How the Cleveland Cavaliers accelerated workflows across 15+ teams with Perplexity
Enterprise Pro
How the Cleveland Cavaliers accelerated workflows across 15+ teams with Perplexity
Enterprise Pro
15+ teams
15+ teams
teams using Perplexity Enterprise Pro
teams using Perplexity Enterprise Pro
10+ hours
hours saved per week, per employee
hours saved per week, per employee
Improved
visibility and controls
visibility and controls
How the Cleveland Cavaliers accelerated workflows across 15+ teams with Perplexity Enterprise Pro
15+ teams
teams using Perplexity Enterprise Pro
10+ hours
hours saved per week, per employee
Improved
visibility and controls
CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL
“Perplexity empowers our stakeholders at the Cleveland Cavaliers to take research into their own hands. It sifts through clutter and quickly reveals the answers our team needs.”
“Perplexity empowers our stakeholders at the Cleveland Cavaliers to take research into their own hands. It sifts through clutter and quickly reveals the answers our team needs.”
“Perplexity empowers our stakeholders at the Cleveland Cavaliers to take research into their own hands. It sifts through clutter and quickly reveals the answers our team needs.”
Ben Levicki, AI Solutions Architect, Cleveland Cavaliers
Ben Levicki, AI Solutions Architect, Cleveland Cavaliers
Ben Levicki, AI Solutions Architect, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Problem
The Problem
Finding Ways to Empower Team Members to Boost Efficiency with AI Support
Finding Ways to Empower Team Members to Boost Efficiency with AI Support
The Cleveland Cavaliers were ready to use AI to bring the future of work to their organization, allowing Team Members to take the initiative to find answers to critical questions faster.
“We knew automation wouldn’t solve every use case,” says Ben Levicki, the Cavaliers’ AI Solutions Architect, “But we also knew that AI could increase efficiency and productivity, boost skill enhancement with instant insights and empower employee growth.”
The Cavs’ previous internal solution, an AI chatbot, was secure and private but required ongoing development efforts that slowed implementation. As a one-person AI team, Ben hoped to eliminate this patched-together solution and advance to a comprehensive AI search engine with a “succinct UI that pulls in documents, images and video assets.” His list of must-haves included:
Flexibility: The Cavs needed a solution that aligned with its wide-ranging use cases — everything from researching partnerships to closing knowledge gaps for its data team.
Security: With zero-party data as one of their competitive advantages, the Cavs required a tool that didn’t train its AI models on their proprietary internal data sets.
Accuracy: Reliability was also a concern. Most tools are prone to hallucinations (i.e., incorrect or misleading results). To get buy-in from the entire team, Ben needed a model that was known for generating accurate and verified information sources.
In other words, Ben wanted a solution that could leverage AI’s full capabilities and boost the organization’s productivity.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were ready to use AI to bring the future of work to their organization, allowing Team Members to take the initiative to find answers to critical questions faster.
“We knew automation wouldn’t solve every use case,” says Ben Levicki, the Cavaliers’ AI Solutions Architect, “But we also knew that AI could increase efficiency and productivity, boost skill enhancement with instant insights and empower employee growth.”
The Cavs’ previous internal solution, an AI chatbot, was secure and private but required ongoing development efforts that slowed implementation. As a one-person AI team, Ben hoped to eliminate this patched-together solution and advance to a comprehensive AI search engine with a “succinct UI that pulls in documents, images and video assets.” His list of must-haves included:
Flexibility: The Cavs needed a solution that aligned with its wide-ranging use cases — everything from researching partnerships to closing knowledge gaps for its data team.
Security: With zero-party data as one of their competitive advantages, the Cavs required a tool that didn’t train its AI models on their proprietary internal data sets.
Accuracy: Reliability was also a concern. Most tools are prone to hallucinations (i.e., incorrect or misleading results). To get buy-in from the entire team, Ben needed a model that was known for generating accurate and verified information sources.
In other words, Ben wanted a solution that could leverage AI’s full capabilities and boost the organization’s productivity.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were ready to use AI to bring the future of work to their organization, allowing Team Members to take the initiative to find answers to critical questions faster.
