Jack Williams on iTero, GIANTX, and the future of AI coaching in esports

iTero, the AI-powered teaching app from GIANTX (previously XL Esports) just lately hit the 1,000,000 obtain milestone. The milestone comes after a powerful interval of development following the 2024 acquisition by the LEC group.

The story of the corporate begins rather less glamorously, with Jack Williams, a former Deloitte worker discovering himself banned from each UK betting web site for successful too constantly when betting on esports. iTero was born from a go to to Twickenham, and a realisation that the mannequin he’d constructed may assist skilled (and, with a shove from Overwolf, your common League participant, too).

We sat down with founder Jack Williams to speak via iTero‘s journey from a betting mannequin capitalizing on poor pricing to being an LEC scouting machine. We coated the whole lot from Riot’s rulesto the place AI teaching is headed subsequent, and when it turns into AI-assisted dishonest.

ESI: Congratulations on hitting the 1,000,000 obtain milestone with iTero. May you give some background in your success and the way iTero took place? 

Jack Williams: Let’s begin from the highest — I’ll inform the complete story. Actually, what pursuits me most is the AI-and-esports angle. Lots of that work has fed into the buyer product, which has accomplished rather well, and it’s a genuinely helpful inside device — however by itself, “an app that helps individuals get higher on the sport” solely makes for a lot attention-grabbing studying. What individuals really need to know is tips on how to beat a prime workforce on the weekend and make it to Worlds.

I used to be beforehand in skilled companies as an AI engineer — earlier than “AI engineer” was actually a job title, so on the time, it was extra of an information scientist function. First at HSBC, then at Deloitte. I’ve a Grasp’s Diploma in AI, so I’m pretty technical on that aspect. Throughout COVID, whereas at Deloitte, I used to be betting on esports video games — not as a result of I used to be a degenerate gambler, however as a result of I felt I had an edge. 

I observed the betting odds weren’t shifting as soon as the draft was locked in, which struck me as odd, as a result of everybody within the scene is aware of the draft issues — it’s not an ideal predictor of who wins, however it at the very least tells you whether or not a workforce received a powerful choose within the first rotation, or received counter-picked.

So I began constructing AI fashions that analyzed the sport state on the level of the draft and predicted the winner from that. I made a bit of cash on the aspect doing it — till my betting accounts received banned. Apparently, within the UK, bookmakers can simply reduce you off for those who begin successful constantly, which I assumed was a bit unfair. 

However I now had this device and no actual use for it, so I reached out to Kieran Holmes-Derby (Co-Founding father of Excel Esports) and principally mentioned, “I’ve constructed this factor, it really works, and I’ve been banned from each betting web site. May I are available in and present your esports workforce, simply to see if it’s helpful?”

I went to see him at what was then their base in Twickenham Stadium — a bit surreal, strolling as much as Twickenham with the England rugby workforce coaching on the pitch and the esports workforce coaching contained in the stadium. I got here away from that considering there needed to be one thing I may construct to assist gamers draft higher and win extra video games. So I resigned from Deloitte and went all-in on the concept: construct instruments for the workforce, assist them draft, they win extra, everybody’s blissful.

ESI: How difficult was it to depart a full-time job and launch a standalone product again then? 

Jack: I spent about six months constructing it and three months attempting to promote it, earlier than realizing that in 2020, no person may afford — or significantly needed — something AI-related. It wasn’t even a trendy idea but. Extra importantly, most groups didn’t have competent analysts in any respect; it was largely individuals on Google Sheets making issues up, with no actual grasp of pattern measurement. 

Strolling into that atmosphere and saying, “Right here’s a complicated, black-box AI mannequin telling you to choose this champion, belief me” — that didn’t land nicely with coaches or gamers. I offered zero contracts and was pretty caught, so I deliberate to return to Deloitte.

Then, at an ESI convention, I used to be approached by Overwolf — I’d received a pitch competitors that 12 months, so I’d made a little bit of a reputation for myself. Somebody there requested if I’d thought of constructing the device for shoppers as an alternative {of professional} groups. I hadn’t, however figured it was price a strive. Three months later we had a dwell product. It regarded genuinely horrible, however we went from zero to 10,000 downloads in a short time, and retention was a lot greater than typical apps in that class — most apps on this area see 10–20% retention, with individuals uninstalling virtually instantly. Ours held on: individuals thought it regarded tough however appreciated what it did for his or her drafting, in order that they saved it.

Overwolf then gave me a non-dilutive grant — no fairness taken — which let me rent a developer, and we spent the following two years constructing it into what it’s at this time: an AI companion app that helps gamers progress towards their subsequent rank. After two years we had been at round 100,000–200,000 downloads. Then we had been acquired by GIANTX — initially XL Esports — which introduced issues full circle again to Kieran. That occurred in 2024.

