革。
"Gen4，也就是下一代赛车，将于明年亮相，"FE电动方程式首席技术与信息官丹·切罗布里尔表示。"你将看到一款令人印象深刻的赛车，它将促使我们重新思考电动汽车是否已准备就绪。它实际上更快——甚至超越了传统的[内燃机]赛车。"
这种加速不仅发生在赛道上。通过与印孚瑟斯的合作，FE电动方程式的数字化转型正在重新定义"粉丝"的含义。"这是一场让赛车运动对新世代而言触手可及且激动人心的运动，"印孚瑟斯首席技术专家罗希特·阿格尼霍特里说道。
从实时排行榜和预测工具，到适应每位粉丝最关心内容（无论是车手竞争还是电池性能）的个性化故事线，FE电动方程式和印孚瑟斯正在利用人工智能驱动的平台，创造与比赛本身一样充满活力的粉丝体验。"技术不仅仅是满足期望；它是在提升整个粉丝体验，让这项运动更具包容性，"阿格尼霍特里表示。
人工智能也在改变该组织自身的运营方式。"历史上，我们常常需要走遍公司，敲开每个人的门，拉着他们走向技术，让他们使用系统，让他们把东西迁移到云端，"切罗布里尔指出。"而人工智能所做的是彻底扭转了这一局面，现在人们主动找上门来，敲我们的门，因为他们想用这个工具，想用那个工具。"
随着观众日益多元化、期望不断演变，FE电动方程式也是可持续创新的一个典型案例。机器学习工具如今帮助确定跨大洲运输电池的最低碳排放方式，而远程转播制作则大幅减少了差旅排放，并使公司员工队伍构成更加民主化。这些进步展示了数字智能如何能在不增加碳足迹的情况下扩大影响力。
对切罗布里尔而言，体育、可持续性与技术的这种融合仅仅是个开始。凭借其在性能、体验和影响力方面数据驱动的方法，FE电动方程式正为我们提供一瞥，展示娱乐、创新和环境责任如何能够协同并进。
"我们的目标很明确，"阿格尼霍特里说。"帮助FE电动方程式成为世界上最具数字化和可持续性的赛车运动。未来是电动的，而有了人工智能，它比以往任何时候都更具吸引力。"
本期《商业实验室》节目由印孚瑟斯合作制作。
完整文稿：
梅根·塔特姆：这里是《麻省理工科技评论》，我是梅根·塔特姆，欢迎收听《商业实验室》节目。本节目帮助商业领袖理解从实验室走向市场的新技术。
ABB国际汽联FE电动方程式世界锦标赛，全球首个全电动赛车系列赛，于2014年在北京奥林匹克公园首次亮相。十多年后的今天，它已发展成为一个拥有10支车队、20名车手、在150个国家转播的全球娱乐品牌。技术对于FE电动方程式如何驾驭如此规模，以及如何提供更强大的个性化体验至关重要。
两个关键词：提升粉丝体验。
我今天的嘉宾是印孚瑟斯首席技术专家罗希特·阿格尼霍特里，以及FE电动方程式首席技术与信息官丹·切罗布里尔。
本期节目由印孚瑟斯合作制作。
欢迎，罗希特和丹。
丹·切罗布里尔：你好。谢谢邀请我们。
梅根：丹，正如我刚才提到的，ABB国际汽联FE电动方程式世界锦标赛的首个赛季于2014年启动。你能跟我们谈谈这十年来，首个全电动赛车运动是如何演变的吗？在规模、运营市场以及当然还有受众方面，它发生了哪些变化？
丹：当FE电动方程式在2014年启动时，道路上几乎没有家用电动汽车。如果你来自伦敦，可能记得的是混合动力的普锐斯；那才是我们当时真正了解的。那时，他们无法获得足够大的电池让一辆车完成整场比赛。所以第一代赛车，在最初几个赛季，车手不得不在比赛中途进站，从一辆车出来，换进另一辆车，然后继续比赛。这在现在听起来近乎滑稽，但为了推动创新，进入下一阶段，当时必须这样做。
四年后，到了Gen2时代，他们有了足够大的电池来开始完整的比赛，并真正使其成为一项出色的运动。Gen3时代，他们追求真正的速度并实现了目标。Gen4将于明年到来，你将看到与一级方程式赛车相当的加速度。我有幸看到了一些测试。你将看到一款令人印象深刻的赛车，它将促使我们质疑电动汽车是否已准备就绪。它实际上更快，甚至超越了传统的内燃机赛车。
这是赛车的技术层面。但如果你再看看这项运动本身，以及人们如何参与其中、粉丝群体及其人口结构，过去11年发生了巨大变化。我们即将进入第12个赛季。在过去11年里，人们获取内容的方式以及他们对内容的需求已经完全民主化了。随着新一代粉丝的涌现，这代粉丝更年轻，性别更多元化。我们的粉丝基础中男女比例已接近50:50。他们希望获得个性化的内容，并且对他们想要的方式和期望的体验要求很高。你不能再只是给他们一场比赛，让所有人看同样的东西。我们需要为他们量身打造。这就是过去11年来发生的那种变化。
梅根：短短十多年间变化巨大，不是吗？要驾驭这一切。我想知道，罗希特，印孚瑟斯在与FE电动方程式合作时的战略计划是什么？印孚瑟斯从这项年轻的运动中看到了什么？
