The Playa: how AI-driven personalization boosts growth by 25%

Personalization is changing the iGaming industry, making companies rethink how they attract, engage, and retain players. We spoke with Viktoriia Grygorenko, the CEO of The Playa, an AI-powered platform focused on data-driven player experiences, about the company's journey, industry trends, and why personalization is quickly becoming the key to growth.

SLOTEGRATOR: Can you tell us more about The Playa? What’s the story behind it, what’s its mission and plans?

Viktoriia Grygorenko: The Playa provides AI-powered personalization solutions for iGaming operators that deliver a revenue boost of up to 25% (well, quite often more, but we don’t like to overpromise). Today, we serve a range of operators, including enterprises with $10M+ in monthly GGR. Our four solutions cover the full player lifecycle: Lobby Personalization, VIP Intelligence, Acquisition Intelligence, and Retention Boost.

Before The Playa, I was working at an investment fund focused on artificial intelligence (back in 2021, before all the hype, it was very niche at that moment). One of the investors was specifically interested in combining AI and iGaming. We decided to collaborate and shaped it as a side project at first. We ran a successful proof of concept with an outsourced team, confirmed the idea worked, and then started building a team of experts in iGaming and technology to drive it further. Now we are 20 people united by the goal to transform iGaming into a deeply engaging, player-first, and safe form of entertainment, through personalization, of course.

In terms of what's ahead, our focus is on making our existing solutions stronger, easier to integrate, and more practical to use, with deeper insights and knowledge to share. Every client is our teacher, and we learn a lot from each partnership, adopting the feedback into our solutions. As the industry and technology advances are moving too fast for rigid planning, we have a direction for the year ahead.

S: Personalization is not just a trend anymore, it’s the core of any business operation. Why did you decide to focus on personalization in iGaming?

VG: That’s a great observation. We need to remember that players are real people who also use TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon... Every one of those platforms is spending billions to understand what each user wants and deliver it instantly. And then those same players log into a casino and get a lobby that's identical to what every other player sees. That disconnect is obvious to them.

iGaming operators are competing for attention in the same market as these entertainment giants. And players' expectations are being shaped by the best personalization in the world. So the bar is already high — it's just that our industry hasn't caught up yet.

We also saw that the data was already there. iGaming generates enormous amounts of behavioral data — game choices, session timing, bet sizing, how players explore, and how they respond to offers. Most operators weren't using it beyond basic segmentation rules, and that felt like a significant missed opportunity.

Done right, personalization can improve unit economics across the whole funnel — more active days, higher turnover per user, stronger retention. So we aren’t just solving an experience problem, but also a financial one.

S: Do you notice a shift to a more personalized approach among operators in recent years? Do you anticipate more interest in using data for better effectiveness?

VG: Yes, the interest is increasing every year. We’re currently surveying operators for our upcoming industry report on AI/ML use cases among iGaming operators. 77% of company leaders believe AI usage will help set a competitive advantage for their brands in the next 2-3 years. And personalization is a part of their investment priorities.

The big operators are already moving fast on this. I was doing some research and noticed that Flutter grew from around 120 data-science-related roles to over 300 in just a few months. Bet365 has 124 roles in that space. Evoke has an AI team of 60 people. These are some very interesting signals for where the industry is heading.

Right now, if an operator uses personalization at all, they already stand out because not many are doing so. But that window won't stay open forever. We think AI-powered personalization will become a standard by 2028.

S: What changes do you notice in player behavior in recent years?

VG: The biggest change is generational. The current core demographic in casinos is 35 to 45, but Gen Z is starting to enter and will become a major revenue source over the next decade. This generation expects a UX that adapts to them quickly. Meanwhile, millennials value depth, frictionless quality, and moments that feel human.

And loyalty is changing alongside that. Players today typically play across three to five different platforms simultaneously, so staying someone's first choice requires consistent, meaningful engagement.

S: This month, we are talking about women in iGaming. Player demographics is also shifting. Do you see how the share of female players is growing?

