FIFA has selected Globant (NYSE: GLOB) to redesign its global fan engagement, transforming how football is delivered to and experienced by billions worldwide.

Key FIFA digital platforms will now enable a more “joined-up” experience for fans where their preferences are recognized across platforms and competitions. Powered by AI Pods by Glob.AI, these platforms will continuously learn from real-time data and generate new experiences for fans all year round, growing FIFA’s influence beyond single tournaments.

This announcement marks an exciting evolution in how FIFA leverages technology within this partnership. FIFA is embracing an AI-native, consumption-based model. Glob.AI brings together human-supervised AI agents based on Globant’s proven processes, forged over 23 years of enterprise software experience. All institutional knowledge generated is secured within a proprietary token vault, granting FIFA complete ownership of its data and future AI-driven innovations. Initial pilots with FIFA have already demonstrated a 20% efficiency increase in throughput generation while maintaining or improving quality rates .

With this new advanced technology implementation, FIFA is working to create a centralized digital ecosystem that learns and will be able to adapt in real time to improve core pillars of the match day and fan experience including:

• Unified Fan Identity: Strengthening FIFA ID as the connective tissue across all digital touchpoints, enabling the organization to recognize, reach and reward fans whether they’re watching from home or attending a match.
• FIFA website: Evolving FIFA.com into a personalized hub for fans, leading to personally relevant content.
• The FIFA Tournament App: Evolving a single, customizable platform that brings together schedules, real-time content and local host city insights for fans on the ground.

For the fan, this means a more human-centric experience: a single digital thread that connects their interaction with FIFA platforms and their attendance at FIFA tournaments, where their fandom is remembered and can be rewarded. Every touchpoint will be powered by specialized AI architectures, which will learn from each action in order to provide increasingly precise and efficient services.

For FIFA, this move will help to end the era of the “anonymous fan” by connecting disparate journeys through a single and actionable ecosystem. By consolidating first-party data and strengthening digital identity, FIFA will gain better insights about how global fans operate and how to enhance their football experience, applying this intelligence to future tournaments, content and commercial initiatives.

“Our goal is to ensure every fan experiences football in a personal way that deepens their emotional connection,” said Mattias Grafström, FIFA Secretary General. “With Globant’s continued innovation, we can hold our technology projects to a higher standard and develop a system that learns and adapts to the needs of our global audience. By keeping the needs of fans present at all times, we will create a more sustainable future for our game.”

“We’re working with FIFA to shape technology around the fan,” said Martin Migoya, Co-founder and CEO of Globant. “With our AI Pods powered by Glob.AI we are building on our five years of collaboration by implementing a whole new service delivery model that moves at the pace of fandom. Football is the world’s number one sport because it remains unpredictable and accessible to all; the human-assisted AI model is key for technology systems that scale quickly and deliver the always-on entertainment that fans expect.”

Cloudera, the only company bringing AI to data anywhere, today released its latest global survey, The Great AI Re-Architecture, revealing a fundamental shift in enterprise IT as organizations redesign their data architectures to meet the demands of AI. Based on responses from 1,500 Enterprise Architects, Cloud Infrastructure Leads, and Data Architects worldwide, the report finds that while AI adoption has become mainstream, legacy data architectures are increasingly limiting organizations’ ability to scale AI securely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

The findings point to a fundamental shift in enterprise IT architecture. While 77% of organizations are actively using AI, nearly all (95%) have delayed or canceled AI initiatives over the past year because of data governance, compliance, or regulatory challenges. To overcome these challenges, 72% say their current data architecture requires a significant overhaul to meet future AI requirements, suggesting today’s infrastructure was not built for the demands of modern AI.

Together, these findings highlight what Cloudera calls “The Great AI Re-Architecture”—the mass transition from legacy data architectures toward hybrid environments that enable organizations to bring trusted AI to trusted data, wherever it resides.

“This current era of AI is forcing organizations to rethink the foundations of their technology infrastructure,” said Sergio Gago, Chief Technology Officer at Cloudera. “Many enterprises are discovering that the architectures built for traditional analytics weren’t designed for the scale, governance, and flexibility AI demands today. Success will depend on building a data foundation that gives organizations the freedom to run AI wherever it makes the most sense, without compromising control or security.”

AI Is Driving an Enterprise Infrastructure Reset

AI has moved well beyond isolated pilot projects and is now embedded across enterprise operations. As organizations expand AI across the business, they’re placing mounting pressure on infrastructure that was never designed for AI at scale.

Three-quarters (75%) of respondents say AI integrations have changed their organization’s data storage and architecture practices, while 84% report increased infrastructure costs driven by AI workloads. Together, these findings suggest organizations are rethinking not only where data lives, but how it is managed, governed, and delivered to AI systems.

Governance Is Critical Infrastructure

As organizations scale AI, governance is becoming foundational to enterprise AI success. Earlier this year, Cloudera’s Data Readiness Index found that 75% of organizations said AI is exposing the limitations of their legacy governance processes. This latest research suggests those challenges are only intensifying as AI adoption grows.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents say AI has made data governance more complex, and more than half (55%) report delaying or canceling more than six AI projects over the past 12 months due to governance, compliance, or regulatory challenges.

