Five CEOs that will have a significant influence on the iGaming industry in 2024.
When a new CEO is appointed to a gaming company such as NetEnt, it is never clear what the outcome will be. This could be a big change for both the software company and the gaming industry. The reason - usually it is related to the entry into force of a new corporate policy, focus on other products and markets, and sometimes even a complete change of brand identity. Who are the newest casino names in the NZ sector that will impact gaming? And what are their visions for the future of iGaming?
Daniel Heywood – CEO and Co-Founder of NuxGame
Since 2018 NuxGame is one of the software providers that deliver top-notch iGaming products. Given the fact that it was founded by a team of experts in the industry, the company has a clear vision of the iGaming industry’s future. According to its director, Daniel Heywood, the biggest change that has occurred since becoming part of this field is the introduction of cryptocurrency into gambling.
More and more operators are offering it as an option or looking to implement it, so vendors including NuxGame are looking for new crypto solutions. For example, in 2022 NuxGame integrated multi-balance and Web3 crypto wallet. Daniel Heywood defends the thesis that the future of the industry is directly related to crypto. Operators will increasingly start implementing it, and traditional payment methods will gradually weaken their control over the market. Operators’ revenues will increase as a result of players' easier access to cross-border operators.
Alex Kornilov – CEO & Founder of BETEGY
The company was founded in 2012 by its current executive director - Alex Kornilov.
"When BETEGY was in its infancy, affiliate marketing was king, while social media was more of an abstract idea."
However, his company practiced the two in tandem leading to its golden era of growth. Kornilov claims that the image of the industry has changed for the better since then. In the beginning, it was perceived as an industry that more or less lacked morals, until only a decade later it was perceived as a high-tech niche compared to Silicon Valley.
In his opinion, due to the technological nature of the industry, the efficiency and results they are trying to achieve will be directly related to key performance indicators (KPIs). This means that the goals that are set must be realistically measurable in relation to the costs that have been imposed for their implementation, and this can only be achieved by setting specific goals and fixed results to be achieved for a certain period.
Ewa Kazmierska - CEO of BF Games
BF Games has been operating in several key European markets for over seven years. The current executive director of the company, Ewa Kazmierska, says that taking on the role was a real challenge, especially considering the geopolitical situation in 2022. Despite this, BF Games successfully entered the markets of Bulgaria and Switzerland. The company strives to develop less traditional slots that combine classic features with innovative features.
Kazmierska points out that this was what set them apart from other software vendors, as well as consistency of goals and persistence. This will be the strategy for the future as well. In addition, she shares that the key factor in the development of BF Games is that her team always sets three types of clear goals: short-term, medium-term, and long-term. In this way, they are more easily measurable and quickly achievable, and when a goal is reached and exceeded, it awakens a hunger in employees for even greater success.
Simon Hammon - CEO of Relax Gaming
Founded in 2010, today Relax Gaming has four main hubs in Sweden, Estonia, Malta, and Serbia. On taking on the role of CEO of the company, Hammon says it has been a challenge to lead a fast-growing company in such a highly competitive industry. Much of Relax Gaming's progress is due to the casinos it is actively involved with. The company's strategy remains the same, but it is now more difficult to follow because the scale of the company and its capabilities are now greater.
The main priority of Relax Gaming is the employees because the maxim of the company is that all successes come as a result of the efforts of the employees and therefore it is important that they are happy. He defends the thesis that changes must be made constantly and the management of the company must be flexible in order to be competitive in the market. Proof of this is that since Simon Hammon has been the CEO of Relax Gaming, many changes have been made that meet the requirements of the regulators and in 2024 more are to be introduced.
Sergei Belikov - CEO of MobInc
Established in 2017, MobInc's focus is on bringing carefully thought out non-standard iGaming solutions to contribute to the development of the industry. CEO Sergei Belikov says that learning more about new technologies is an exciting experience, because if you are not familiar with it, you cannot imagine how these technologies could push the business forward. That is why MobInc has already implemented artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analysis into the work process, the goal of which is to improve the final products.
Belikov claims that tools using artificial intelligence make it much easier to deal with the challenges faced by companies in the sector. For example, analyzing data and predicting results happens much more easily than if it were done manually. MobInc's strategy is to continue to implement methods using artificial intelligence in the work process to continue the development of chemomapping and make it an even more important factor in the industry.
The iGaming industry is one of the fastest growing globally on an annual basis. Cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence have a serious impact on this sector as well, intensifying the competition even more, as companies that do not adapt to them lag behind in their development. For this reason, almost every year the CEOs who are expected to play a role in shaping the face of iGaming are different individuals.
