Harvey Mudd Student Selected for NBA’s First AI Cohort

Harvey Mudd College computer science major Jonah Heimann ’27 has spent his college career striking a balance between academics and athletics, playing forward for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps basketball team for all four years. This past summer, a prestigious internship gave him the rare opportunity to combine those two passions.

Heimann was selected as an innovation and emerging products intern within the National Basketball Association’s direct-to-consumer products, tech and operations department, joining the first cohort to use artificial intelligence to design products and applications. Throughout the 10-week program, he gained hands-on experience in UX design, full-stack development and product management for emerging league platforms, culminating in a final project pitch to NBA executives.

Scientific and technological advances have transformed sports through wearable technology, game-day analytics, injury prevention and advanced equipment design. Artificial intelligence is now altering how fans watch, analyze and interact with teams, players and leagues.

Empathizing with the user is a foundational element of building successful products. “I realized during my internship that my long-term career goal is to be a product manager,” said Heimann. “One of the most important aspects of the job is putting yourself in the shoes of a product user.”

Having played basketball since age 8, Heimann found this mindset came naturally. “Every time I thought of a feature or built something, I would look at it through the lens of a fan—considering questions like, Would I enjoy this feature? or Would this product be helpful for my enjoyment of the game?”

Heimann navigated both technical and commercial hurdles. “I was trying to integrate video into an interface that wasn’t very supportive of that content, and I got through that by talking with experts around the league in different departments that had experience with that,” he said, adding that the commercial aspect required thoughtful strategy. “I was given so much freedom in building my project. I had to think critically and not overwhelm the user with so many different features, keeping what I thought was most valuable in the product.”

Heimann presented his project at Demo Day before an audience of over 50 NBA executives and managers. “I felt confident in my ability to present because Mudd has provided so many opportunities, “Heimann said. “The hard part was choosing the content. I had to balance my technical knowledge with the core message and details senior leaders would want to hear about a project.”

Now a senior, Heimann is working on two startups: one focused on sourcing brand-creator partnerships on the agency side, and another building software to automate that process, with plans to eventually merge the two.

Whatever comes next, basketball will remain a central part of Heimann’s life. After graduation, he plans to travel to Japan with fellow seniors from across the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). The athletes will spend two weeks playing against local Japanese professional teams while exploring the country.