GLI bolsters headcount to keep pace with the growth in gaming
Gaming Laboratories International has added more than 150 to its headcount this year, and plans to hire more as it bolsters its delivery teams to keep up with the rapidly expanding industry.
Speaking to COMPLETE iGAMING at SBC Summit Americas, Vice President of Client Services Salim Adatia said the firm aims to have added 170 people by the end of this year, with a 100 more expected to join after that.
“We’re looking to have people primarily with technological, mathematics or cyber security backgrounds – that area is growing with more threat actors in the industry, so the cyber security practice is growing at a fast pace.
“After those 270 hires, we’re going to look and say, what do we need from 2026 onwards? The pace at which technology is expanding, markets are expanding, the growth in gaming, we need to make sure we’re keeping pace.”
Focus on innovation
The expansion drive comes amid GLI’s announcement in March that it had appointed former Vice President of Engineering Sangeeta Reddy to lead a new dedicated innovation division as Vice President of Innovation.
Adatia says the gaming certification and compliance company’s focus on innovation is not new, but that having a standalone innovation division will “formalize” the future scoping work that GLI has always done.
“When you have technologies like AI, blockchain and crypto, that are constantly pushing the boundaries, we need to not see innovation as a side job within every department. It needs to be formalized, and we need to be giving it the resources that it deserves,” he says.
“For us, it’s always been about how we can do what we do better, more efficiently, but without reducing the quality of our testing. We never want to cut corners, but if we can find a way to do things more efficiently, more effectively, then we can ensure that products and operators are operating in a manner that’s fair, secure and auditable, more readily.”
Asked how GLI’s findings from the innovation division will be disseminated, Adatia said that a lot of the work coming out of the innovation team will feed into GLI University courses and regulatory advisory services. GLI University offers formal course curriculums, coaching, bespoke courses and other industry outreach.
Elsewhere the company runs an annual regulator roundtable in Las Vegas, where more than 400 regulators can meet alongside lottery, online and land-based operators.
“That’s a two-day free educational event that we put on to give back to the industry, to show them what we have found through research and development, and to talk to them about technologies that operators and suppliers are talking to us about, so that we can help regulators be ready for the next phase”, he explained.
Taking a long view
To effectively scope out the market, GLI’s future gazing is not limited to just one or two years ahead, but five or 10 years, Adatia tells me. Moreover, having observed the industry for so long, GLI has seen the lifecycles of innovation play out repeatedly in the past.
“Thirty-five years we’ve been in this business,” he says. “We remember when cashless gaming was being questioned, skill-based products, daily fantasy sports, igaming.”
Referring to the preoccupation with technologies like, AI, crypto, blockchain, sweepstakes and prediction markets, Adatia adds, “we have to remember that, while these might be contentious today, so were some of those other forms of gaming that are now part of our everyday fabric.”
As such, he explains, the innovation division can focus on smoothing that path for all stakeholders, by helping them understand the technology as it emerges, educating the regulators on risks and opportunities and “helping operators and suppliers to know what technical requirements might apply to their visionary offerings.”
Ultimately, he explains the work conducted by the new team, under Reddy’s leadership, looks at what all stakeholders need to be aware of to move these products forward in a regulated market. “How do we do it in a manner that’s fitting with the same level of integrity that we have for current products that are allowable?” he says.
He says GLI clients particularly appreciate the global perspective the company has on the industry. “It’s not just what’s happening in a US state or a Canadian province, it’s what’s happening over in Asia, and bringing that back home so people can say, “wow, I better be ready.”
GLI is certainly doing all it can to be ready for the next wave of igaming innovation.
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