There is something quietly remarkable about the scene at Bearwood Park on Friday. Paris Saint-Germain, reigning European champions, and Dutch giants Ajax are among the clubs making the trip to Reading's training complex, not to scout players or negotiate transfers, but to talk artificial intelligence with a League One football club.

Stuart Fenton, Reading's Head of AI and the first person to hold such a title in English football, is understandably pleased with how the day has come together. Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, he was careful not to oversell what the summit represents while also being clear about what it demonstrates. "PSG won the Champions League last year, so it's super exciting that we get teams like that coming to Reading," he said. "We're having the conversation with them around AI in football and where football's going. That's a real testament to the programme we're running here."

Reading set up their AI department roughly a year ago, under new owner Rob Couhig. The timing matters: twelve months is not a long time to build anything, let alone a programme substantial enough to draw interest from clubs operating at the very top of the European game. Fenton was keen to keep that in perspective. "Everyone thinks AI is like a light switch," he said. "You flick it and suddenly you're the world's most intelligent team. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it. The benefits for us compound across the club."

The applications at Reading stretch well beyond the recruitment analytics that have become fashionable to discuss since Brighton and Brentford demonstrated what a data-led approach can achieve. Fenton outlined a culture of adoption that has spread across departments. The ground staff, for instance, are now using AI models to inform grass cutting and turf maintenance at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Retail and tactical analysis are also in the mix. The ambition, as Fenton frames it, is not replacement but empowerment: "Not how we can use it to replace humans, but how we can empower them and actually get them to do their job in a more effective way."

Crystal Palace and Champions League club Como are also among the visitors attending the summit, which is being used to launch a new programme between Reading and Setanta College focusing on sports technology and artificial intelligence. For a third-tier club still working its way through the League One season, that kind of institutional partnership carries genuine long-term weight.

What Fenton keeps returning to is the direction of travel. The Royals are not flying out to meet these clubs; the clubs are coming to them. "We're not starstruck by these teams," he said. "The exciting thing is they're coming to us." It is the kind of confidence that comes from doing something first and doing it seriously, rather than following a trend at a safe distance.

One data challenge Fenton identified is particularly familiar to anyone who has tried to assess players across multiple leagues and continents: volume. "Data is huge in football," he said. "How do we use the AI and technology available to effectively streamline that data and give our team more information on players all across the world?" At League One level, where recruitment budgets are limited and the margin for error on signings is small, getting that process right could matter as much as anything that happens on a Saturday afternoon.

None of this guarantees results on the pitch, of course, and Reading supporters know better than most that progress off it does not automatically translate. But the fact that clubs operating at a continental level are willing to sit in a room at Bearwood Park and share information does suggest that, in at least one corner of the modern game, the Royals are ahead of the curve rather than chasing it.

Frequently asked

What is Reading FC's AI department?
Reading set up an AI department approximately a year ago under owner Rob Couhig, with Stuart Fenton appointed as Head of AI, the first such role in English football. The department uses artificial intelligence across recruitment, tactics, retail and pitch maintenance.
Why did PSG visit Reading's training ground?
Paris Saint-Germain were among several clubs, including Ajax, Crystal Palace and Como, who visited Reading's Bearwood Park training complex for a summit on the use of artificial intelligence in football, organised by the club's AI department.
How is Reading using AI in League One?
Reading are applying AI primarily to player recruitment and scouting, but also to tactical analysis, retail operations and even pitch and turf management at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.