New Education+ Program Features Deepfake Defense Case Studies, Live Demonstrations, and Custom AI Assistant Building Workshops
Global sports betting and iGaming event organizer SBC has announced the launch of its new AI Academy, set to debut as part of the SBC Summit 2026.
Scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at Sala Tejo in the MEO Arena, the single-day educational track forms a core pillar of the event’s premium Education+ program. Designed to move beyond theoretical discussions, the academy gathers cybersecurity experts, tech leaders, and artificial intelligence specialists to deliver practical training, live tech demonstrations, and interactive workshops.
Session Agenda & Technical Demonstrations
The AI Academy curriculum covers five distinct focus areas combining real-time software demonstrations, physical hardware showcases, and practical workflows:
1. Data and AI: Limits and Lessons
Led by Behshad Behzadi (CTO at Sportradar), this opening live demonstration examines how machine learning algorithms analyze player behavior and enrich sports data while highlighting operational limitations.
2. Autonomous Agents & Interaction Models
Featuring Javier Troncoso (CEO & Co-Founder, Insightplay.ai) and Jeffrey Haas (Managing Director, ID8 Global Gaming Business Accelerator), the session analyzes voice agents in action and evaluates the transition from passive digital assistants to autonomous customer interaction representatives.
3. Physical Augmentation, Wearables & Robotics
Hardware specialist John Caldwell (Co-Founder, i3Soft) showcases smart glasses, neurotechnology, exoskeletons, and biometric wearables to illustrate how physical human augmentation could impact future digital entertainment consumption.
4. Deepfakes, Impersonation & AI Fraud
A cybersecurity panel featuring Shelley Langan–Newton (CEO, SQR), Lluis Mora (Chief Security Officer, Entain), Donald Tabone (CISO, Betsson), and Roberta Nicholls (Head of Chapter, AI Collective) explores defense protocols against voice cloning, synthetic identities, and deepfake fraud vectors.
5. Interactive Workshop: Build Your Own AI Assistant
Guided by Mayank Pachauri (Founder & CEO, FalconDive), delegates will build, test, and deploy a functional AI assistant customized for immediate implementation across marketing, CRM, or data analytics roles.
Event Context & Networking Integration
The AI Academy complements broader conference content across the Payment Expert Summit and Technology & Innovation stages at SBC Summit. Additionally, operators can meet directly with AI suppliers via the Smart Connect matchmaking service or join the AI in Gaming Show Floor Tour.
Taking place from September 29 to October 1, 2026, the main SBC Summit expects to gather 40,000 industry professionals at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) and MEO Arena.
Executive Perspectives
Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, commented on the academy’s practical focus:
“The biggest mistake businesses can make with AI is treating it like a shortcut. The organisations getting the most from it are the ones that understand its strengths, recognise its limitations, and know where human expertise still matters.
“That’s the thinking behind this academy. Rather than simply talking about AI’s potential, we’re giving delegates the opportunity to test it, question it, experiment with it, and leave with skills they can immediately put into practice.”