“We knew automation wouldn’t solve every use case,” says Ben Levicki, the Cavaliers’ AI Solutions Architect, “But we also knew that AI could increase efficiency and productivity, boost skill enhancement with instant insights and empower employee growth.”
The Cavs’ previous internal solution, an AI chatbot, was secure and private but required ongoing development efforts that slowed implementation. As a one-person AI team, Ben hoped to eliminate this patched-together solution and advance to a comprehensive AI search engine witha “succinct UI that pulls in documents, images and video assets.” His list of must-haves included:
Flexibility: The Cavs needed a solution that aligned with its wide-ranging use cases — everything from researching partnerships to closing knowledge gaps for its data team.
Security: With zero-party data as one of their competitive advantages, the Cavs required a tool that didn’t train its AI models on their proprietary internal data sets.
Accuracy: Reliability was also a concern. Most tools are prone to hallucinations (i.e., incorrect or misleading results). To get buy-in from the entire team, Ben needed a model that was known for generating accurate and verified information sources.
In other words, Ben wanted a solution that could leverage AI’s full capabilities and boost the organization’s productivity.
The Solution
The Solution
Streamlining Work Across 15+ Teams to Close Knowledge Gaps, Unlocking Efficiency at Scale
Streamlining Work Across 15+ Teams to Close Knowledge Gaps, Unlocking Efficiency at Scale
Given the flexibility, security, and accuracy needs of the Cavs, Perplexity Enterprise Pro became the Cavs’ number-one pick. Once Ben started using Perplexity, he saw that onboarding fellow organizational teams would be technologically easy. The challenge in every organization with a new process is getting buy-in. To ensure Team Members understood the full benefits of Perplexity Enterprise Pro, Ben met with each team to explain how the tool could improve their daily performance and efficiency. One perfect example is that he showed the IT team how to simplify explanations of technical topics for non-technical stakeholders, saving time and increasing the ease of novice understanding using Perplexity.
The use case that most attracted teams to Perplexity was far simpler. They witnessed firsthand how Perplexity’s advanced web search empowers everyone in the Cavs organization to take research into their own hands. As Ben affirms, “Perplexity Out-Googles Google.”
Perplexity’s AI search engine sifts through clutter and closes knowledge gaps. “That’s where all of the magic begins,” Ben says. “Perplexity augments repetitive, mundane tasks, so team members can focus on human skills like critical thinking, problem-solving and empathy.” In other words, the team spends less time searching and more time on deep work. The advantages that Perplexity offers in search also include that it:
Enables Mixed-Media Searches: The ability to add documents and images to searches allows anyone in the organization to get results tailored to their needs. For example, the development team can drop a graph about ticket sales into Perplexity, and the AI summarizes the document’s emerging trends in one click — without sacrificing data privacy (unlike other AI tools, Perplexity never retains critical customer data).
Lowers the Learning Curve: Perplexity is LLM agnostic, so AI beginners and experienced users alike get immediate value from the tool — whether they need an in-depth detailed response or natural-sounding answers.
Saves Valuable Time: Rather than drafting separate knowledge-based documentation for each of the Cavaliers’ departments, Team Members can attach relevant documents to a Perplexity search. The tool then easily parses meaning from this context and provides quick answers. With this functionality, Perplexity streamlines prospecting for the partnerships team by writing bespoke outreach emails in a flash.
Consolidates In-Depth Learnings: Perplexity also makes it easy for the Cavs to analyze long, complex documents, saving months of research. For example, the sustainability team used Perplexity to analyze long environmental studies in the Cleveland area to reveal how climate change may impact their stadium operations. These findings enabled the organization to approach events with sustainability in mind.
With Perplexity, the organization conducts deep research and finds relevant information far faster than before – driving efficiency gains and saving valuable time across teams.
Given the flexibility, security, and accuracy needs of the Cavs, Perplexity Enterprise Pro became the Cavs’ number-one pick. Once Ben started using Perplexity, he saw that onboarding fellow organizational teams would be technologically easy. The challenge in every organization with a new process is getting buy-in. To ensure Team Members understood the full benefits of Perplexity Enterprise Pro, Ben met with each team to explain how the tool could improve their daily performance and efficiency. One perfect example is that he showed the IT team how to simplify explanations of technical topics for non-technical stakeholders, saving time and increasing the ease of novice understanding using Perplexity.
