The discussion around the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in online wagering and gaming has moved from theory to practical uses in recent years due to a growing number of evidence points across the industry.
Today, from player handling and advertising to odds calculation, customized content generation and fraud detection, specialists concur that AI now supports fundamental infrastructure throughout the sector.
So far, conversations about AI in the sector have mostly centered on income-producing and player-oriented possibilities. That is a comprehensible viewpoint.
Over 80% of enterprises in the field have adopted generative AI to assist with activities such as content production and collecting consumer insights, per a recent report from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ International Gaming Institute AI Research Hub alongside audit, tax and consulting firm KPMG.
Nevertheless, there is growing acknowledgment that AI can fulfill a crucial role in the background – by enhancing efficiencies and thus lowering expenses.
New-era potential
Having more than 100 sites across Europe, the Americas and Asia delivering managed hosting, cloud, cybersecurity and worldwide network solutions for iGaming companies, Continent 8 Technologies holds a key viewpoint on the expansion of AI at the forefront of the sector.
Continent 8 recently bolstered its offering by naming Cris Kuehl as its chief data, information and AI officer. Kuehl, who carries over two decades of expertise in corporate AI, analytics and data, is a significant addition to Continent 8’s executive team as the firm assists operators in steering through next-generation tech possibilities.
He emphasizes that the implementation of AI throughout operational tiers, covering infrastructure, surveillance, compliance and internal functions, is altering how gaming enterprises operate on a large scale by performing a critical function in examining data, logs, metrics, notifications and network telemetry.
A human could not execute such duties at scale, Kuehl remarks, while highlighting his conviction that there is a chance in the industry to regard cost avoidance as a proactive step.
“AI-powered operations aid in triggering some automated fixes, and I believe that is crucial,” Kuehl states. “The expense reduction there is quite tangible, but it is even more important to achieve reliability, catching deterioration before it turns into a disruption.
“Currently, we observe much AI usage as a cost-cutting instrument, but I prefer to view it as a cost avoidance approach. Outages are enormous from an income loss standpoint by itself.”
“The regulatory burden of operating a multi-jurisdiction iGaming enterprise is huge. Automation and the productivity improvements multiply as the count of active jurisdictions keeps expanding”
Revamping operations
In his fresh position, Kuehl will guide the company’s worldwide data, AI and information approach – propelling innovation across analytics, automation, cybersecurity robustness and customer-focused insights.
His scope encompasses forming Continent 8’s AI-driven product advancement, endorsing ethical AI methods and reinforcing data governance structures in line with the requirements of the iGaming, tribal and corporate sectors.
“AI is reshaping how organizations function, cooperate and safeguard their data,” Kuehl remarks. “Continent 8 is distinctively placed to spearhead this evolution for the worldwide iGaming and internet sports wagering sector. I am enthusiastic to assist in propelling the upcoming phase of creativity.”
Continent 8 has been a premier supplier of managed IT services for the iGaming and online sports wagering industry since its inception almost thirty years ago. The firm has grown into a comprehensive managed service solutions vendor, and the hiring of Kuehl is intended to assist it in strengthening its reputation as an expert on cybersecurity, tech and artificial intelligence throughout the iGaming realm.
As Michael Tobin, chief executive and founder of Continent 8, remarked: “Cris’ profound knowledge across data, AI and regulated settings is a remarkable fit for our company’s path. As the sector quickly moves toward smart-driven infrastructure, his guidance will guarantee we keep offering safe, top-performance solutions that bring quantifiable worth to our clients.”
Opportunity for expansion
Kuehl has pinpointed three fundamental elements for how AI can decrease operational costs and boost efficiencies in the services and infrastructure that sustain an iGaming company: capacity and demand prediction, compliance functions and internal service functions.
“iGaming traffic is heavily influenced by significant sports events, regulatory launches, promotion periods, market entries and others,” he observes. “Each of these generates demand peaks that are either somewhat predictable or somewhat fluctuating.
“For AI prediction models that use past traffic patterns, the market signals enabling infrastructure capacity to be allocated more flexibly rather than based on the worst-case fixed assumptions that people create has immediate cost consequences.”
Regarding compliance functions, the regulatory burden of managing a multi-jurisdiction iGaming enterprise is substantial. Adhering to reporting, audit trail handling, license conditioning, surveillance, data retention and enforcement all involve high quantity and risk of mistakes. This renders such operations suitable for AI assistance.
“Compliance functions are a key element [of AI’s capacity to enhance infrastructure efficiency],” Kuehl states. “The regulatory burden of operating a multi-jurisdiction iGaming enterprise is huge. Automation and the productivity improvements multiply as the count of active jurisdictions keeps expanding.”
There are likewise advantages linked to the use of AI via internal service functions, with Kuehl pointing out efficiencies spanning from the IT support desk to network operations center activities and supplier management procedures. “All of these can incur substantial operational expenses, and AI alters the economics of these tasks significantly, fundamentally changing how groups function,” he remarks.
Boosting human productivity
Kuehl is a strong advocate that AI can be employed to enhance human output, rather than substituting humans completely.
In fact, he sees the technology as a method for managing simpler duties like account inquiries, payment status, bonus rules and basic problem-solving.
“AI can manage these with no human participation whatsoever,” Kuehl states. “The ratio naturally varies with deployment quality and question intricacy, but the key point is it can steadily cut agent capacity needs substantially.
“I have witnessed it directly over the past five years – the change initiative since Covid-19 – and I believe it is only becoming increasingly intense.”
With AI handling the burdensome work of routine tasks, people have more liberty and time to concentrate on the more important strategic and imaginative obstacles and prospects.
“If average time to fix essentially falls to zero, recurring issues go down as underlying cause examination keeps improving,” Kuehl continues. “Then, my preferred aspect is that my senior engineering crew’s time is safeguarded for the tasks that genuinely need it. I believe this is enormously significant.”
Per Kuehl, it is obvious that the influence of AI in iGaming can extend much more in the future – especially in an enterprise’s daily operations.
“The sector talk leans toward customer-facing AI because the results are observable and commercially instinctive,” Kuehl remarks. “However, the operational aspect is where AI provides the most structurally notable productivity improvements, and it is significantly underfunded compared to its promise.”
Cris Kuehl, chief data, information and AI executive, Continent 8