2023

JIP - Basketball (FIBA World Cup 2023)

73,000+ fan interactions in 2 weeks, 71.5% completion rate, 5 languages. Led the official GPT-4 chatbot for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup end to end, from PoC to a 4-month launch on Facebook Messenger and web.

Case study LinkedIn post

JIP on mobile, from the case study published by BotsCrew

73,000+fan interactions in 2 weeks, 71.5% completion rate

Overview

As project manager, I led this strategic project for FIBA during the 2023 Basketball World Cup. JIP is the official digital mascot, a basketball robot representing Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines (host countries). Powered by GPT-4, the chatbot answers fan questions in 5 languages (English, Japanese, Indonesian, French, Spanish) and provides real-time scores and statistics via FIBA API integration. I coordinated an internal team of 2-3 people, managed the relationship with BotsCrew, supervised multilingual localization, and steered the project from PoC to successful launch on Facebook Messenger and web widget.

Five languages

Three JIP chatbot windows side by side, in English, Spanish and Japanese — The same conversation in English, Spanish and Japanese, from the BotsCrew case study

JIP answers fans in English, Japanese, Indonesian, French and Spanish. Localization required close coordination with translators across all five languages.

Real-time scores

The case study's Real-time Updates paragraph next to a JIP conversation giving the final podium and the tallest player of the tournament — Real-time Updates block and a JIP conversation, from the BotsCrew case study

Integrated with the FIBA APIs, JIP delivers real-time scores, schedule, teams and player statistics. The initial PoC validated this GPT-4 plus real-time API architecture.

Messenger and web widget

Results panel splitting users between the web widget and Facebook Messenger, with a 94 percent versus 6 percent pie chart — User split by channel, from the BotsCrew case study

The chatbot was deployed on Facebook Messenger and as a web widget on the tournament site, the two channels required from the outset.

73,000 interactions

Three key-figure tiles (conversations in two weeks, languages, completion rate) above a mosaic of five-star reviews left by widget users — Key figures and user reviews, from the BotsCrew case study

Over 73,000 fan interactions in the first two weeks and a 71.51 percent conversation completion rate, tracked through the BotsCrew analytics reports.

Challenges

Coordinating an internal team (2-3 people) and vendor BotsCrew
Localization in 5 languages with translator coordination
Real-time integration with FIBA APIs (scores, teams, players)
Tight deadlines: 4 months of development (February-June 2023)
Managing a 20-40K CHF budget with contract negotiations

Solutions

Agile methodology with sprints and regular reviews
Initial PoC to validate GPT-4 + real-time APIs architecture
Close coordination with translators for all 5 languages
Intensive user testing before official launch
KPI tracking via BotsCrew analytics reports

Results

73,000+ fan interactions in the first 2 weeks
71.51% conversation completion rate
Deployed on Facebook Messenger and web widget
Operational multilingual support (EN, JP, ID, FR, ES)
Project delivered on time and within budget
Positive feedback from FIBA on project management

LinkedIn post

Technologies

GPT-4Real-time APIFacebook MessengerWeb WidgetMultilingual (5 languages)Project Management

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