罗希特：是的，梅根，这个问题问得很好。当我们审视FE电动方程式时，我们看到的不仅仅是一项赛车锦标赛。我们看到的是未来。一项电动、可持续且数字优先的运动。这正是印孚瑟斯希望立足的地方——技术、创新与使命的交汇点。我们的计划有三大目标。第一，扩大粉丝基础。FE电动方程式希望到2030年拥有5亿粉丝。这不仅仅是一个数字。这是一场让赛车运动对新世代而言触手可及且激动人心的运动。为了实现这一目标，我们正在构建一个由人工智能驱动的平台，为粉丝提供个性化内容，让每位粉丝都感到被连接和重视。想象一下，东京的一位粉丝获得为其最喜爱车手量身定制的比赛洞察，而伦敦的另一位粉丝则获得对他有意义的可持续性故事。这就是我们追求的个性化水平。
第二，推动技术创新。我们已经推出了数据统计中心，将比赛数据转化为互动故事。很快，比赛中心将通过实时排行榜、赛道地图、超车、攻击模式时间线，甚至人工智能生成的实时解说，将体验提升到新的水平。粉丝将不仅仅是观看，他们可以互动、预测领奖台结果，并在全球范围内分享他们的观点。第三，支持可持续性。FE电动方程式已经实现净零排放，但现在他们的目标是到2030年将碳排放减少45%。我们将通过人工智能驱动的可持续性数据管理来实现这一目标，追踪每一瓦能源、每一个物流决策，并建模各种场景，使比赛更加环保。与一项年轻的运动合作，使我们有机会塑造其数字未来，并展示技术如何能让赛车运动既激动人心又富有责任感。对我们而言，FE电动方程式不仅仅是一项运动，更是关于世界走向何方的宣言。
梅根：太棒了。5亿粉丝，这是个巨大的数字，不是吗？而规模越大，往往期望也越高。丹，我知道你在第一个问题中稍微提到了这一点，但你的粉丝现在真正希望从互动中获得什么？你能多谈谈他们正在寻找什么样的体验吗？同时，实现这些体验的复杂性有多大？
丹：我认为，关于现代粉丝的一个非常能说明问题的事实是，我可能无法告诉你他们想要什么样的体验，因为这是因人而异的，对每个人来说都是独特的。
梅根：当然。
丹：而且变化很快。一个人这个月想要的，可能和几个月后想要的不同。我们必须学会适应这一点。我的CTO头衔，我们常常把重点放在中间的技术上。这就是"T"的含义。实际上，如果你仔细想想，它是"持续转型官"。你不断地试图改变你提供的内容和提供的方式。因为粉丝们会接触到新的体验，他们会在其他运动中，有时甚至不是在运动中，而是在外部发现这些体验，然后他们就会期望你也能提供。那么，我们如何能让他们更多地参与到这项运动中，获得更个性化的体验，了解其中的运动员、个性和角色呢？我们是一项非常以技术为中心的运动。很多赛车运动都是如此，但说真的，人们想看的是人，对吧？即使是技术，他们也想看到人与技术的互动，问题是如何将其展示出来给人们看。
梅根：是的，这绝非易事。罗希特，你曾与多个品牌合作，在不同的体育项目中提供这类粉丝体验。考虑到粉丝观看赛车比赛的原因不仅仅是输赢——他们可能关注团队动态、特定车手、引擎构造等等——赛车运动是否比其他运动更复杂？赛车运动相比之下如何，因此FE电动方程式拥抱技术来管理期望有多重要？
罗希特：是的，这是个有趣的观点。赛车运动绝对比其他运动更复杂。粉丝不仅关心谁赢了，有些人关注团队策略，有些人喜欢车手间的竞争，还有很多人对汽车技术着迷。FE电动方程式又增加了一层——可持续性和电动创新。这使得个性化变得非常重要。粉丝想要的不仅仅是结果。他们想要故事和洞察。FE电动方程式很早就理解了这一点，并拥抱了技术。
想想一场比赛背后的数据：单圈时间、能源使用、电池性能、攻击模式激活、进站策略……数据量巨大。如果你只是展示原始数字，会让人不知所措。但借助印孚瑟斯Topaz，我们将这些数据转化为简单而引人入胜的故事。粉丝可以看到一位车手如何从第10名奋起直追登上领奖台，或者一个团队如何更好地管理能源以获得优势。对于新粉丝，我们正在比赛中心添加解说视频和互动工具，以便他们轻松了解这项运动。这很重要，因为FE电动方程式还很年轻，许多粉丝是第一次发现它。技术不仅仅是满足期望；它是在提升整个粉丝体验，让这项运动更具包容性。
梅根：这里涉及的内容非常多。FE电动方程式已经在哪些其他方面应用了生成式人工智能和其他新兴技术？丹，比如当我们谈到对更个性化体验的需求时。
丹：我看到人工智能在我们这里的应用分为三个领域。首先是运动内部的人工智能。这是我们运动的基因。现在，每支车队都在使用它，但我们作为一个锦标赛如何也能利用它？如何使其成为一个竞争格局？其次，是面向粉丝的产品中的人工智能。这是我们与印孚瑟斯重点合作的领域，但我们也将其应用于转播产品中。举个例子，你可能听说过超慢动作摄像机。超慢动作摄像机基本上是通过将三台摄像机放在完全相同的位置，从而获得三倍的帧率，然后你可以从中制作慢镜头。它们过去非常昂贵，而且摄像机体积庞大，安装不便。我们现在使用人工智能对传统摄像机拍摄的画面进行帧间插值，使其变成超慢动作图像，而你几乎看不出区别。现在，这样做的好处是，意味着每台摄像机现在都可以成为超慢动作摄像机。