ESI: And post-acquisition, what modified for the corporate, and the product? 

Jack: As soon as I used to be built-in into the workforce, the main target grew to become pure development: how will we attain extra gamers and construct a greater product? We rapidly discovered actual synergy between an esports group attempting to win the LEC and a product serving to the common solo-queue participant win their subsequent sport — synergy in decision-making, since I now had entry to coaches and gamers who’re genuinely wonderful on the sport, which improved the mannequin, and synergy in advertising and marketing, because it’s a lot simpler to advertise a device like this while you’re backed by an esports workforce.

Quick-forward two-plus years, and we’ve crossed one million downloads. We had been at roughly 500,000 final 12 months, and round 200,000 the 12 months earlier than — so very speedy development since becoming a member of GIANTX. Customers have grown roughly 300% over the identical interval — downloads have doubled, lively customers have tripled. We’re in an incredible place with the product proper now; we predict it’s the most effective in the marketplace by a long way.

We’re additionally enthusiastic about what the workforce can do extra broadly. GIANTX is understood for locating rookies — we don’t have the largest finances within the league, however we constantly end round fourth. A part of that comes from the statistical fashions we use to determine new gamers — I wouldn’t essentially name them AI, however they’re superior. That’s helped us overperform, and whereas a lot of the credit score goes to the coaches and gamers, some goes to the programs we’ve constructed by making use of the ideas from our solo-queue AI instruments to skilled scouting.

ESI: Nice stuff. You talked about it’s been a mad 12 months of development — what do you suppose actually drove that? Was it merely extra funding within the product?

Jack: There are some things, and I don’t need to miss any of the necessary ones, however basically crucial issue was that product was all the time the precedence — at each stage. We by no means determined to only fill the app with advertisements for fast income, or run low cost, spammy advert campaigns to inflate obtain numbers with no actual substance. The one factor I cared about was retention. Due to that, most of our funding went into enhancing the product and the retention price, to the purpose the place most individuals who obtain the app are nonetheless utilizing it per week later — I don’t suppose some other app within the area can declare that over half their customers stick round after per week, although there’s no public knowledge to check in opposition to.

So: product and retention first. Second, GIANTX gave us an actual benefit as a Spanish group with robust ties to Spain. Virtually all of our development has come from Spanish-speaking Latin America and mainland Spain. Once we joined the group, roughly 20% of our customers had been Spanish-speaking — that’s now round 70%. If I listed our prime 5 nations by customers, each single one can be primarily Spanish-speaking — Spain, and I consider Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and yet another in Latin America.

ESI: I feel you’re proper…

Jack: What we had been in a position to do was lean on our personal neighborhood: an organization stuffed with Spanish audio system with real Spanish-language networks, to develop organically. We reached out to native content material creators, normally pretty small ones, and labored with them on a private stage: “Right here’s the device, strive it your self, inform us actually what you suppose. We’re not going to ask you to oversell it. Should you genuinely don’t prefer it, let’s not work collectively. But when there are components you do like, make a video about it.” That form of natural product placement performs much better than a scripted advert that simply hits advertising and marketing speaking factors. If creators genuinely just like the product, they speak about it nicely.

Third, GIANTX has its personal inside academic content material channels — rebranded a few occasions. I don’t know the precise figures, however we’re speaking lots of of thousands and thousands of impressions yearly throughout these movies — ideas, methods, “how do you have to play this,” that type of content material. That content material naturally lends itself to selling the product: “Right here’s the optimum construct this patch — if you wish to know the optimum construct at any time, obtain the app.” Very pure placement via channels we already personal.

ESI: I recall — and I could be paraphrasing the precise wording — that Riot’s coverage bars third-party instruments from creating an unfair benefit gamers wouldn’t in any other case have. Have you ever ever had that query raised, or needed to pull again a characteristic as a result of Riot mentioned no?

Jack: With Riot, we’re very cautious with them. We’re most likely essentially the most conservative of the third-party apps: if Riot tells us to not do one thing, or the wording is ambiguous, we merely don’t do it, as a result of staying on the appropriate aspect of Riot issues to us. Given our esports connection, we’re deeply embedded within the Riot ecosystem, and we don’t need to jeopardize that. We additionally need gamers to belief the app — you don’t need somebody downloading it questioning if it’s functionally much like an aimbot. So we keep away from any gray-area options completely; we solely construct what’s clearly permitted.

