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“Movers and Shakers” is a dynamic monthly column dedicated to exploring the latest trends, developments, and influential voices in the iGaming industry. Powered by GameOn and supported by HIPTHER, this op-ed series delves into the key players, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes shaping the future of online gaming. Each month, industry experts offer their insights and perspectives, providing readers with in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary on what’s driving the iGaming world forward. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the scene, “Movers and Shakers” is your go-to source for staying ahead in the rapidly evolving iGaming landscape. 

By Claudia Heiling, Co-Founder & COO, Golden Whale

For years, iGaming has considered itself a data-driven industry. We’ve all spent time refining segmentation, optimising CRM journeys, mapping behavioural signals, and building increasingly complex player models. And with machine learning now widely available, whether bought, built, or borrowed, it would be reasonable to assume that the industry is already fully realising the benefits of AI.

But speak to most operators, product teams, or data leads and you’ll hear a different story.

There are models running somewhere – and usually several. There are predictions being generated. There are dashboards, reports, and insights circulating. Yet the business impact often feels inconsistent. Some initiatives deliver a clear uplift; others stall or never make it past a proof-of-concept stage. Projects that shine in testing environments don’t always translate into live, reliable operations.

The issue is rarely the model. And it’s rarely the data team. The gap is operational.

It’s one thing to build machine learning models. It’s another to make them function as part of the daily working rhythm of an iGaming business.

The operators and providers seeing the strongest and most reliable gains are the ones who treat AI not as an experiment, but as a capability: something that must be designed, deployed, monitored, re-trained, and continuously improved. This is closer to how we already treat core game operations, promotional systems, risk tooling, or CRM orchestration. It’s iterative, structured and ongoing.

In practice, that means building the frameworks around the models, not just the models themselves. Continuous data flows. Automated re-training. Real-time deployment pipelines. Feedback loops that allow systems to learn not just once, but constantly. When we work with iGaming clients who have embraced this operational mindset and leverage our ready-to-deploy MLOps system built for iGaming, the impact becomes both compounding and predictable.

The other shift happening is cultural. There has been a lingering expectation in some corners of the industry that AI will replace manual decision-making entirely and that it will “take over” processes like CRM optimisation, fraud detection, or product adjustment.

That’s neither realistic nor particularly desirable.

iGaming is too contextual, too human, too dependent on craftmanship and intuition.
The real value of AI is in augmentation: giving teams better visibility, faster feedback, and stronger evidence on which to base decisions.

In organisations where this mindset has taken hold, you see a different dynamic.
CRM teams run more experiments, more often, because they aren’t spending time rebuilding segments from scratch. Analysts spend less time on manual spreadsheet simulation and more on strategic exploration. Live-ops managers can respond to player behaviour as it changes, not after the weekly report comes in.

AI becomes the layer that enhances judgement, rather than replaces it.

And when AI is integrated technically and culturally, the commercial outcomes are hard to ignore. In setups where continuous learning pipelines are properly established and aligned with live operations, we’ve seen engagement and retention metrics improve dramatically and sustainably, with activity and revenues rising by 100–200%, while bonus and incentive costs drop by 20%+, driving growth and both securing and expanding market share. Operational teams benefit too, with workflows becoming smoother and less manual because the system is handling the constant data processing and iteration.

The improvements don’t come from having more complex algorithms. They come from having a structure that allows those algorithms to perform reliably, adapt to change, and keep learning over time.

This is where the conversation about AI in iGaming is quietly changing.

It’s no longer dominated by model performance or dataset scale, rather it is focused on repeatability, reliability and learning speed.

The distinction matters because it separates having AI, from running AI.

And the operators and providers who get this right aren’t just improving performance in the short term. They are building organisational momentum, a capability that compounds over time and is very difficult to replicate quickly.

In a sector defined by tight margins, competition and rapidly shifting player expectations, that advantage is significant.

So, if there is a “next step” in the industry’s AI journey, it’s not a more complex algorithm. It’s not a bigger data pool. And it’s not a new suite of predictive dashboards.

It’s the ability to learn continuously, responsibly and at scale.

Because in iGaming, as in intelligence, data alone doesn’t win. What wins is the ability to turn learning into action again and again.

The post Movers and Shakers – From Data to Decisions: What It Really Takes to Make AI Work in iGaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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EveryMatrix global customers now equipped with seamless access to award-winning loyalty and gamification offering

Xtremepush, the leading provider of CRM and loyalty marketing powered by AI, has announced its latest tier one partnership, having agreed a deal to provide acclaimed igaming provider EveryMatrix with its award-winning CRM and loyalty marketing services.

EveryMatrix, leveraging Xtremepush’s varied product suite, will now be able to offer its customers real-time, hyper-personalised CRM and gamification capabilities via its proprietary platform, helping them to drive engagement, increase loyalty, and maximise the lifetime value of all player types in a seamless manner.

Xtremepush leads the market in its unified, holistic approach to data collection, with its Single Customer View built to extract data from all sources in true real-time, providing an individual view of players to deliver a higher standard of omni-channel personalisation and messaging. Coupled with a gamification engine and AI-powered automation and data insights, operators will be able to leverage these revenue-driving tools via their existing integration with EveryMatrix.