梅根：哇。
丹：在其他方面，我们也在图形产品中少量使用它，我们迭代并使用它来处理诸如显示车手音频等事情。当车手在车库中与工程师通话时，我们现在会在屏幕上显示该文本。我们使用人工智能来实现这一点。我们使用人工智能来区分车手与其他车手、车队工程师或车队负责人，并以非常好的方式展示出来。
我们无法手动做到这一点。我们的规模不够大，无法拥有一支24人的速记员团队来打字。我们必须使用人工智能才能做到。这确实帮助我们实现了增长。最后一点是，我们如何在业务中使用它。因为最终，我们拥有粉丝，拥有这项运动，但我们也在运营一个企业，我们必须搭建这些赛道并在全球各地移动，我们所有员工都需要到达指定地点。我们有保险需要处理所有这类事情，我们在这一领域大量使用人工智能，特别是在涉及对我们有碳排放影响的事情上。
比如我们的货运和差旅。我们正在使用人工智能工具来告诉我们，例如一个电池，我们应该空运吗？应该海运吗？应该陆运吗？或者我们应该准备很多个？这取决于具体情况。一个电池，如果很重，你可能会认为不应该空运。但实际上，由于其内部材料、制造它的原材料，空运反而更好。我们使用人工智能来处理所有这些不同的复杂计算，这些计算对于人来说很难快速完成。
梅根：听起来正在进行一些非常有趣的事情。当然，对于一个全球品牌来说，在不同市场运营也面临挑战。你刚才提到了在全球范围内移动一切。每个市场都有自己关于数据隐私、人工智能的法律框架。技术如何帮助你们应对所有这些挑战，丹？
丹：关于人工智能，另一个非常有趣的事情是……我担任技术领导职务已经有一段时间了。历史上，我们常常需要走遍公司，敲开每个人的门，拉着他们走向技术，让他们使用系统，让他们把东西迁移到云端等等。而人工智能所做的是彻底扭转了这一局面，现在人们主动找上门来，敲我们的门，因为他们想用这个工具，想用那个工具。我们正努力满足所有这些需求，看到人们如此热衷，真是令人欣喜。人工智能总体上推动了技术的采用，这对业务非常有帮助。
梅根：丹，作为世界上首个全电动赛车系列赛，可持续性显然是FE电动方程式目标的核心基石。你能与我们分享一下，技术如何帮助你们在可持续性方面实现一些雄心壮志吗？
丹：我们是唯一拥有经认证的净零排放路径的体育赛事，我们必须保持这一部分。这是我们基因中非常核心的基本部分。我是我们管理团队的一员。那里也有一位可持续性副总裁，她检查和挑战我们所做的一切。她审视我们使用的数据中心，我们为什么使用它们，我们为什么做出这些决定，以确保我们出于正确的原因和正确的方式做出所有决定。我们主要通过两种方式专门嵌入技术。一是我们之前稍微提到的货运。整个FE电动方程式锦标赛的货运量可能相当于一支一级方程式车队，但这仍然是我们影响最大的部分。所以我们研究如何确保我们优化了货运，将空运和海运量降至最低，并尽可能使用本地资源。这也是我们关于投资于我们比赛所在社区的承诺的一部分。
第二点是关于我们员工的差旅。在过去的四到五年里，我们完成了一项非常重要的工作，部分是在新冠疫情期间加速完成的，即远程工作和远程电视制作。传统上，你会派一百多人飞往赛道，然后他们在现场的卡车里制作电视节目，再通过卫星从场地分发出去。现在，我们所做的是建立一些互联网连接，双重且多样化的互联网连接，我们将每一台摄像机的信号都流式传输回来。
梅根：明白了。
丹：这意味着在现场，我们只需要摄像师。其中一些实际上是远程操作的，但我们需要摄像师，以及一些工程团队来确保一切正常运行。然后，在我们位于英国伦敦的总部，我们有远程制作中心，在那里我们添加导播、图形、音频、回放、车队无线电等所有那些增添色彩、制作节目并增加大量人员的环节。我们现在全部远程完成。实际上，这很有趣。所以这是碳可持续性的故事，但由此还产生了进一步的ESG（环境、社会和治理）部分，我们在开始时并未真正考虑到，那就是通过这样做，我们员工队伍的多样性。我们发现，直到大约30岁，我们拥有一支相当年轻、同样多元化的员工队伍。然后一旦过了那个年龄，我们发现我们正在失去女性员工，这确实是因为她们不想出差。
梅根：是的。
丹：那是人们开始生孩子的年龄，事情开始发生变化。然后我们有一些男性员工代替出差，他们见不到自己的孩子，这在某种程度上造成了不必要的分离。但通过远程工作，通过让我们如此多的人能够远程……即使他们必须出差，他们也不是每周都出差。他们现在是每三周出差一次。他们能够在维持家庭生活方式的同时，继续从事他们想要的职业和工作。而且，让人们在那种环境下工作，也能做出更好的产品。
梅根：这是一个非常有趣的视角，不是吗？这是环境可持续性与社会可持续性相交汇的一种方式。罗希特，你的工作也非常有趣。罗希特，你能分享一下印孚瑟斯与FE电动方程式合作的方式吗？在技术角色方面，正如我们所说，如何推进那些关于可持续性的雄心壮志？
