NEXT.io Podcast - podcast cover

NEXT.io Podcast

NEXT.iowww.next.io
The primary podcast of the iGaming industry. Hosted by Pierre Lindh, it brings you episodes that are packed with expert insights, dynamic discussions, and inspiring stories from industry leaders. Whether you're seeking leadership tips, energy management strategies, or insider knowledge, NEXT.io podcasts are your go-to resource for staying ahead in the industry. Check out our YouTube channel for more content: https://www.youtube.com/@nextdotio Dive into our website to explore more: https://next.io/
Last refreshed:
Download Metacast podcast app
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Pierre Lindh #46 - Andy Fahey, Global Esports Lead, PwC (Is Esports a bubble?)

Andy is PwC’s esports industry leader across their global network. Andy helps organizations navigate through a fast-growing, global, emerging market; providing insights and expertise across a complex ecosystem. With 19+ years of experience at PwC UK, across a wide range of industries, and leading the global firm's activity in the esports sector for the last 4 years. Andy built an extensive external network, across teams, leagues, publishers, organizers, platforms, and brands. Having worked close...

Mar 11, 202143 minEp. 46

Karolina Pelc #2 - Rafi Ashkenazi, Ex-CEO The Stars Group (A journey through the stars)

Mr. Rafael (Rafi) Ashkenazi, is a former The Stars Group CEO and a future Executive Chairman of Hard Rock Digital. Previously a Playtech COO, he joined the Rational Group in 2013 and had been with the company that eventually became known as The Stars Group for seven years. Taking over as CEO in 2016, Rafi is widely recognized to have played an integral role in the business leaving an incredible footprint on all it's aspects. Mr. Ashkenazi, who initially joined Stars Interactive Group in January ...

Mar 03, 20211 hr 4 minEp. 2

Pierre Lindh #45 - Ben Clemes, CCO, GiG (Past, Present, and Future)

Ben oversees the Commercial team at GiG, with responsibility for commercial agreements with our various suppliers and pricing models for GiG’s ever-expanding product range. His background is casino management, including MGM in Las Vegas, and Head of Casino Operations for Nordic Gaming Group. Ben joined GiG in 2013, as Head of Casino Operations and co-founder of Guts, and progressed to Managing Director of iGaming Cloud (a vertical in GiG now called GiG Core) in 2016, and was announced as CCO in ...

Feb 26, 202154 minEp. 45

Jesper Kärrbrink #3 - Sergey Portnov, Parimatch, CEO (Why go west when you can go east?)

Sergey became Chief Executive Officer of Parimatch Holding in 2015. He has transformed the Company from a bookmaker trading out of physical stores into an innovative online technology business and internationally recognized lifestyle brand. Sergey has restructured the Company and transformed critical operational and business processes, leading to the Company's vigorous growth and performance. As CEO, Sergey's primary responsibilities at Parimatch include the development and implementation of hig...

Feb 16, 202146 minEp. 3

Pierre Lindh #42 - Oisin Lunny, Senior Forbes Contributor (ESG is King)

Oisin Lunny is an award-winning marketer, webinar and podcast host, MC, public speaker, virtual event consultant, and journalist. His work has been read over half a million times as a senior contributor to Forbes, The Guardian, and others. Oisin has spoken at over 250 conferences in every corner of the world, including TEDx and six times at SXSW, and he has worked in a series of leading global technology firms over the past 20 years.

Feb 11, 202149 minEp. 42

Jesper Kärrbrink #2 - Paris Smith, CEO, Pinnacle

Paris Smith’s career in online gaming spans more than two decades, which includes more than 12 years as CEO of Pinnacle ( www.pinnacle.com ), one of the world’s most respected online bookmakers. Paris’ unmatched understanding of the online gaming business has led to her advising governments to develop regulatory frameworks, as well as working closely with key industry service providers.

Feb 10, 202143 minEp. 2

Karolina Pelc #1 - Ulrik Bengtsson, WilliamHILL, Chief Executive Officer

Ulrik Bengtsson was appointed CEO of WilliamHILL on 30 September 2019, having been appointed CEO Designate on 5 September 2019. He had joined the Group as Chief Digital Officer and a member of the Group Executive Committee in April 2018. Ulrik was previously President and Chief Executive of Betsson Group, the Stockholm listed betting and gaming company that operates via gaming licences in 11 countries across Europe and Central Asia, until stepping down in September 2017. Ulrik has a B.Comm. from...

Feb 09, 202125 minSeason 1Ep. 1

Jesper Kärrbrink #1 - Kresimir Spajic (Deep dive into the US market)

Kresimir Spajic is Senior Vice President of Online Gaming for Hard Rock International. Spajic is responsible for leading the vision, strategy and operational execution behind the brand’s investment across interactive gaming platforms. Spajic is instrumental in securing new strategic partnerships and future opportunities to further position Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos as a global leader in the international and online gaming spaces. Spajic holds a multidisciplinary graduate degree in managemen...

