The Future of Sports: Kyle Lindsey Of World Wide Technology On The New Emerging Technologies That Are Disrupting The World Of Sports
“Nothing, however, delights the mind as much as loving and loyal friendship”. — Seneca. As is life, business is a team sport. Making close personal friendships in my professional life is a key to a long-lasting and enriching career. I am blessed to work with a great many people whom I have considered close friends for multiple decades. I would never trade those friendships for titles or more money, there are worth so much more.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Kyle Lindsey. Kyle has spent the last 25 years bridging the gap between the worlds of Engineering, Sales, and Business Development. Actively listening to understand the business challenges his customers face and helping them attain success in successfully utilizing amazing new technologies.
In his current role, he has the privilege of working with some of the largest Service Providers in the US and the most innovative Video Game companies in the world. Partnering with them on complex multivendor solutions that focus on advanced technologies including Multi/Hybrid Cloud, Custom Software Development, AI/ML, XR/AR/VR, Virtualization and xOps.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Technology and video games have been some of my core passions from an early age. I remember getting so frustrated as a kid that I could not get Choplifter to work on my Commodore 64, that I spent many hours getting it to work. Then that sense of accomplishment that I was finally able to play the game. That is one of those points in my life that I can look back on and say that is why I do what I do today. When it was time for college, I was planning on becoming a graphic artist. In one of my meetings with my counselor, he asked me a key question, do I like technology and video games that’s what brought me to think that I could do technology for a career. It’s funny, I remember very clearly him saying there is this thing called the internet and it is going to be a big deal.
When I graduated, I went to work for Cisco Systems instead of going the startup route. I have always wondered how things would have turned out if I took that other path. I spent 20 years at Cisco in a variety of roles and primarily focused on service providers and how to provide internet and video entertainment. I was really drawn to how we bring these exciting experiences into our homes.
Five years ago, I moved to World Wide Technology. It has been a distinct pleasure of working at such an amazing company and being able to focus on the convergence of immersive technologies and how to bring those into our homes and sporting venues. I am also fortunate to continue my love of video games by working with some of the largest video game companies in the world, as well as with professional sports like racing and golf.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I had the great opportunity to work on several exciting projects over the years. One that stands out was working with a large service provider in the early days of high-speed data services and migrating from some legacy technologies. We were doing a late-night cut over and things were not going well. We were getting to the end of the maintenance window when we realized that we had to revert, or “hundreds” of people were going to lose their internet access. That number sounds so small now, but I remember that being unimaginable to impact that many people.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I have been a big fan of Stoicism for most of my adult life and I have one quote that has been written on my whiteboard for the last couple of years. “We suffer more in imagination than we do in reality” from Seneca. It helps me to keep myself grounded and not overthink life and professional challenges.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are so many people that have helped me and been with me along the way. We are lucky with our current team at WWT, many of us have been working together for over 20 years. That being said, if I was to call out a couple of individuals it would have to be my wife Rebecca and our three sons, Devin, Seth, and Cole. I am a family guy at heart, and my wife and I have been married for 30 years next year and they have been my rock through it all.
Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Please allow me a little leeway on this one. I am a podcast junkie. I really believe it is one of the best mediums to gain new knowledge. A couple of the ones I am listening to now are Building the Open Metaverse, a16z, and Daily Tech News Show on a technical side. I like the Reason Roundtable for my political news fix. I also really enjoy Tim Ferris’s Podcast. He has such an eclectic group of people that he interviews on his podcast that covers the whole range of the human experience.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I was thinking about this question from the angle of being a successful business leader and what it is to be a successful human, so I took it from the human angle. The reason for this is that I think being a successful human should be a prerequisite to being a successful business leader.
- Be a life-long learner and embrace curiosity. I’ve always been curious about how things work, I remember taking apart many of my parent’s electronics just to try to figure out how they work, usually much to the unhappiness of my dad. That has not changed much as an adult in my career. I am always trying to figure out the underlying technologies that I work with on a daily basis. Much of my work right now includes AR headsets. It is so fascinating to dig into the technologies that create this AR magic. I don’t use the word magic lightly. I love the quote from Arthur C. Clarke “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. So, I get to work with magic every day.
- Consider that variety is the spice of life. While I love technology, I also like working with my hands building and fixing things. In my free time, I am rebuilding a 1964 Convertible Bug. Most weekends I am working on building projects at my home. In the evenings I like to work on improving my drawing skills by working on new techniques. Add to that martial arts, wakeboarding, and hiking. I like to think you should try it all, you never know what interests will stick.
- Finally, I think it is critical to be a good person. This usually comes in several forms from taking care of your family and contributing to society as a whole. Being a good friend. Giving back to the community. I try to work with several non-profits. Participate in Habitat for Humanity builds and teach at Junior Achievement events.
At the end of the day, I don’t believe that my legacy is how much money I have made or the level you reach in your company. It is how many people you have made a positive impact in their lives.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I have been working with the Adaptive Spirit organization for over the last 10 years in a variety of roles. Adaptive Spirit is a large fundraising organization for the US Paralympic Ski and Snowboard team. It is made up of many leaders in the telecommunications space. These passionate, dedicated, and fun group of people bring this event together every year and has been able to raise over $14 million since it began. In my involvement, I have been able to share this wonderful organization with leaders in our industry and more importantly build close relationships with those amazing athletes.