罗希特：是的。印孚瑟斯理解可持续性是FE电动方程式的核心，这也是此次合作意义重大的重要原因。FE电动方程式已经获得净零排放认证，但现在他们有一个雄心勃勃的目标，即将碳排放减少45%。印孚瑟斯通过两种方式提供帮助。首先，我们构建了由人工智能驱动的可持续性数据工具，使碳报告准确且可追溯。每一瓦能源、每一个物流决策、每一种材料使用都可以被追踪。其次，我们使用预测分析来建模各种场景，例如改变比赛物流或电池技术如何影响排放，以便FE电动方程式能够做出更智能、更环保的决策。对我们而言，这是将可持续性从一份报告转化为一项行动计划，并使FE电动方程式成为绿色赛车运动的全球领导者。
梅根：2025年4月，FE电动方程式与印孚瑟斯合作推出了其数据统计中心，为粉丝提供互动式访问其车手和车队表现、关键里程碑和故事线的平台。我知道你之前提到过这一点，但我想知道，罗希特，你能多谈谈该平台的设计，以及它如何融入FE电动方程式更广泛的个性化粉丝体验计划吗？
罗希特：当然。数据统计中心是一个巨大的进步。在此之前，粉丝可以在网站和移动应用上访问基本统计数据，但没有任何东西能讲述完整的故事，我们想改变这一点。基于印孚瑟斯Topaz构建的数据统计中心，利用人工智能将比赛数据转化为互动故事。粉丝可以探索适应比赛时间线的关键数据卡片，甚至可以与人工智能助手聊天以获得即时答案。这就像指尖上有一位个人比赛分析师。我们正在走得更远。明年，我们将推出比赛中心。它将包含实时数据板、显示每位车手位置的2D赛道地图、超车和更多攻击模式时间线，以及人工智能生成的解说。粉丝可以预测领奖台结果，投票选出比赛最佳车手，并在社交媒体上分享他们的观点。此外，我们正在为新粉丝添加视频解说，涵盖规则、策略和汽车技术。我们的目标很简单：让每一刻都激动人心且易于理解。无论你是铁杆粉丝还是第一次观看FE电动方程式，你都会感到参与其中并信息灵通。
梅根：太棒了。听起来很棒。正如你所解释的，丹，利用数据和人工智能在提供深度粉丝体验方面能带来巨大好处，但也可能使你们面临一些挑战。FE电动方程式是如何应对这些挑战的？
丹：人工智能时代给我们带来了两个重大挑战。一是传统的SEO，传统的搜索引擎优化，已经过时了，对吧？你现在需要考虑的是，我们如何设计和构建我们的系统，以及如何用正确的内容和数据填充它们，以便搜索引擎能够正确抓取和显示？基础模型的构建方式以及它们更新的速度和节奏，意味着很多时候……我们是一个变化非常快的组织。我们的产品变化很快。通常，模型跟不上。这是因为它们是在某个时间点被训练的。随着时间的推移，大型组织、大型科技公司会解决这个问题。但目前，我们必须做的是，我们必须学习如何展示我们面向粉丝、面向网络的产品，以正确显示信息。这完全取决于拥有真正准确的第一方内容，实质上是赢得的媒体。这是我们需要做的部分。
那么第二种挑战是，遗憾的是，虽然这些工具对我们所有人开放，并且我们正在有效地使用它们，但技术领域的另一部分也是如此，那就是随之
英文来源：
Sponsored
The fast and the future-focused are revolutionizing motorsport
From predictive analytics to personalized fan experiences, data and AI are powering the next generation of motorsport, says Rohit Agnihotri, principal technologist at Infosys, and Dan Cherowbrier, CTIO of Formula E.
In partnership withInfosys
When the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship launched its first race through Beijing’s Olympic Park in 2014, the idea of all-electric motorsport still bordered on experimental. Batteries couldn’t yet last a full race, and drivers had to switch cars mid-competition. Just over a decade later, Formula E has evolved into a global entertainment brand broadcast in 150 countries, driving both technological innovation and cultural change in sport.
