Speaker Profile

Jessica Gelman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR), the sports and entertainment industry's leading analytics, technology, and strategic consulting firm. KAGR builds the trusted, unified data infrastructure and platforms that power the NCAA and more than 25 professional teams, including the LA Rams, while delivering strategic analytics and consulting for organizations including the NFL and NASCAR. In a sports industry increasingly shaped by AI, KAGR ensures its clients have the data infrastructure and expertise to act on it with confidence.

Prior to founding KAGR, Jessica led the customer-facing business operations for the New England Patriots, overseeing ticketing, marketing, retail, and sales and driving significant growth across every revenue line through data and analytics. Her leadership earned her recognition as a Sports Business Journal "Forty Under 40" and "Game Changers" honoree. She built the model for what data-driven sports business could look like at scale inside one of the best-run sports organizations in the world, and in 2016 that model became KAGR, now a 75-person firm that has transformed how the sports industry operates.

Jessica is also Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (SSAC), co-founded in 2006 and shaped into the most consequential annual gathering in sports business, a forum whose ideas have moved from the stage into the front offices, boardrooms, and league policies of every major sport globally. Each year more than 2,500 leaders convene in Boston, including President Barack Obama, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Nate Silver, and Sue Bird.

Her commitment to expanding who leads in sports is reflected in how she invests her time, platform, and influence. She is a minority partner in Boston Legacy FC, launching in the NWSL in 2026, and previously served as a minority partner, Alternate Governor, and chair of the Commercial Committee with the Utah Royals. She sits on the USOPC Performance Innovation Advisory Committee and was elected President of the Harvard Varsity Club, guiding and strengthening the Harvard athletic community across student-athletes, alumni, and generations of Harvard sport.

Jessica holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA, cum laude, from Harvard College, where she was named Harvard Female Athlete of the Year. She led the Harvard women's basketball team to Ivy League championships and NCAA Tournament appearances before playing professionally in Europe. A point guard by training, her instinct has always been to set people up to succeed. She is based in the greater Boston area with her wife, Corbin Petro, and their two sons.