The use case that most attracted teams to Perplexity was far simpler. They witnessed firsthand how Perplexity’s advanced web search empowers everyone in the Cavs organization to take research into their own hands. As Ben affirms, “Perplexity Out-Googles Google.”
Perplexity’s AI search engine sifts through clutter and closes knowledge gaps. “That’s where all of the magic begins,” Ben says. “Perplexity augments repetitive, mundane tasks, so team members can focus on human skills like critical thinking, problem-solving and empathy.” In other words, the team spends less time searching and more time on deep work. The advantages that Perplexity offers in search also include that it:
Enables Mixed-Media Searches: The ability to add documents and images to searches allows anyone in the organization to get results tailored to their needs. For example, the development team can drop a graph about ticket sales into Perplexity, and the AI summarizes the document’s emerging trends in one click — without sacrificing data privacy (unlike other AI tools, Perplexity never retains critical customer data).
Lowers the Learning Curve: Perplexity is LLM agnostic, so AI beginners and experienced users alike get immediate value from the tool — whether they need an in-depth detailed response or natural-sounding answers.
Saves Valuable Time: Rather than drafting separate knowledge-based documentation for each of the Cavaliers’ departments, Team Members can attach relevant documents to a Perplexity search. The tool then easily parses meaning from this context and provides quick answers. With this functionality, Perplexity streamlines prospecting for the partnerships team by writing bespoke outreach emails in a flash.
Consolidates In-Depth Learnings: Perplexity also makes it easy for the Cavs to analyze long, complex documents, saving months of research. For example, the sustainability team used Perplexity to analyze long environmental studies in the Cleveland area to reveal how climate change may impact their stadium operations. These findings enabled the organization to approach events with sustainability in mind.
With Perplexity, the organization conducts deep research and finds relevant information far faster than before – driving efficiency gains and saving valuable time across teams.
Given the flexibility, security, and accuracy needs of the Cavs, Perplexity Enterprise Pro became the Cavs’ number-one pick. Once Ben started using Perplexity, he saw that onboarding fellow organizational teams would be technologically easy. The challenge in every organization with a new process is getting buy-in. To ensure Team Members understood the full benefits of Perplexity Enterprise Pro, Ben met with each team to explain how the tool could improve their daily performance and efficiency. One perfect example is that he showed the IT team how to simplify explanations of technical topics for non-technical stakeholders, saving time and increasing the ease of novice understanding using Perplexity.
The use case that most attracted teams to Perplexity was far simpler. They witnessed firsthand how Perplexity’s advanced web search empowers everyone in the Cavs organization to take research into their own hands. As Ben affirms, “Perplexity Out-Googles Google.”
Perplexity’s AI search engine sifts through clutter and closes knowledge gaps. “That’s where all of the magic begins,” Ben says. “Perplexity augments repetitive, mundane tasks, so team members can focus on human skills like critical thinking, problem-solving and empathy.” In other words, the team spends less time searching and more time on deep work. The advantages that Perplexity offers in search also include that it:
Enables Mixed-Media Searches: The ability to add documents and images to searches allows anyone in the organization to get results tailored to their needs. For example, the development team can drop a graph about ticket sales into Perplexity, and the AI summarizes the document’s emerging trends in one click — without sacrificing data privacy (unlike other AI tools, Perplexity never retains critical customer data).
Lowers the Learning Curve: Perplexity is LLM agnostic, so AI beginners and experienced users alike get immediate value from the tool — whether they need an in-depth detailed response or natural-sounding answers.
Saves Valuable Time: Rather than drafting separate knowledge-based documentation for each of the Cavaliers’ departments, Team Members can attach relevant documents to a Perplexity search. The tool then easily parses meaning from this context and provides quick answers. With this functionality, Perplexity streamlines prospecting for the partnerships team by writing bespoke outreach emails in a flash.