Tommy Kearns, CEO and co-founder at Xtremepush, said of the partnership: “EveryMatrix has built a well-earned reputation for being a provider of best-in-class sports betting and gaming solutions for its operator partners, and we’re pleased to bolster their software and services with our first-rate CRM and loyalty solutions.

“Regulated markets are hugely competitive and Xtremepush has proven its worth in optimising and scaling customer’s loyalty engines and processes in these environments to realise greater engagement and ensure maximum lifetime value of players. We’re very confident that we’ll showcase this once again with EveryMatrix, via its clients, and to make them another customer for life.”

Kevin Furlong, Chief Product Officer, EveryMatrix, said: “Alongside our advanced turnkey platform technologies we have always partnered with best-in-class third-party suppliers such as Xtremepush providing added value to our customers.

“Combining our market-leading gaming infrastructure with Xtremepush’s powerful CRM technology will enable our customers to better understand their players, offer them even more personalised experiences and boost loyalty levels to name just a few benefits.”

Following a successful launch phase with EveryMatrix, Xtremepush will make additional services available to the supplier, including its Agentic AI, which will supercharge marketing processes with intent and iteration, allowing related teams to focus on broader strategy and value-driven projects.

The post Xtremepush’s CRM Services Integrated into EveryMatrix Platform appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Tom Smallwood, Chief Commercial Officer at OpenSlots

The growth of AI in the industry is a talking point you cannot ignore. From sceptics to those convinced it will have a big role to play, AI dominates discourse. However, it is widely accepted that it will play a significant role in product development. In our industry, the biggest misconception is that AI will replace creativity in game development. In my experience, it has the power to do the exact opposite. I’ve watched countless studios struggle with the same challenge of transforming creative vision into market-ready slot games without requiring a six-figure budget a six-month timeline only to fail to achieve distribution. Yet that’s exactly what the traditional route to market looks like now.

AI is removing the technical barriers that risk keeping creative minds locked out of our industry. At OpenSlots, we’re beginning to see firsthand how AI can help turn a game creator’s ‘napkin sketch’ into a playable prototype in a fraction of the time.

The hidden costs of traditional slot development

The harsh reality facing game creators today is staggering. Developing and distributing even a basic slot requires substantial budgets and months of specialised expertise. Factor in regulatory compliance, RNG certification, and multi-platform optimisation, and smaller studios face insurmountable barriers.

These costs aren’t just financial, they affect the creative output too. When a single game requires months of mathematical modelling, extensive asset creation, development and technical integration it is inevitable that innovation stagnates. Game developers tend to play it safe, but even then, they risk not getting any ‘airtime’ in the face of the overwhelming quantity of games released by larger studios. The result is a market flooded with similar games, from the same providers, while innovative ideas never see daylight.

The OpenSlots approach

At OpenSlots, we are building a platform aimed at non-technical professions in which every element of the development process is optimised. Our AI-powered system lets operators and game designers create professional slot games through an agentic interface and AI-powered game creation workflows all on a tried and trusted RGS. You describe your vision, say, a high-volatility Norse mythology theme with cascading reels, and OpenSlots, backed by human expertise, handles everything from the creation of your game design document to the game build itself. We even have an WYSIWYG editor prior to publishing.

Real democratisation means accessible innovation

True democratisation isn’t just about making existing processes slightly easier, it is about changing who can participate. When we enable game creators to describe their vision in natural language and watch AI generate playable prototypes, we’re not replacing human creativity, we’re amplifying it. The most successful implementations don’t replace human expertise, they eliminate tedious and costly tasks that prevent creative professionals from focusing on innovation. This is as true for an operator as a studio. We do not see AI as a magic wand, to make everything easy, especially in a highly regulated industry. However, it is an enabler that can create a certain originality and independence for B2Cs and a voice to smaller game design studios.

Why this matters now

The timing for this transformation couldn’t be more critical. The slots market generates over half of total casino revenue, with operators facing pressure to deliver personalised, engaging content at speed. As mobile gaming dominates consumer spending and competition grows, the traditional development model can’t keep pace with market demands.

This creates an opportunity for platforms that can democratise game creation while maintaining quality and compliance. The industry needs solutions that allow rapid iteration and testing, branded content creation, and market-specific customisation, all without the costs that have historically limited who can participate in game development.

Building the future of game creation

The winners in this transformation won’t be the companies with the most advanced AI algorithms. They will be the ones who best understand how to apply AI practically to real challenges.

The future belongs to platforms that combine industry knowledge with cutting-edge AI capabilities. It’s not about auto-generating second rate game assets, just to for the sake of speed and cost, but leveraging the power of AI to amplify human expertise and give the chance for innovation. In many ways we are giving people the chance to make mistakes. And that, of course, is how we grow.

The question isn’t whether AI will transform gaming development. It’s whether we allow the broader ecosystem be part of that transformation or left behind by it.

The post AI isn’t replacing creativity in gaming – it is democratising it appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.