Feb 09, 202152 minSeason 1Ep. 1

Pierre Lindh #41 - Todd Haushalter, CPO, Evolution Gaming

Todd Haushalter is Chief Product Officer at Evolution Gaming. Todd is responsible for all aspects of Evolution’s game innovation and new product development, including the creation of award-winning titles such as MONOPOLY Live and Lightning Roulette. Prior to this, he was Corporate Vice President of Gaming Operations at MGM and Vice President of Business Strategy at Shuffle Master. He has a wide and varied knowledge of the casino industry.

Feb 04, 20212 hr 17 minSeason 41Ep. 41

#40 - David Flynn, CEO, Glitnor Group (2021 trends and beyond)

David Flynn is a Management Executive with over 17 years of iGaming experience across both B2B and B2C verticals of the Online Gaming market. Currently, David is responsible for the strategic direction of Glitnor Group, encompassing its customer-facing brands, Luckycasino and Gambola and its rapidly growing B2B vertical Swintt.

Jan 29, 20211 hr 11 minSeason 40Ep. 40

#37 - Manuel Stan, SVP USA - Kindred Group (Making it big in the U.S.A)

Manuel started in the gambling industry with BetBrain in 2005 in Bucharest, before relocating to London in 2008 to join Unibet. Manuel held roles focused on Central and Eastern Europe until 2012 when he moved on to the Head of Digial Marketing role and later Brand Marketing Director. In 2018, Manuel moved to New York to start Kindred’s operations in the US. Manuel holds a BSc in International Business at Bucharest University of Economic studies and more recently completed an Executive Management...

Dec 21, 202049 minSeason 1Ep. 37

#36 - Phil Pearson, Head of Sales - iGaming Group (20201 - The good, the bad, the ugly)

Phil Pearson is the Head of white labels and sales for iGaming Group and iGaming Platform, who specialise in a fully managed casino solution for MGA or curacao based operations. With a cutting edge back office, gamification, over 6000 games and counting, and fully managed CS and payment solutions, they are leading the market moving into 2021. Not one to shy away from controversy Phil is very outspoken on LinkedIn and other platforms, pushing for a fairer and more open igaming community. Outside ...

Dec 17, 20201 hr 27 minSeason 1Ep. 36

#35 - Tim Heath, Founder - Coingaming Group (Past, Present, Future of iGaming)

From establishing his first venture capital firm in 2017, Tim Heath continues to draw upon two decades of experience within the iGaming and emerging technology industries. He was an early adopter of Bitcoin in 2013 and is also the founder and CEO of the Coingaming Group, which operates the leading, globally recognised, crypto gaming brands, Bitcasino.io and Sportsbet.io. He orchestrated the Sportsbet.io principal sponsorship of the English Premier League team Watford FC, which included placing a...

Dec 09, 20201 hr 31 minSeason 1Ep. 35

#34 - Boris Chaikin, CEO Soft2bet (maintaining exponential growth)

Soft2bet is pioneering the future of casino and sportsbook B2B platform supplier with an extensive portfolio comprising 30+ innovative brands; delivering top quality, gamified casino and sports betting content from some of the industry’s most prominent suppliers. Featuring over 5,000 of the best in slots, table games and live casino content from leading third-party developers and its own exclusive in-house team, Soft2bet’s customers keep on returning for more.

Dec 02, 202049 minSeason 1Ep. 34

#33 - Jesper Svensson, CEO - Betsson Group (iGaming - Pandemic & Recession proof)

Jesper Svensson has been in the gaming industry since the mid-2000s. Over the years he worked in senior positions in several gaming companies in Europe and Asia. He joined Betsson in 2013 as the managing director of its flagship brand, betsson.com. In 2015 he became Betsson’s Chief Commercial Officer and was then made acting CEO in September 2017. Just three months later, he was appointed as CEO for Betsson Operations. Jesper holds a Master in International Business from EAE Business School (Bar...

Nov 27, 20201 hr 9 minSeason 1Ep. 33

#32 - Allan Stone, CEO - Intelitics (Future industry trends)

Allan Stone is the CEO and Co-Founder of Intelitics. Intelitics’ igaming performance marketing and business intelligence saas platform provides Real-Time data in a clear and Accurate format, empowering operators to make agile, data-driven Decisions for informed media investing and customer acquisition to unlock hidden revenue and boost return on investment. When he’s not in the office Allan can be found spending time with his wife and three sons enjoying the outdoors, off-roading or catching a f...