The challenge is compounded by increasingly distributed data. Nearly every respondent (97%) reports moving data between environments at least monthly, making consistent governance across cloud, private cloud, on-premises, and edge environments essential for scaling AI securely.

Hybrid Architectures Become the New Enterprise Standard

Organizations are increasingly adopting hybrid architectures to balance performance, governance, cost, and flexibility, all of which are critical to modern AI success.

Two-thirds (66%) of respondents say they have moved AI workloads from public cloud environments back to private cloud or on-premises infrastructure during the past year, signaling a broader shift toward hybrid architectures that allow organizations to run AI workloads where they perform best.

Looking ahead, organizations are investing across cloud, on-premises, edge, and hybrid environments rather than relying on a single deployment model. One-quarter (25%) say they plan to prioritize a hybrid-first architecture over the next two years, reinforcing that the future of enterprise AI will be defined, in part, by flexibility rather than a single infrastructure strategy.

The Future of Enterprise AI Depends on Hybrid Data Architectures

AI adoption is no longer the differentiator; AI optimization is. Organizations that modernize their data architectures to govern data consistently and run AI wherever it makes the most sense will be well positioned to deliver scalable, secure AI and lasting business value.

As these themes take center stage at Cloudera EVOLVE Singapore next week, read the full report to learn how organizations are preparing their data foundations for enterprise AI.

Methodology

The survey, commissioned by Cloudera and fielded by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,500 Enterprise Architects, Cloud Infrastructure Leads, and Data Architects at companies with a minimum size requirement of 1,000 employees in all markets except Spain, Singapore, and South Africa, for which the company size minimum is 250 employees. The research was conducted in 3 Regions and 9 markets: Americas (U.S. (n600), Canada (n100), Brazil (n100)), EMEA (South Africa (n100), Spain (n100), U.K. (n200)), and APAC (Singapore (n100), India (n100), Japan (n100)) between June 5th and June 22nd, 2026, using an email invitation and an online survey.      

Zahid Group, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading diversified business groups spanning heavy equipment, energy, transport and manufacturing, and others, has selected Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company, as the strategic foundation for its enterprise data and AI transformation, giving the Group a scalable way to strengthen governance, advance AI adoption, and elevate customer experiences enterprise-wide. The relationship was formalized during a signing ceremony at Zahid Business Park in Jeddah, launching a multi-year investment that will strengthen productivity and support technology-led growth in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

With Snowflake, Zahid Group’s Digital Solutions Division is unifying data from across its business streams and departments on a governed, secure, centralized and scalable lakehouse platform. A modern business intelligence ecosystem will give leaders faster access to information, enabling them to spend less time reconciling reports and more time acting on insights. The next phase will use Snowflake Cortex AI to enable employees to engage with data through natural language, reducing reliance on traditional reporting and shortening the path from question to decision.

Snowflake’s adoption at Zahid Group comes as Saudi Arabia accelerates its goal of becoming the Middle East’s leading AI infrastructure and technology hub. The Council of Ministers has designated 2026 as the Year of AI, and PwC estimates that AI could contribute around 12.4% of the country’s GDP by 2030.

Before adopting Snowflake, Zahid Group’s data was dispersed across multiple systems, requiring extensive manual consolidation and resulting in reporting inconsistencies that slowed decision-making. As an early proof of value, the Caterpillar Helios initiative demonstrated the power of secure, real-time data sharing through Snowflake. Building on this foundation, Zahid Group is now extending Snowflake’s capabilities across its digital ecosystem, enabling real-time data streaming and integration with core platforms such as Infor and Salesforce.

This connected architecture has standardized critical reporting processes, reducing month-end reporting cycles from days to hours, and in many cases minutes. By eliminating manual effort and improving data consistency, it provides leaders with timely, trusted insights that support faster decision-making and strengthen a culture of data-driven innovation.

Suzan Sadek, Group IT Manager, Zahid Group, said: “Data is one of the most valuable assets of the digital economy. By choosing Snowflake, we are building a trusted and scalable data foundation that enables AI-driven innovation, faster decision-making, and improved customer experience. This transformation strengthens Zahid Group’s competitiveness, while supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 ambition to create a data-driven economy.”

Michel Nader, General Manager for the Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Snowflake, said: “Zahid Group is demonstrating how trusted data can become the foundation for enterprise AI at scale. Snowflake brings information closer to customers while providing leading AI capabilities to enable digital transformation across Zahid’s operating environment. We are proud to support the company’s next phase too, where employees can access trusted insights faster and strengthen the Group’s ability to create lasting and scalable value across its businesses.”

Looking ahead, Zahid Group will expand Snowflake’s platform’s role across the Group, extending governed data products, advanced analytics and AI capabilities into more business functions to deliver measurable value for customers, partners and employees.