Consolidates In-Depth Learnings: Perplexity also makes it easy for the Cavs to analyze long, complex documents, saving months of research. For example, the sustainability team used Perplexity to analyze long environmental studies in the Cleveland area to reveal how climate change may impact their stadium operations. These findings enabled the organization to approach events with sustainability in mind.
With Perplexity, the organization conducts deep research and finds relevant information far faster than before – driving efficiency gains and saving valuable time across teams.
The Result
The Result
Improved Workflow Efficiency and Increased Team Member Autonomy
Improved Workflow Efficiency and Increased Team Member Autonomy
Improved Workflow Efficiency and Increased Team Member Autonomy
Perplexity Enterprise Pro has been a huge time-saver for the entire Cavaliers organization. For the partnerships team, email outreach (spanning partner identification, strategy and drafting) used to take up to two hours. Now, this task takes only a few minutes from end-to-end. What’s more, Ben himself saves up to 20 hours per week using Perplexity. He says the tool handles all his repetitive tasks from end-to-end. For instance, when Ben needs information for a presentation, Perplexity swiftly summarizes documents on his behalf. “This makes gathering information nearly effortless,” he says. With these knowledge gaps closed, Ben has been hard at work ramping up the Cavaliers’ AI architecture. Ben calls Perplexity the “best, most secure tool of its kind. It’s proved that it can keep our information safe while augmenting and enriching roles across our organization.”
Best of all, the Cavaliers continue to find innovative use cases to boost efficiency and increase Team Member autonomy with Perplexity. Ben envisions adding the tool to new hire orientation next. This way, new Team Members can ramp up faster and provide value to the organization sooner.
Perplexity Enterprise Pro has been a huge time-saver for the entire Cavaliers organization. For the partnerships team, email outreach (spanning partner identification, strategy and drafting) used to take up to two hours. Now, this task takes only a few minutes from end-to-end. What’s more, Ben himself saves up to 20 hours per week using Perplexity. He says the tool handles all his repetitive tasks from end-to-end. For instance, when Ben needs information for a presentation, Perplexity swiftly summarizes documents on his behalf. “This makes gathering information nearly effortless,” he says. With these knowledge gaps closed, Ben has been hard at work ramping up the Cavaliers’ AI architecture. Ben calls Perplexity the “best, most secure tool of its kind. It’s proved that it can keep our information safe while augmenting and enriching roles across our organization.”
Best of all, the Cavaliers continue to find innovative use cases to boost efficiency and increase Team Member autonomy with Perplexity. Ben envisions adding the tool to new hire orientation next. This way, new Team Members can ramp up faster and provide value to the organization sooner.
Perplexity Enterprise Pro has been a huge time-saver for the entire Cavaliers organization. For the partnerships team, email outreach (spanning partner identification, strategy and drafting) used to take up to two hours. Now, this task takes only a few minutes from end-to-end. What’s more, Ben himself saves up to 20 hours per week using Perplexity. He says the tool handles all his repetitive tasks from end-to-end. For instance, when Ben needs information for a presentation, Perplexity swiftly summarizes documents on his behalf. “This makes gathering information nearly effortless,” he says. With these knowledge gaps closed, Ben has been hard at work ramping up the Cavaliers’ AI architecture. Ben calls Perplexity the “best, most secure tool of its kind. It’s proved that it can keep our information safe while augmenting and enriching roles across our organization.”
Best of all, the Cavaliers continue to find innovative use cases to boost efficiency and increase Team Member autonomy with Perplexity. Ben envisions adding the tool to new hire orientation next. This way, new Team Members can ramp up faster and provide value to the organization sooner.
Company name
Cleveland Cavaliers
About the company
The Cleveland Cavaliers are an NBA basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio.The team plays at, and operates Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse are part of Rock Entertainment Group. The Group also includes the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League, Cavs Legion of the NBA 2K League, Legion Lair Lit by TCP home of Cavs Legion in Cleveland, and Cleveland Clinic Courts - the Cavaliers’ training and development center in Independence, Ohio. The Cavaliers are regularly recognized for their extensive community support and engagement programs and contributions, workplace diversity and inclusion leadership, and an on-going economic impact that now registers in the billions of dollars locally.