“AI will shape the World Cup”: Kambi CEO predicts a major revolution in sports betting 

The next World Cup will be bigger than ever. More matches, more countries and thousands of additional live betting opportunities are putting the sector under enormous pressure. According to Simon Noy, artificial intelligence will determine which sportsbooks succeed and which fall behind. 

Kambi’s SVP Trading discusses the rapid evolution of sports betting. According to Noy, the 2026 World Cup will not only change football, but also the technology behind online betting. AI models are taking over more and more trading tasks, and that is fundamentally changing the sector. 

The scale of betting has completely changed 

When Noy started in the industry in 2008, sports betting mainly revolved around simple markets such as match winners or goalscorers. Today, the market looks completely different. 

“The range of options has grown exponentially,” said Noy. “Sportsbooks now support thousands of interconnected betting combinations.” 

According to him, live betting and cash out in particular have changed the relationship between player and bookmaker. Match betting has become faster, and players expect new betting opportunities during every match. 

For operators, this presents a huge challenge. Odds must be adjusted in real time whilst millions of combinations are processed simultaneously. 

AI now processes the majority of bets 

One striking figure from the interview illustrates just how rapidly the market is changing. By 2025, almost half of all bets within the Kambi network were already being priced and processed by AI. By 2026, that figure had risen to over 60 per cent. 

According to Noy, players’ interest is increasingly shifting towards complex bets involving live statistics, player data and combined markets. 

“AI makes it possible to manage betting offers that have simply become too big for humans to handle,” he said. 

During live matches, AI reacts to new data within milliseconds. Whereas sportsbooks used to close entire markets during unclear phases, Kambi can now adjust specific parts without shutting everything down. According to Noy, this keeps players engaged for longer. 

The 2026 World Cup will be a stress test for sportsbooks 

According to Noy, the expanded tournament presents entirely new challenges. With 48 nations and 104 matches, there will be far more betting opportunities than in previous World Cups. 

One-sided matches in particular will force sportsbooks to focus more heavily on player props such as assists, shots and fouls. In addition, Kambi expects massive growth in betting on extra time and penalty shoot-outs. 

During the Portugal v France match at Euro 2024, 17 per cent of all bets were already placed on penalty markets, despite the limited proportion of penalties in the total playing time. 

People remain crucial in trading 

Nevertheless, Noy does not believe that AI will completely replace human traders. 

“People will never become irrelevant in trading,” he said. 

According to him, the role of traders is shifting primarily towards strategy, product development and devising new betting formats. Technology is taking over repetitive tasks, whilst human expertise remains important during major sporting events such as the World Cup. 

For Noy, it is ultimately not just about marketing or bonuses. Operators who manage to retain players during the World Cup with strong products and fast technology will, in his view, be the biggest winners.