It is also exciting to see how we can tie in these new Immersive and Metaverse technologies to the work we are going to do for 2023 event.
Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about the sports technologies that most excite you at the moment? Can you explain why you are passionate about it?
I am really excited to see how professional sports and these new Metaverse technologies will merge. We at WWT have been able to be at the forefront of some of these experiences. We with our partners at ForwARdgame created RaceAR where you can interact with the World Wide Technology Raceway in AR at the upcoming Enjoy Illinois 300. The team created a bunch of fun gamification elements that layer onto a real race track. That not only opens the door to new and exciting ways to interact with professional racing, but it also has the ability to bring in younger viewers to the sport. We also created GolfAR for the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. We were able to bring the one of a first of its kind AR experience onsite into a Tour event. It is opening so many avenues to use immersive 3d technology into sports.
One of the I am passionate about the intersection of technology and sports is how it will be younger fans into sports. GenZ and younger have grown up in a digitally native world where the ability to interact with the world is an expectation, not a nice to have. We can bring these Immersive technologies to engage with this generation.
How do you think this might change the world of sports?
When you think of watching sports at home, it is just that, a passive experience. I am so excited to think about the possibilities of interacting with sports in new ways by leveraging these new XR technologies. Imagine you are at home and the QB of your team throws a deep post, but there was an open receiver on the other side of the field. Now you can put on your AR/VR headset and change the play. Leveraging multiple new technologies like computer vision, AI/ML, and XR, you can show your buddy how you are right and the QB should have gone with the short pass.
It will personalize sports to a level never before seen. Having the ability to focus in on one car in a race or one golfer throughout a tour event. These XR technologies will bring details and statistics that are customized and specific to you and will layer on these details graphically in real-time using 3d.
I even think about how these things will trickle down into amateur, college, and even kids’ sports. Think about how amazing it will be when you can use your phone to be able to see the speed of the ball on the last kick your kid made to score the game-winning goal.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I don’t see the Metaverse as some dark dystopian future. There will be many challenges, but I am mostly positive about how these XR technologies can be leveraged. We have had many conversations with our World Wide Technology and ForARdgame teams on how we can leverage things like AR with the younger generation. To get them outside and interact, learn and exercise by leveraging AR specifically. Just look at how many steps were created chasing Pokemon while playing Pokemon GO.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the sports industry today? Can you explain? What can be done to address or correct those concerns?
I work with several companies in the Esports world. I still see a stigma associated with Esports as it relates to professional sports. We have a ways to go to get Esports to be recognized as a legitimate sport. We recently had the opportunity to attend a large Esports tournament and I can tell you that it was as exciting as any professional sporting event I have been to.
I would like to see more press on Adaptive and Paralympic sports and would love to see it recognized further. These athletes and the challenges they have had to overcome to play sports at these elite levels is such a huge accomplishment.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
I mentioned earlier that I am interested in Stoic Philosophy, so I would look to what advice Epictetus or Seneca would have given.
- “Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary” — Marcus Aurelius. We only have a brief moment in this world. The stoics had this idea of memento mori, remind yourself every day of death. It can sound a little dark, but that one thought will give you clarity on making sure you are focused throughout the day on what is important, both professionally and personally. What is important to accomplish at any given moment. Don’t waste the precious time that you have been given.
- “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best from yourself”- Epictetus. Focus on what giving your best means and do it, don’t focus on other people.
- “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.” — Epictetus. I was once up for a large promotion and new role that I was passed over. It was a real setback for me that took a while to get over. I did not have any control over the decision and spent way too much time focusing on choosing to be negative. That was such a waste of time since new doors were soon open that lead me to the amazing job I have today.
- “Nothing, however, delights the mind as much as loving and loyal friendship”. — Seneca. As is life, business is a team sport. Making close personal friendships in my professional life is a key to a long-lasting and enriching career. I am blessed to work with a great many people whom I have considered close friends for multiple decades. I would never trade those friendships for titles or more money, there are worth so much more.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
My son was diagnosed with cancer last year and I joined the world that no one would ever want to join, that of pediatric cancer. Spending last year in the cancer wing of the children’s hospital I got to see firsthand the impact on kids. Being stuck in a small part of a hospital behind locked doors for days, weeks, and sometimes months while there are going through chemo is scary for these kids. While the Oncologists are looking for cures, I want to see those of us on our side of technology look for ways to improve the lift of the kids while they are in the hospital. How can we leverage Esports? Can we use VR so a kid can be courtside for an NBA game with their family? Can we use AR to play games in the hospital room?
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I am really excited to see the work that Epic Games are doing with Unreal Engine 5. I do believe that it is going to be a gamechanger when it comes to real-time 3d rendering not only in video games but also when it comes to looking forward to what a Metaverse could be. I would love to sit down with Tim Sweeny the CEO of Epic Games and pick his brain on how he views the future of the Unreal Engine and more specifically how he sees it playing its role in the future of the Metaverse.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-lindsey-1001
Company
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
The Future of Sports: Kyle Lindsey Of World Wide Technology On The New Emerging Technologies That… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.