Tech startups team up to develop AI solution for sports betting industry

 Cognistx, an applied-AI startup, has teamed up with Broward-based Odds On Compliance to  develop a  solution providing access to comprehensive, up-to-date regulatory information  on sports betting and iGaming. Cognistx, a spinout of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, has also opened an office in Miami.

Their solution, PlaybookAI, is a natural language processing technology that gives users speedy search functionality for U.S. and state regulatory documents for the sports betting and iGaming industry. By posing a simple question, users can quickly pull up the exact place in a statute or regulation where that information lives. This is key, because the fast-growing gaming industry is regulated state-by-state and the regulations are changing constantly.  

“PlaybookAI exemplifies just how AI can help businesses efficiently find answers to compliance inquiries as well as relevant text for their queries – quickly. This is a powerful and important step forward,” said Sanjay Chopra, co-founder and CEO of the Pittsburgh-based Cognistix. “We’re empowering businesses with the information they need, guaranteeing access and removing obstacles that impede growth.”

Sanjay Chopra is co-founder and CEO of Cognistx

Odds On Compliance is based in Parkland and founded in 2021. Now with 25 employees, it is a global technology and consultancy firm specializing in sports betting, iGaming, and gambling compliance and regulatory frameworks, and it builds its own technology, said founder and CEO Eric Frank, a lawyer who was who previously a global compliance officer for the largest online poker company in the world.

Sports betting is a fast-growing, multi-billion industry in the US. It is legal in 32 states and 23 of them have online sports betting, Frank said. Due to pending litigation, sports betting currently is paused in Florida.

To serve that industry, Odds on Compliance rolled out Playbook, its first of a kind  SaaS product serving as a comprehensive virtual gateway to regulatory documents for big players like FanDuel and DraftKings as well as smaller players such as gaming upstarts, investment banks and gaming consultants. When the company sought to add AI to the product, it turned to Cognistx.

 “Keeping up with the increased amount of regulation and understanding the distinctions between states has been a pain point for the industry. Playbook and PlaybookAI help solve that problem,” Frank said.

Eric Frank is CEO and co-founder of Odds On Compliance

Cognistx’s AI tech is game-changing because of the level of access it provides Odds On Compliance users. It also uses machine learning so the system will learn and get smarter over time.  Cognistx, now with 32 employees, has applied its AI tech in other industries, such as information security, drug discovery, aerospace and logistics/supply chain, for a variety of solutions, “We are profitable, we are growing. We have opened offices in Miami and Seattle,” said Chopra.

Chopra is also part of Odds On Compliance’s advisory board and will be spending more time in the new Miami office, which also includes Roberto Pareja, director of finance and business development.

Follow Nancy Dahlberg @ndahlberg on Twitter and email her at [email protected]

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