"Gen4, that's to come next year," says Dan Cherowbrier, Formula E’s chief technology and information officer. "You will see a really quite impressive car that starts us to question whether EV is there. It's actually faster—it's actually more than traditional [internal combustion engines] ICE."
That acceleration isn’t just happening on the track. Formula E’s digital transformation, powered by its partnership with Infosys, is redefining what it means to be a fan. “It's a movement to make motor sport accessible and exciting for the new generation,” says principal technologist at Infosys, Rohit Agnihotri.
From real-time leaderboards and predictive tools to personalized storylines that adapt to what individual fans care most about—whether it's a driver rivalry or battery performance—Formula E and Infosys are using AI-powered platforms to create fan experiences as dynamic as the races themselves. "Technology is not just about meeting expectations; it's elevating the entire fan experience and making the sport more inclusive," says Agnihotri.
AI is also transforming how the organization itself operates. "Historically, we would be going around the company, banging on everyone's doors and dragging them towards technology, making them use systems, making them move things to the cloud," Cherowbrier notes. "What AI has done is it's turned that around on its head, and we now have people turning up, banging on our door because they want to use this tool, they want to use that tool."
As audiences diversify and expectations evolve, Formula E is also a case study in sustainable innovation. Machine learning tools now help determine the most carbon-optimal way to ship batteries across continents, while remote broadcast production has sharply reduced travel emissions and democratized the company's workforce. These advances show how digital intelligence can expand reach without deepening carbon footprints.
For Cherowbrier, this convergence of sport, sustainability, and technology is just the beginning. With its data-driven approach to performance, experience, and impact, Formula E is offering a glimpse into how entertainment, innovation, and environmental responsibility can move forward in tandem.
"Our goal is clear," says Agnihotri. "Help Formula E be the most digital and sustainable motor sport in the world. The future is electric, and with AI, it's more engaging than ever."
This episode of Business Lab is produced in partnership with Infosys.
Full Transcript:
Megan Tatum: From MIT Technology Review, I'm Megan Tatum, and this is Business Lab, the show that helps business leaders make sense of new technologies coming out of the lab, and into the marketplace.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the world's first all-electric racing series, made its debut in the grounds of the Olympic Park in Beijing in 2014. A little more than 10 years later, it's a global entertainment brand with 10 teams, 20 drivers, and broadcasts in 150 countries. Technology is central to how Formula E is navigating that scale and to how it's delivering more powerful personalized experiences.
Two words for you: elevated fandom.
My guests today are Rohit Agnihotri, principal technologist at Infosys, and Dan Cherowbrier, CTIO of Formula E.
This episode is produced in partnership with Infosys.
Welcome, Rohit and Dan.
Dan Cherowbrier: Hi. Thanks for having us.
Megan: Dan, as I mentioned there, the first season of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship launched in 2014. Can you talk us through how the first all-electric motor sport has evolved in the last decade? How has it changed in terms of its scale, the markets it operates in, and also, its audiences, of course?
Dan: When Formula E launched back in 2014, there were hardly any domestic EVs on the road. And probably if you're from London, the ones you remember are the hybrid Priuses; that was what we knew of really. And at the time, they were unable to get a battery big enough for a car to do a full race. So the first generation of car, the first couple of seasons, the driver had to do a pit stop midway through the race, get out of one car, and get in another car, and then carry on, which sounds almost farcical now, but it's what you had to do then to drive innovation, is to do that in order to go to the next stage.
Then in Gen2, that came up four years later, they had a battery big enough to start full races and start to actually make it a really good sport. Gen3, they're going for some real speeds and making it happen. Gen4, that's to come next year, you'll see acceleration in line with Formula One. I've been fortunate enough to see some of the testing. You will see a really quite impressive car that starts us to question whether EV is there. It's actually faster, it's actually more than traditional ICE.
That's the tech of the car. But then, if you also look at the sport and how people have come to it and the fans and the demographic of the fans, a lot has changed in the last 11 years. We were out to enter season 12. In the last 11 years, we've had a complete democratization of how people access content and what people want from content. And as a new generation of fan coming through. This new generation of fan is younger. They're more gender diverse. We have much closer to 50-50 representation in our fan base. And they want things personalized, and they're very demanding about how they want it and the experience they expect. No longer are you just able to give them one race and everybody watches the same thing. We need to make things for them. You see that sort of change that's come through in the last 11 years.
Megan: It's a huge amount of change in just over a decade, isn't it? To navigate. And I wonder, Rohit, what was the strategic plan for Infosys when associating with Formula E? What did Infosys see in partnering with such a young sport?
