How Seattle Orcas turned a missed airport pick-up into AI revolution

In July 2024, Pakistan fast bowler Zaman Khan landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for his maiden stint with Seattle Orcas in Major League Cricket. Travelling alone and unfamiliar with both the country and the language, he cleared immigration and attempted to contact Jagan Nemani, then Seattle Orcas' Vice President of Operations, for details regarding his airport pick-up. Nemani was in a meeting and missed the first few calls. Growing anxious after repeated attempts went unanswered, Khan walked out of the arrivals terminal without collecting his luggage.

By the time Nemani returned the call, he connected Khan with the driver, who had been waiting with a placard.

The episode was hardly isolated. Throughout the first three MLC seasons, Nemani and his skeletal operations staff found themselves consumed by logistical firefighting. Airport pickups, departures, vehicle availability, hotel check-ins, per diem allocations, travel itineraries and schedule changes occupied nearly 80% of their working hours for a travelling contingent of over 40 players and staff.

Unlike IPL franchises with large support staffs, MLC teams operate on tighter budgets. But for an organisation backed by technology industry innovators, being trapped in administrative chores came as a culture shock.

Out of that necessity was born Yorka, Seattle Orcas' homegrown AI assistant. What began as a solution to operational headaches has evolved into cricket's first fully integrated AI agent ecosystem, handling nearly 80% of the operational workload of running a professional sports franchise.

Flight bookings, hotel reservations, ground transportation, per diem processing, event scheduling, reminders, physiotherapy appointments and player logistics are now largely orchestrated by Yorka.

"We call our AI agent Yorka, which also happens to be our mascot," says Nemani, now the franchise's Chief Product Officer.

"The AI agent knows exactly when a cricketer is flying from which airport. It tracks the flight and before landing, checks if a driver's details have been assigned. If not, it reaches out to the transportation company, updates records and shares details with the team manager. So as soon as the cricketer lands, he receives a WhatsApp message saying, 'Welcome. Your driver's name is this, number is this, you're at this terminal, baggage claim is on this belt and you're staying at this hotel.'"

Yorka manages the entire player lifecycle, from signing until departure. When a travel agent uploads a ticket, Yorka reads the itinerary, calculates duration, books hotel rooms, arranges transportation, calculates per diem payments and emails the CFO. It alerts the merchandise manager about clothing sizes and flags additional kit requirements.

"Every morning at 6:30, it tells you what your next 48 hours look like," Nemani says. "It knows if you have a customer event, marketing commitment, photo shoot or recovery session. One hour before every event, it reminds you. Imagine the calls I used to get. A resounding zero now."

Before joining the Orcas, Nemani served as Head of Innovation at Vertafore. Given both his background and the technology pedigree of Seattle's ownership group, innovation was perhaps inevitable.

"We have a lot of technology founders among our owners," Nemani explains. "In technology businesses, the Chief Product Officer owns the entire customer experience. Our founders felt the same philosophy should apply to a cricket team because our product is our team."

The true value of Yorka lies in time reclaimed. Hours once consumed by operational firefighting are now channelled into strengthening player and staff experience.

Former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor, associated with the Orcas since the inaugural season, offered a telling glimpse this year. Fresh off a 30-hour journey from Auckland to Dallas, Taylor headed straight from the airport to an Orcas game where around 20 sponsor representatives were waiting. For nearly an hour, he answered every question with warmth and enthusiasm, patiently shaking hands before departing.

That is where Yorka's significance truly lies. The technology may handle flights, hotels and reminders, but its real value is freeing humans to focus on relationships, interactions and moments that define a sports franchise.

"The Seattle Orcas have shown what's possible. Their AI agents now run 80% of day-to-day operations so people can focus on culture and performance. With team backers like Satya Nadella and Shantanu Narayen, and league partners like Cognizant and VTEX, MLC isn't just growing the game in the USA – we're building the most technologically advanced T20 league in the world." — Johnny Grave, CEO, Major League Cricket

After about 1,200 features and 80,000 lines of code, Nemani's phone is quieter, but the franchise runs more seamlessly than ever.