We’re building the digital backbone of Indian sports: Shitiz Ruhail, Co-Founder, Speeed.AI

As India sets its sights on becoming a global sporting powerhouse, Speeed.AI, developed by Digital Darwin, is reimagining athlete training through cutting-edge AI, biomechanics, and open digital infrastructure. In an interview, Shitiz Ruhail, Co-Founder and Head of Growth & Strategy, shares how Speeed.AI aims to bridge the gap between traditional methods and next-gen sports technology—unlocking a future of personalized training, predictive injury prevention, and democratized innovation across the Indian sports ecosystem.

1. What inspired the creation of Speeed.ai, and how does it aim to transform athlete training and performance?

The creation of Speeed.AI was inspired by India’s ambitious vision to emerge as a global sporting powerhouse and the critical need to bridge the gap between traditional athlete training methods and advanced technological innovation. Recognizing the limitations of conventional training such as lack of personalized insights, fragmented athlete data, and reactive injury management, Digital Darwin saw an opportunity to leverage cutting-edge AI, analytics, and computer vision to elevate athlete performance comprehensively.

Speeed aims on creating a digital infrastructure to become the backbone of an open, democratized, secure, and scalable digital sports ecosystem in India. This digital ecosystem intends to use interoperable, and secure technology layers that democratize data and allow diverse stakeholders (coaches, sports scientists, startups, developers, researchers, and policymakers) to innovate and develop customized solutions on top of this infrastructure.

2. How does Speeed.ai leverage AI and biomechanics to enhance training efficiency and prevent injuries among athletes?

By merging AI with advanced biomechanics, Speeed.AI creates an innovative approach to athlete management, dramatically changing how sports training and injury prevention occur at scale. This combination fosters safer training environments, extends athletic careers, and contributes directly to building sustainable sporting excellence.

1. Real-Time Biomechanical Analysis

Speeed.AI integrates computer vision to capture athletes’ movements, analyzing posture, technique, and biomechanics in real time.

1. Computer Vision & Pose Estimation:
   AI identifies precise body positions, joint angles, and movements, enabling accurate biomechanical assessments instantly.
2. Instant Corrective Feedback:
   Athletes and coaches receive immediate alerts on deviations from optimal form, allowing quick adjustments during training.

1. Predictive Injury Prevention

AI-powered predictive analytics proactively identify potential injury risks based on biomechanics and historical training data.

1. Machine Learning-Based Risk Models:
   AI models learn from extensive athlete data (movement patterns, historical injuries, training load) to forecast injury probabilities.
2. Personalized Injury Prevention Plans:
   Athletes get tailored preventive exercises, warm-ups, and training adjustments aimed at reducing their specific injury risks.

• Personalized Training Optimization

Speeed.AI uses biomechanical insights and AI analytics to tailor training plans specifically to individual athletes’ unique physiological responses.

1. 1. Adaptive Training Algorithms:
      AI continuously adapts training intensity, volume, and recovery based on biomechanics-driven fatigue indicators and performance metrics.
   2. Optimal Load Management:
      Biomechanical data helps precisely manage training load to maximize performance gains while minimizing injury risk.

1. Athlete Movement Benchmarking

AI benchmarks athletes’ biomechanics against optimal performance standards or elite athlete models.

1. Comparative Biomechanical Analysis:
   Athletes can see exactly how their technique compares to elite standards, enabling targeted performance enhancements.
2. Progress Tracking Over Time:
   AI captures changes in biomechanics over training cycles, objectively quantifying improvement or flagging potential regressions.

1. 360° Athlete Health Monitoring

Integrated AI and biomechanics-driven monitoring ensures comprehensive athlete health tracking.

1. 1. Continuous Health Surveillance:
      AI-driven computer vision monitors subtle shifts in biomechanics, which could indicate hidden or developing injuries.
   2. Early Intervention and Alerts:
      Coaches, trainers, and medical teams receive real-time alerts on biomechanical anomalies, enabling swift interventions.

3. Can you share a real-world example where Speeed.ai’s technology has significantly improved an athlete’s performance or recovery process?

Speeed.AI has significantly impacted athlete performance and recovery through comprehensive digitization of the injury-to-recovery cycle, developed in close collaboration with sports medicine professionals, coaches, and administrators.