Rohit: Yeah. That's a great question, Megan. When we looked at Formula E, we didn't just see a racing championship. We saw the future. A sport, that's electric, sustainable, and digital first. That's exactly where Infosys wants to be, at the intersection of technology, innovation, and purpose. Our plan has three big goals. First, grow the fan base. Formula E wants to reach 500 million fans by 2030. That is not just a number. It's a movement to make motor sport accessible and exciting for the new generation. To make that happen, we are building an AI-powered platform that gives personalized content to the fans, so that every fan feels connected and valued. Imagine a fan in Tokyo getting race insights tailored for their favorite driver, while another in London gets a sustainability story that matters to him. That's the level of personalization we are aiming for.
Second, bringing technology innovation. We have already launched the Stats Centre, which turns race data into interactive stories. And soon, Race Centre will take this to the next level with real time leaderboards to the race or tracks, overtakes, attack mode timelines, and even AI generated live commentary. Fans will not just watch, they will interact, predict podium finishes, and share their views globally. And third, supports sustainability. Formula E is already net-zero, but now their goal is to cut carbon by 45% by 2030. We'll be enabling that through AI-driven sustainability, data management, tracking every watt of energy, every logistics decision. and modeling scenarios to make racing even greener. Partnering with a young sport gives us a chance to shape its digital future and show how technology can make racing exciting and responsible. For us, Formula E is not just a sport, it's a statement about where the world is headed.
Megan: Fantastic. 500 million fans, that's a huge number, isn't it? And with more scale often comes a kind of greater expectation. Dan, I know you touched on this a little in your first question, but what is it that your fans now really want from their interactions? Can you talk a bit more about what experiences they're looking for? And also, how complex that really is to deliver that as well?
Dan: I think a really telling thing about the modern day fan is I probably can't tell you what they want from their experiences, because it's individual and it's unique for each of them.
Megan: Of course.
Dan: And it's changing and it's changing so fast. What somebody wants this month is going to be different from what they want in a couple of months' time. And we're having to learn to adapt to that. My CTO title, we often put focus on the technology in the middle of it. That's what the T is. Actually, if you think about it, it’s continual transformation officer. You are constantly trying to change what you deliver and how you deliver it. Because if fans come through, they find new experiences, they find that in other sports. Sometimes not in sports, they find it outside, and then they're coming in, and they expect that from you. So how can we make them more part of the sport, more personalized experience, get to know the athletes and the personalities and the characters within it? We're a very technology centric sport. A lot of motor sport is, but really, people want to see people, right? And even when it's technology, they want to see people interacting with technology, and it's how do you get that out to show people.
Megan: Yeah, it's no mean feat. Rohit, you've worked with brands on delivering these sort of fan experiences across different sports. Is motor sports perhaps more complicated than others, given that fans watch racing for different reasons than just a win? They could be focused on team dynamics, a particular driver, the way the engine is built, and so on and so forth. How does motor sports compare and how important is it therefore, that Formula E has embraced technology to manage expectations?
Rohit: Yeah, that's an interesting point. Motor sports are definitely more complex than other sports. Fans don't just care about who wins, they care about how some follow team strategies, others love driver rivalries, and many are fascinated by the car technology. Formula E adds another layer, sustainability and electric innovation. This makes personalization really important. Fans want more than results. They want stories and insights. Formula E understood this early and embraced technology.
Think about the data behind a single race, lap times, energy usage, battery performance, attack mode activation, pit strategies, it's a lot of data. If you just show the raw numbers, it's overwhelming. But with Infosys Topaz, we turn that into simple and engaging stories. Fans can see how a driver fought back from 10th place to finish on the podium, or how a team managed energy better to gain an edge. And for new fans, we are adding explainer videos and interactive tools in the Race Center, so that they can learn about their sport easily. This is important because Formula E is still young, and many fans are discovering it for the first time. Technology is not just about meeting expectations; it's elevating the entire fan experience and making the sport more inclusive.
Megan: There's an awful lot going on there. What are some of the other ways that Formula E has already put generative AI and other emerging technologies to use? Dan, when we've spoken about the demand for more personalized experiences, for example.
Dan: I see the implementation of AI for us in three areas. We have AI within the sport. That's in our DNA of the sport. Now, each team is using that, but how can we use that as a championship as well? How do we make it a competitive landscape? Now, we have AI that is in the fan-facing product. That's what we're working heavily on Infosys with, but we also have it in our broadcast product. As an example, you might have heard of a super slow-mo camera. A super slow-mo camera is basically, by taking three cameras and having them in exactly the same place so that you get three times the frame rate, and then you can do a slow-motion shot from that. And they used to be really expensive. Quite bulky cameras to put in. We are now using AI to take a traditional camera and interpolate between two frames to make it into a super slow image, and you wouldn't really know the difference. Now, the joy of that, it means every camera can now be a super slow-mo camera.
Megan: Wow.
Dan: In other ways, we use it a little bit in our graphics products, and we iterate and we use it for things like showing driver audio. When the driver is speaking to his engineer or her engineer in the garage, we show that text now on screen. We do that using AI. We use AI to pick out the difference between the driver and another driver and the team engineer or the team principal and show that in a really good way.