Riot’s personal wording isn’t particularly exact — their third-party instruments coverage says instruments can’t present a “aggressive benefit,” however that’s a fuzzy normal. Technically, sorting a stats web site by win price and choosing the highest champion can be utilizing obtainable knowledge to make the most effective resolution — that’s a aggressive benefit too, by that logic. For my part, what would really be unfair is surfacing info that isn’t accessible via the sport’s personal UI — pulling from the sport’s underlying code, capturing occasions that aren’t meant to be seen, and displaying them in methods Riot doesn’t sanction.

Generally Riot’s choices are a bit arbitrary, however we simply observe them. For instance, summoner-spell timers — a easy UI component you’d click on when somebody used Flash, displaying a countdown till it was again up — had been pretty normal throughout instruments. Riot determined they now not needed them within the ecosystem, so we eliminated ours. Usually we keep conservative, and if Riot ever asks us to vary one thing, we do it instantly.

ESI: How do you see this altering as tech continues to develop and develop? 

What is going to get extra attention-grabbing is when it turns into tougher for Riot to implement this sort of management. Proper now, they management me largely via API entry — if I upset Riot, they pull my API entry, and I now not have an app. That’s a big deterrent.

However instruments that run superior AI fashions immediately on a participant’s monitor, producing their very own knowledge by studying in-game visuals quite than utilizing the API, are a lot tougher to regulate. That’s a genuinely regarding route. Possibly much less so in League, extra so in FPS titles. 

You might find yourself with one thing working invisibly, not on the pc however successfully studying the monitor, offering an unfair benefit that’s very laborious to detect. For instance, a high-end monitor may be capable to determine precisely the place somebody’s head is on display screen, or feed directions a participant wouldn’t in any other case have. That’s a worrying area for aggressive integrity. However broadly, we keep extra conservative than we strictly have to be, particularly to remain in Riot’s good graces.

ESI: Do you ever fear that somebody may simply copy your characteristic, given the dearth of IP safety? 

UI is trivial to copy now with AI coding instruments. Somebody can screenshot a UI, feed it to an AI mannequin, and ask it to recreate the interface. What’s genuinely troublesome , and even near unattainable at this time, is recreating the predictive fashions behind it. These outcomes come from quite a lot of coaching, quite a lot of knowledge, and quite a lot of time. That will develop into simpler for AI to copy finally, and doubtless prior to individuals anticipate, however as of at this time, you may copy our UI — you may’t copy the underlying intelligence.

ESI: How does it work being embedded inside an esports group? Do you continue to provide companies to different skilled groups, or does belief develop into a difficulty given your GIANTX affiliation?

Jack: No — we work completely inside GIANTX, together with our LEC workforce and our Spanish league (LVP) workforce, and would prolong to some other titles we compete in going ahead. We’re internal-only. There’s actual demand on the market. Groups with modest budgets would love a device like this to search out undervalued gamers, however for now we haven’t opened it as much as different groups, purely for aggressive integrity causes. Any workforce with the finances to pay for one thing like this can be a workforce we’re prone to face in some unspecified time in the future, so for now the reply is not any, although that would change in future.

ESI: Does your mannequin attempt to account for much less quantifiable components — participant tilt, greed, tendencies that don’t present up cleanly within the remaining match knowledge? Do you break issues down by early-game phases, and the way deep does the modelling go on the aggressive stage?

Jack: Due to precisely the problems you’re describing, we have a tendency to stay to solo queue — it’s a lot better suited to AI predictive modelling. There’s much more knowledge, and also you keep away from the noise of, say, one Fnatic-vs-G2 end result on one patch with two particular drafts. There’s little or no to study from a single knowledge level like that. In solo queue, you may observe the identical or related draft repeated at excessive elo many occasions over and draw actual conclusions.

Most of what Itero does day-to-day is solo queue evaluation quite than pro-play prediction. You’re proper that the variety of variables concerned in pro-play prediction is gigantic — even with good knowledge, you’re most likely capped round 80–85% accuracy. 

And even a modest edge, say a 15% probability of an upset, will nonetheless play out at the very least as soon as throughout a cut up if a workforce performs ten video games. 15% sounds low, however throughout sufficient matches it nonetheless exhibits up. There are all kinds of tales, not simply in esports however in soccer too, of individuals discovering spurious correlations. 

This will take the form of monitoring a participant’s Instagram exercise, relationship standing, no matter. Chasing an “edge” typically is basically simply noise. Anybody could make an information level say virtually something in the event that they ignore causation versus correlation.

ESI: Has your mannequin ever contradicted established draft concept — going in opposition to what’s thought of “meta” — and ended up shifting the meta itself? Or does it usually reinforce what’s already accepted?