Nov 19, 20201 hr 8 minSeason 1Ep. 32

#31 - Rickard Vikström, CCO - Internet Vikings (Behind the scenes insights)

Rickard Vikström has 15 years of experience in building steadily growing businesses. In 2008, he founded Stay Secure which became the largest anti-spam service in Sweden. The same year he co-founded Internet Vikings - a premium provider of hosting and related services with the focus on iGaming. As a founder and a member of the Board Rickard is also involved in Holm Security working with IT security and Wincher working with Google Analytics. Rickard believes in the key role of proactivity. Only t...

Nov 04, 202059 minSeason 1Ep. 31

#29 Pontus Lindwall, CEO Betsson AB (Betsson & iGaming industry update)

CEO at Betsson AB and President Born in 1965, residence Stockholm, Sweden. Employed in the Group since 1991. Board member 2011-2018. Chairman of the Board 2011-2015 and 2016-September 2017. Previously CEO and President 1998-2011 and July 2015-February 2016. Other assignments: Board Member in Net Entertainment NE AB (publ), Nya Solporten Fastighets AB, Mostphotos AB and several companies within the Betsson Group. Background: Long experience from the gaming industry, both offline and online gaming...

Oct 26, 202039 minSeason 1Ep. 29

#28 Kristoffer Cassel, Founder/CEO - Regily (Progressive leadership)

Kristoffer Cassel is the co-founder and CEO of Regily and has been part of several of Europes most successful tech companies. Before founding Regily Kristoffer were VP product and the inventor behind a majority of Klarnas global patents. As a keen innovator, he is a true believer that creating simplicity from complex technology is the most rewarding thing there is. Regily is applying advanced technologies to make it enjoyable for users to sign up for new services online. The company was founded ...

Oct 23, 202059 minSeason 1Ep. 28

#27 - Georg Westin, Co-founder - Hero Gaming, Casumo / Investor, Maxify

Georg Westin is the largest owner and the founder of Hero Gaming, a company with roots in gamification of the gabling world and runs multiple successful brands such as Casino Heroes, Speedy Spel, Boom Casino and CasiTabi. Georg is previously co-founder of Casumo and CTO at Betsson and Betsafe. Georg is also a successful investor in digital startups via his company Maxify.

Oct 16, 20201 hr 7 minSeason 1Ep. 27

#26 - Simon Lidzén, Co-founder/CEO - Fast Track (Adapt or Die)

Simon's background in iGaming spans over 15 years, with extensive experience in product development and innovation. Having held senior positions at a number of operators, including Betfair, Betsson Group, Simon has always been working towards understanding key challenges and produce innovative solutions to drive real change within the industry. There is no clearer example of this that what he has achieved with Fast Track - the leading iGaming player engagement platform, that he Co-founded 5 year...

Oct 13, 20201 hrSeason 1Ep. 26

#25 - Oskar Mühlbach, CEO - Raketech (The utopian vision of remote work)

Oskar Mühlbach, CEO at Raketech has been in the iGaming industry since 2016 when he joined the casino operator Mr Green as their COO. Before iGaming, Mühlbach worked within the international e-commerce industry in which he has held several senior positions, such as COO at global eyewear reseller Lensway, CMO at online footwear store Footway and director at the online makeup store Eleven. Mühlbach joined Raketech in early 2019, as a Senior Advisory Consultant to the board of directors and CEO at ...

Oct 07, 202052 minSeason 1Ep. 26

#24 - James King, Director of Sales - GiG (COVID-19, the death of land-based casinos?)

At GiG James is responsible for providing leadership and management on the delivery of sales objectives around the globe (managing both the sales and marketing teams). James has over 11 years’ experience in sales from the front line through to Group Sales Director (Clarion Gaming) leading all aspects of sales excellence driving revenue growth initiatives globally. He has successfully led and managed sales teams of varying report sizes across a mixture of businesses ranging from events through to...

Sep 29, 20201 hr 4 minSeason 1Ep. 24

#23 - Calvin Ayre, Founder - Ayre Group & CoinGeek

Calvin Ayre, Venture Capitalist, Real Estate Developer, Founder of Ayre Group and CoinGeek: Calvin Ayre is a celebrated entrepreneur who made the cover of Forbes magazine in 2006 for his success in building the Bodog online gambling brand. More recently, Ayre founded the CoinGeek cryptocurrency news site and invests in companies that build on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain. Ayre supports Dr Craig Wright’s view that original Bitcoin (BSV) is the only technology with the potential to scale to mee...

Sep 25, 202050 minSeason 1Ep. 23

#22 - Eman Pulis, Founder & CEO, SiGMA Group (Is there a future for iGaming events?)

Eman Pulis is the founder and CEO of SiGMA Group, a gaming and tech destination company with events across Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. In addition to a wealth of experience in event management, Eman Pulis holds a degree in Education with first-class honours, as well as a Master's degree in both diplomacy and creativity and innovation . Mr Pulis also sits on a number of boards as a senior advisor. Mr Pulis currently resides in Manila with his wife and daughter, a central location whic...

Sep 23, 202046 minSeason 1Ep. 22
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android