And we wouldn't be able to do that. We're not big enough to have a team of 24 people on stenographers typing. We have to use AI to be able to do that. That's what's really helped us grow. And then the last one is, how we use it in our business. Because ultimately, as we've got the fans, we've got the sport, but we also are running a business and we have to pick up these racetracks and move them around the world, and we have all these staff who have to get places. We have insurance who has to do all that kind of stuff, and we use it heavily in that area, particularly when it comes to what has a carbon impact for us.
So things like our freight and our travel. And we are using the AI tools to tell us, a battery for instance, should we fly it? Should we send it by sea freight? Should we send it by row freight? Or should we just have lots of them? And that sort of depends. Now, a battery, if it was heavy, you'd think you probably wouldn't fly it. But actually, because of the materials in it, because of the source materials that make it, we're better off flying it. We've used AI to work through all those different machinations of things that would be too difficult to do at speed for a person.
Megan: Well, sounds like there's some fascinating things going on. I mean, of course, for a global brand, there is also the challenge of working in different markets. You mentioned moving everything around the world there. Each market with its own legal frameworks around data privacy, AI. How has technology also helped you navigate all of that, Dan?
Dan: The other really interesting thing about AI is... I've worked in technology leadership roles for some time now. And historically, we would be going around the company, banging on everyone's doors and dragging them towards technology, making them use systems, making them move things to the cloud and things like that. What AI has done is it's turned that around on its head, and we now have people turning up, banging on our door because they want to use this tool, they want to use that tool. And we're trying to accommodate all of that and it's a great pleasure to see people that are so keen. AI is driving the tech adoption in general, which really helps the business.
Megan: Dan, as the world's first all-electric motor sport series, sustainability is obviously a real cornerstone of what Formula E is looking to do. Can you share with us how technology is helping you to achieve some of your ambitions when it comes to sustainability?
Dan: We've been the only sport with a certified net-zero pathway, and we have to stay that part. It's a really core fundamental part of our DNA. I sit on our management team here. There is a sustainability VP that sits there as well, who checks and challenges everything we do. She looks at the data centers we use, why we use them, why we've made the decisions we've made, to make sure that we're making them all for the right reasons and the right ways. We specifically embed technology in a couple of ways. One is, we mentioned a little bit earlier, on our freight. Formula E's freight for the whole championship is probably akin to one Formula One team, but it's still by far, our biggest contributor to our impact. So we look about how we can make sure that we've refined that to get the minimum amount of air freight and sea freight, and use local wherever we can. That's also part of our pledge about investing in the communities that we race in.
The second then is about our staff travel. And we've done a really big piece of work over the last four to five years, partly accelerated through the covid-19 era actually, of doing remote working and remote TV production. Used to be traditionally, you would fly a hundred plus people out to racetracks, and then they would make the television all on site in trucks, and then they would be satellite distributed out of the venue. Now, what we do is we put in some internet connections, dual and diverse internet connections, and we stream every single camera back.
Megan: Right.
Dan: That means on site, we only need camera operators. Some of them actually, are remotely operated anyway, but we need camera operators, and then some engineering teams to just keep everything running. And then back in our home base, which is in London, in the UK, we have our remote production center where we layer on direction, graphics, audio, replay, team radio, all of those bits that break the color and make the program and add to that significant body of people. We do that all remotely now. Really interesting actually, a bit. So that's the carbon sustainability story, but there is a further ESG piece that comes out of it and we haven't really accommodated when we went into it, is the diversity in our workforce by doing that. We were discovering that we had quite a young, equally diverse workforce until around the age of 30. And then once that happened, then we were finding we were losing women, and that's really because they didn't want to travel.
Megan: Right.
Dan: And that's the age of people starting to have children, and things were starting to change. And then we had some men that were traveling instead, and they weren't seeing their children and it was sort of dividing it unnecessarily. But by going remote, by having so much of our people able to remotely... Or even if they do have to travel, they're not traveling every single week. They're now doing that one in three. They're able to maintain the careers and the jobs they want to do, whilst having a family lifestyle. And it also just makes a better product by having people in that environment.
Megan: That's such an interesting perspective, isn't it? It's a way of environmental sustainability intersects with social sustainability. And Rohit, and your work are so interesting. And Rohit, can you share any of the ways that Infosys has worked with Formula E, in terms of the role of technology as we say, in furthering those ambitions around sustainability?
Rohit: Yeah. Infosys understands that sustainability is at the heart of Formula E, and it's a big part of why this partnership matters. Formula E is already net-zero certified, but now, they have an ambitious goal to cut carbon emissions by 45%. Infosys is helping in two ways. First, we have built AI-powered sustainability data tools that make carbon reporting accurate and traceable. Every watt of energy, every logistic decision, every material use can be tracked. Second, we use predictive analytics to model scenarios, like how changing race logistics or battery technology impact emissions so Formula E can make smarter, greener decisions. For us, it's about turning sustainability from a report into an action plan, and making Formula E a global leader in green motor sport.
Megan: And in April 2025, Formula E working with Infosys launched its Stats Centre, which provides fans with interactive access to the performances of their drivers and teams, key milestones and narratives. I know you touched on this before, but I wonder if you could tell us a bit more about the design of that platform, Rohit, and how it fits into Formula E's wider plans to personalize that fan experience?