Jack: On the professional aspect, I don’t need to overstate our affect. These choices actually sit with the coaches. Any notable calls or improvements are all the way down to the teaching employees and gamers; I wouldn’t declare we’ve reshaped the LEC meta. The place you most likely would discover a sample is in solo queue. As extra individuals use the device, extra gamers are taking objectively favorable matchups. 

We’re now at a stage of market penetration the place it’s seen within the knowledge: even at excessive elo, the place utilization is comparable throughout the elo spectrum, extra drafts are being optimally picked than earlier than the device existed.

That will get attention-grabbing at a deeper stage, although. If drafting optimally turns into so widespread, via us or competing instruments, that everybody can predict “if I choose X, they’ll choose Y,” gamers begin in search of a 3rd transfer: flex picks, or off-meta picks. 

Say you’re a Vayne prime participant, and each time you choose Vayne prime, you understand the opponent will choose a tough counter like Teemo, you may begin swapping roles mid-lobby extra typically: “I’ve been counter-picked once more, let’s change it up — I’ll go Vayne ADC, another person take prime.” So there’s potential for that form of disruption.

On the professional aspect particularly, I feel our scouting strategy has been extra attention-grabbing. What we’ve accomplished is determine gamers who’re basically superb on the sport mechanically, after which construct teaching help round them. 

That is the alternative of the outdated strategy of choosing gamers purely as a result of they’ve been within the scene for years, know tips on how to deal with scrims, dwell the “professional participant” way of life, or can deal with stage strain. That strategy limits you to a small, recycled pool of “identified” gamers. 

We weren’t considering that. We search for somebody basically robust on the sport, which doesn’t essentially imply the highest-ranked solo queue participant. Ranked talent doesn’t robotically translate to performing nicely on stage. We don’t simply rank by LP and choose the highest title. However we’ve constructed a system that identifies gamers prone to be basically robust performers on stage, deliver them in no matter background, and construct the supporting programs round them.

Jackie is our greatest instance. He wasn’t coming from a extremely aggressive LFL or EU Masters workforce. We discovered him via the information, introduced him in, constructed the programs round him, and he’s now genuinely our MVP in that function, because of a fundamentals-first strategy quite than conventional esports scouting.

ESI: From a participant expertise angle — pre-game, in-game, post-game — which stage do you suppose issues most for somebody attempting to enhance? Do individuals principally use it as a choose overlay and transfer on, or are individuals meaningfully participating with post-game reviews? Do you observe utilization patterns to see which behaviors correlate with essentially the most enchancment?

Jack: It’s an odd one, as a result of ideally you’d measure it by win price, however the device is basically designed to push everybody again towards a 50% win price over time. Play higher with the device, and also you climb elo till you stabilize once more — that’s only a statistical actuality. 

So good points from the device are typically short-term by nature, however actual. What we do know: as soon as somebody begins utilizing the device, their win price rises as a baseline. And for those who observe the champion suggestions carefully, your win price rises fairly considerably within the quick time period. 

We’re speaking roughly a 6% improve. That sounds modest, however sustained over time, that’s sufficient to climb from, say, Gold to Platinum simply by following the highest suggestion constantly.

The principle friction isn’t actually a difficulty, extra a alternative gamers make: individuals don’t love all the time enjoying the very same beneficial champion. Should you’re first or second choose, the highest suggestion is commonly much like what was steered the sport earlier than, since not a lot has modified. Possibly you understand one teammate and a few enemy picks, however except it immediately impacts your lane matchup, the advice doesn’t shift dramatically. So individuals search for selection. This implies turning down the “prioritize meta choose price” weighting, as an illustration, to floor extra off-meta choices.

The clearest instance is our champion-mastery weighting. By default it components in how a lot expertise you have got on a champion, which is perfect for successful. Left on the default setting, you’ll win extra. Virtually everybody turns it all the way down to zero, like, “I don’t care about my expertise, simply inform me the most effective choose,” then first-times a random champion in ranked and loses. 

That’s advantageous, actually; the sport isn’t just for individuals attempting to optimize their climb. Some individuals simply need to have enjoyable and use it to find new champions. Essentially, it’s laborious to say the device “does” a sure win price, as a result of most individuals voluntarily set it to be much less optimum, as a result of that’s extra pleasing.

ESI: The place do you see AI teaching heading throughout gaming and esports extra broadly? Do you suppose it’ll develop into normal, one thing publishers construct themselves, and will it assist stage the worldwide aggressive panorama?

