Michela Scerri – Interim Marketing Manager at Swintt took part in GameOn’s Women Leading the Next Era of iGaming Innovation.

Which innovation themes do you see as most commercially important right now? (eg AI and automation, payments and identity, safer gambling technology, platform modernisation, or real-time data and decisioning?)

From a marketing and commercial perspective, the most important innovation themes right now are AI driven decisioning, real-time data infrastructure and the evolution of player lifecycle management.

What’s changed is that these are no longer ‘product’ or ‘tech’ conversations in isolation. They directly shape acquisition efficiency, retention and long term player value.

As an Interim Marketing Manager at Swintt, and a marketing freelancer across the iGaming industry, I see a clear shift towards marketing becoming more integrated with data and product. It’s no longer just about campaigns, but about building systems that enable smarter and faster decision making across the player journey.

Real time data and automation are enabling more adaptive CRM strategies, where engagement evolves based on behaviour, risk signals and value segmentation. At the same time, AI is influencing targeting content optimisation and performance forecasting.

But beyond the technology, the real impact comes from understanding the fundamentals. These are the brand, the team behind it and the needs and motivations of the end user. When those elements are clear, marketing becomes a central driver of business strategy, not just a supporting function. No individual or team exists outside the wider ecosystem, and embracing their strengths, understanding their work and proactively seeking feedback and innovation from bottom up is an integral part of the post AI workplace.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, the real commercial advantage will come from how well companies connect these areas. Aligning marketing, product and compliance into a single, data-driven ecosystem.

For me, the focus is on moving beyond execution into building the processes and frameworks that make this level of integration scalable.