By defining detailed, sport-specific injury management protocols, Speeed.AI meticulously tracks every aspect of an athlete’s daily recovery sessions, capturing outcomes from various treatment modalities across different sports disciplines. This structured approach creates extensive datasets that allow sports medicine teams and administrators to gain detailed analytical views—comparing injury patterns, recovery timelines, and treatment effectiveness across sports, coaches, districts, and states.

Moreover, Speeed.AI’s platform integrates critical data points such as:

• Biomechanical and biochemical analysis
• Nutrition tracking
• Training load management (duration, RPE, session RPE)
• Wellness indicators (sleep quality, recovery status, stress levels)
• Physical testing metrics (fitness, strength, speed, power)

This multi-dimensional data analysis has enabled Speeed.AI to identify correlations between training loads, athlete wellness, and injury occurrences, directly contributing to proactive injury prevention. Athletes across various Sports Authority of India (SAI) centers in 19 different sports have benefited significantly, experiencing reduced downtime due to injuries and a notably faster return-to-play.

The systematic use of analytics for load management and injury prevention has transformed the athlete recovery process—demonstrably improving athlete availability, resilience, and overall performance.

4. Sports Tech is evolving rapidly—what makes Speeed.ai stand out from global competitors in this space?

Speeed.AI differentiates itself in the Sports Tech landscape by creating foundational technology stack that will enable an open digital infrastructure tailored specifically for India’s unique sporting ecosystem. Recognizing that a closed system restricts innovation, especially in a diverse market like India, Speeed.AI provides open standards, APIs, and SDKs, enabling rapid, localized innovation.

Developed closely with coaches, high-performance directors, and sports scientists in India, Speeed.AI deeply understands the country’s unique athlete requirements and infrastructure challenges. Rather than adopting a western model, it offers foundational technologies that address India’s specific needs.

This open infrastructure accelerates innovation by:

• Democratizing Access: Allowing startups and researchers to develop specialized applications easily.
• Accelerating Local Innovation: Providing open data and AI-driven tools for rapid experimentation and deployment.
• Ecosystem Building: Fostering innovation through partnerships, hackathons, and incubation programs.
• Scalability and Adaptability: Ensuring technologies are flexible enough for India’s diverse sporting requirements.

Through this collaborative approach, Speeed.AI accelerates innovation, enhancing athlete performance, safety, and inclusivity across India.

5. What role does data analytics play in shaping the future of Indian sports, and how is Speeed.ai contributing to this transformation?

Data analytics plays a crucial role in sports by enabling informed decision-making, enhancing athlete performance, and optimizing resource allocation. Speeed.AI is driving this transformation for shaping the future of Indian sports by: –

1. Assisting in talent identification & development
2. Performance enhancement with insights
3. Injury prevention
4. Training & Nutrition planning

This is done by creating

• A unified view of the athlete data ecosystem with AI-Driven insights.
• Focusing on athlete life cycles like injury to recovery, training to odium finish and assessment to intervention
• Creating open interface ecosystem for integrating multiple devices, applications to ensure single source of truth for an athlete

6. Looking ahead, what innovations or expansions can we expect from Speeed.ai to further revolutionize sports training and injury management?

Looking ahead, Speeed.AI aims to revolutionize sports training and injury management by focusing on collaboration and open innovation. Recognizing the transformative potential of an open digital infrastructure Speeed.AI is creating foundational technologies that serve as the backbone for the entire sports innovation ecosystem.

By establishing open standards, APIs, and providing sandbox environments, Speeed.AI shall invite startups, researchers, coaches, and sports organizations to build and integrate their unique solutions seamlessly. This collaborative ecosystem positions Speeed.AI as a single source of truth for athlete-related data and analytics, accelerating innovation across India’s diverse sports community.

Key innovations Speeed.AI will pursue include:

• Advanced Predictive Injury Models: Leveraging next-generation AI to proactively forecast injuries, enabling personalized prevention strategies.
• AR/VR-Powered Training and Rehabilitation: Developing immersive training and rehab experiences accessible remotely, overcoming geographic limitations and resource constraints.
• Generative and Conversational AI Agents: Empowering athletes and coaches with personalized, real-time guidance through intelligent, conversational AI assistants.
• Sport-Specific Training Protocols: Creating customized training plans tailored to the unique demands of individual sports, optimizing performance and safety.

Through these initiatives, Speeed.AI envisions a future where collaborative innovation dramatically enhances athlete performance, safety, and overall sports excellence across India.