Jack: That’s a loaded query, so let me attempt to unpack it. First: I feel it’s unambiguously good for sport engagement usually, separate from esports completely. If League of Legends existed with no esports scene in any respect, would instruments like this nonetheless make the sport higher? I feel sure. And whether or not that comes from third events like us or from publishers constructing it themselves, I feel this class will continue to grow and enhancing, hopefully in a wholesome route.

My favourite reference level is chess.com. It’s superb at leaving the precise sport completely as much as you — no transfer options, no dwell teaching, no win-probability readout when you play. However the pre-game coaching and particularly the post-game evaluation are wonderful. That’s actually the route I’d wish to see video games go: making it clearer why you misplaced, so it feels much less arbitrarily irritating. 

The toughest a part of League, for those who’re enjoying a few video games a day at a 51% win price — which is genuinely good, and can get you climbing finally, is that every particular person sport nonetheless looks like near a coin flip, which is demoralizing within the second.

What these instruments allow you to do is give gamers one thing to work on that isn’t merely “win or lose.” We have now a macro coach that opinions your latest video games and tells you, for instance, “over your final fifty video games, right here’s the error you make most frequently” — so you may direct your apply time intentionally. 

Say the sample is: you win lane, however constantly lose expertise between the 14- and 21-minute mark. You may go into your subsequent sport targeted particularly on enhancing that quantity, and that offers you a way of management over your personal enchancment, impartial of whether or not the opposite 9 gamers in that sport trigger you to win or lose. You may lose the sport and nonetheless be ok with it, as a result of the precise factor you had been engaged on — not throwing away your early lead — really improved. That’s basically higher for the sport and the participant.

For esports particularly, will it shut the hole with Asia? In all probability not, largely as a result of it comes all the way down to economics and funding. In case your regional market doesn’t generate sufficient income, you may’t reinvest in enchancment, and it turns into very troublesome to catch up. 

I received’t faux to have the reply for fixing European esports economics. Everybody is aware of it’s a troublesome atmosphere. Essentially, these instruments price cash, the identical nearly as good coaches, good gamers, good amenities. Even issues like a gymnasium and a efficiency coach hooked up to a workforce present measurable profit. We’ve seen that within the knowledge, and the identical with sleep monitoring and participant wellbeing work. Can European groups broadly afford all of that? No. Similar logic applies to AI tooling. Should you can’t afford to construct it, you may’t profit from it as a lot.

Will it enhance everybody over time? Sure. We’ve seen this in soccer, the NFL, baseball, basketball, it doesn’t matter the game. AI helps groups enhance. But it surely helps everybody enhance roughly proportionally, so the relative hole doesn’t essentially shut. We’ll most likely nonetheless be shedding to Korea in ten years. We would have a very good AI mannequin by then, however they’ll doubtless have a greater one.

ESI: So, it feels like in-game teaching is one thing you need to swerve? 

Jack: I touched on it with the chess instance. Not everybody available in the market shares that view, so it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how Riot handles it as instruments get extra succesful.

That’s when hen in-game instruments begin veering towards AI-assisted dishonest quite than reputable teaching. I’ve seen one instance: a “phantom marker” that exhibits an icon on the map on the final location a champion was seen, even after they’re now not seen. That is successfully remembering positioning info for you. That’s nicely over the road, in my opinion. Virtually the whole lot past the fundamental stat-comparison options we have already got — like “how does your farm evaluate to the common participant at your elo” — begins to cross into that territory.

There was one other one which used voice prompts — actually telling you, “go do Dragon now,” “go do Baron now.” That felt like a transparent step too far, particularly once they used recognizable esports personalities’ voices for it. Enjoyable as a novelty, however nicely previous the road.

ESI: With enchancment focuses such because the 14-to-21-minute XP monitoring instance, do gamers ever tunnel on that particular metric? Like, enhancing their very own XP quantity whereas their workforce falls aside in each different lane. Is there a danger that focusing so closely on particular person efficiency metrics undermines total workforce play and win price?

Jack: I fearful about that too, actually. What we’ve really seen is near the alternative. Gamers who’ve performed hundreds of video games develop very mounted habits, and the toughest half is breaking that routine in any respect. 

If we are able to briefly flip a devoted farmer into extra of a ganker, even for a handful of video games, I feel that’s internet constructive. Even when they finally revert to their outdated play type, as a result of they’ve picked up a brand new talent alongside the best way. 

Similar logic as a help participant in CS all of a sudden enjoying entry for a stretch: even when they return to help afterward, they’ve gained one thing from the expertise, and so they’ll doubtless perceive that play type higher when going through it too. It’s advantageous if a participant over-indexes on one enchancment space for a few video games and dips elsewhere, that’s a part of studying to steadiness it. Once they revert to their common type, they carry that further talent with them.