Rohit: Sure. The Stats Centre was a big step forward. Before this, fans had access to basic statistics on the website and the mobile app, but nothing told the full story and we wanted to change that. Built on Infosys Topaz, the Stats Centre uses AI to turn race data into interactive stories. Fans can explore key stat cards that adapt to race timelines, and even chat with an AI companion to get instant answers. It's like having a person race analyst at your fingertips. And we are going further. Next year, we'll launch Race Centre. It'll have live data boards, 2D track maps showing every driver's position, overtakes and more attack timelines, and AI-generated commentary. Fans can predict podium finishes, vote for the driver of the race, and share their views on social media. Plus, we are adding video explainers for new fans, covering rules, strategies, and car technology. Our goal is simple: make every moment exciting and easy to understand. Whether you are a hardcore fan or someone watching Formula E for the first time, you'll feel connected and informed.
Megan: Fantastic. Sounds brilliant. And as you've explained, Dan, leveraging data and AI can come with these huge benefits when it comes to the depth of fan experience that you can deliver, but it can also expose you to some challenges. How are you navigating those at Formula E?
Dan: The AI generation has presented two significant challenges to us. One is that traditional SEO, traditional search engine optimization, goes out the window. Right? You are now looking at how do we design and build our systems and how do we populate them with the right content and the right data, so that the engines are picking it up correctly and displaying it? The way that the foundational models are built and the speed and the cadence of which they're updated, means quite often... We're a very fast-changing organization. We're a fast-changing product. Often, the models don't keep up. And that's because they are a point in time when they were trained. And that's something that the big organizations, the big tech organizations will fix with time. But for now, what we have to do is we have to learn about how we can present our fan-facing, web-facing products to show that correctly. That's all about having really accurate first-party content, effectively earned media. That's the piece we need to do.
Then the second sort of challenge is sadly, whilst these tools are available to all of us, and we are using them effectively, so are another part of the technology landscape, and that is the cybersecurity basically they come with. If you look at the speed of the cadence and severity of hacks that are happening now, it's just growing and growing and growing, and that's because they have access to these tools too. And we're having to really up our game and professionalize. And that's really hard for an innovative organization. You don't want to shut everything down. You don't want to protect everything too much because you want people to be able to try new things. Right? If I block everything to only things that the IT team had heard of, we'd never get anything new in, and it's about getting that balance right.
Megan: Right.
Dan: Rohit, you probably have similar experiences?
Megan: How has Infosys worked with Formula E to help it navigate some of that, Rohit?
Rohit: Yeah. Infosys has helped Formula E tackle some of the challenges in three key ways, simplify complex race data into engaging fan experience through platforms like Stats Centre, building a secure and scalable cloud data backbone for the real-time insights, and enabling sustainability goals with AI-driven carbon tracking and predictive analytics. This solution makes the sport interactive, more digital, and more responsible.
Megan: Fantastic. I wondered if we could close with a bit of a future forward look. Can you share with us any innovations on the horizon at Formula E that you are really excited about, Dan?
Dan: We have mentioned the Race Centre is going to launch in the next couple of months, but the really exciting thing for me is we've got an amazing season ahead of us. It's the last season of our Gen3 car, with 10 really exciting teams on the grid. We are going at speed with our tech innovation roadmap and what our fans want. And we're building up towards our Gen4 car, which will come out for season 13 in a year's time. That will get launched in 2026, and I think it will be a game changer in how people perceive electric motor sport and electric cars in general.
Megan: It sounds like there's all sorts of exciting things going on. And Rohit too, what's coming up via this partnership that you are really looking forward to sharing with everyone?
Rohit: Two things stand out for me. First is the AI-powered fan data platform that I've already spoken about. Second is the launch of Race Centre. It's going to change how fans experience live racing. And beyond final engagement, we are helping Formula E lead in sustainability with AI tools that model carbon impact and optimize logistics. This means every race can be smarter and greener. Our goal is clear: help Formula E be the most digital and sustainable motor sport in the world. The future is electric, and with AI, it's more engaging than ever.
Megan: Fantastic. Thank you so much, both. That was Rohit Agnihotri, principal technologist at Infosys, and Dan Cherowbrier, CITO of Formula E, whom I spoke with from Brighton, England.
That's it for this episode of Business Lab. I'm your host, Megan Tatum. I'm a contributing editor and host for Insights, the custom publishing division of MIT Technology Review. We were founded in 1899 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and you can find us in print, on the web and at events each year around the world. For more information about us and the show, please check out our website at technologyreview.com.
This show is available wherever you get your podcasts. And if you enjoyed this episode, we hope you'll take a moment to rate and review us. Business Lab is a production of MIT Technology Review and this episode was produced by Giro Studios. Thanks for listening.
This content was produced by Insights, the custom content arm of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by MIT Technology Review’s editorial staff. It was researched, designed, and written by human writers, editors, analysts, and illustrators. This includes the writing of surveys and collection of data for surveys. AI tools that may have been used were limited to secondary production processes that passed thorough human review.
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