VG: This is a beautiful question. I believe we are still at the point where most experiences are built around male player profiles, even though usually there is at least 30% of the female audience in iGaming. But when you use behavioral data, you can spot the differences and adjust accordingly. Women, for example, tend to be more cautious, take less risk, place bets in smaller amounts, and their casino-to-sports ratio differs from men's. And once you see those patterns in the data, you can build experiences that actually reflect them. And the question here - who is actually reflecting that in the player journey? Very-very few.

S: Does that depend on the region?

VG: It does. In terms of female player representation, markets with stronger social gaming culture, or where online casino has been normalized for longer, often show higher female participation (like Europe, North America). Newer or less regulated markets tend to skew more heavily male, at least in the early stages. But it also depends on the product and how it feels.

S: The Playa’s management consists of women — how important, in your opinion, is it to support women in such a competitive environment as iGaming?

VG: Just to be clear — we didn’t discriminate against men. :) We chose our people based on their knowledge and skills.

I do think supporting women matters a lot. But I’m looking at it from the perspective that women tend to be more self-doubtful (or maybe it is just me), and such support from the community, from peers and partners, will provide a platform to grow faster and higher than walking this path alone. Looks like the iGaming industry is still figuring out how to do it well, though now I do see many women being speakers, having C-level roles, and managing big companies. We are getting there. Additionally, more communities are emerging where women can connect, share experiences, and learn from one another.

S: Getting back to player behavior, what trends of 2026 would you highlight?

VG: The first one is that investing in retention strategies becomes essential to running a business. Retention is five times cheaper than acquisition for regular players, and 500 times cheaper for VIPs. Most of the industry's energy has historically gone into acquisition, and that math is starting to catch up — especially with margins under pressure from rising costs and tightening regulation.

The second trend is the move toward real one-to-one personalization. Most operators still run rule-based segments — "players who deposited X," "inactive in the last 30 days." Real behavioral personalization responds to how a player engages today, and the models keep learning as behavior evolves.

Third, loyalty is being redefined. VIP status used to mean high spend. Now it's much more about the quality of the relationship. What keeps players coming back is the feeling that your platform understands them and consistently delivers something relevant.

S: What parts of the customer journey can be personalized in an online casino?

VG: Every part of the customer journey can be personalized, and that's what makes it such an interesting space to work in.

The most immediate opportunity is the lobby. Most lobbies still show the same content to everyone, chosen through commercial deals with providers — and that approach doesn't have to go away, but it can be combined with behavioral personalization. Machine learning models can read each player's patterns and predict what they're likely to engage with next. In our six-month test across two European markets, personalized lobbies drove 12-16% higher turnover per user and 9-12% more active playing days, with the effect compounding month over month.

Early activation is another big area. Even in the first session, players reveal a lot: how quickly they place their first bet, which game type they gravitate toward, and how they size bets relative to their balance. These signals can predict long-term behavior — including VIP potential — within the first 24-72 hours.

Bonuses and promotions are the third area. When you understand behavioral patterns, you can match offers to what actually motivates each player. And building engagement that works independently of promotions also matters — if your retention strategy depends on bonuses, you're exposed when regulations restrict them

Then there's the broader experience layer — communication timing, tone of voice, interface design. A player who made their money in crypto has a different relationship to risk, and that should influence how you talk to them and what you show them. Personalization at its most complete is a full one-to-one journey — every touchpoint that shapes how a player feels about your platform.

S: Can you share your recommendations to operators who want to boost their growth in 2026?

VG: Focus on your product and how it drives the player journey. Fixing this will solve other issues, such as attracting higher-quality affiliates (because retention is effective), getting better rates from providers (as revenues grow), and so on.

In terms of product, a good player journey incorporates a deep understanding of your players that translates into an engaging personalized experience. And I know it can sound like a huge project, but it's very much possible to approach it step by step and measure the effect along the way.

Start where the pain is most obvious. If you're losing players in the first month, focus on early activation. If your paid traffic isn't converting the way you'd expect, look at acquisition intelligence first — understanding which players are actually valuable early on changes how you allocate your budget. If retention is the issue, start with behavioral profiling and churn detection before jumping to more complex solutions.

The point is: you don't need to personalize everything at once to see results. Pick one area, prove the impact, and build from there. That's how growth in 2026 looks for most operators we talk to: not a single big bet, but a series of smart, measurable steps.