— What does ZingBrain AI do?
— In short, ZingBrain AI is an artificial intelligence engine for iGaming. Our main focus is personalization. Using our service, the operator can create a personalized casino and sportbook lobby for each player, which will automatically adjust to their preferences. The best example is the home pages of Netflix and Spotify. We do the same for iGaming.
— Why did you choose the gambling niche?
— This industry is a little behind in terms of personalization and focus on the unique needs of players. All tech giants build feeds based on a particular user’s preferences and significantly increase their metrics. We also see value in this for iGaming operators. The more comfortable a player feels, the more loyal they are to the brand, and their LT and LTV grow. This is a mutually beneficial story for both players and operators. We saw this as a perspective, we had the necessary experience in AI and iGaming, so we created ZingBrain AI and continue to develop it. Our partners see the value of this in practice and are ready to implement personalization more deeply.
— Do you need personal experience in betting to manage a company like ZingBrain AI?
«I’m sure it is. Standard approaches from eCommerce and other areas will not work here. I know real examples when they tried to do this and failed. I was a first-time gambler and later a professional player in daily fantasy sports. Our entire team, including engineers and QA, tried to play by themselves and understand the audience. Moreover, we constantly conduct workshops, analyze behavioral factors and player profiles together. We are constantly in touch with operators and collect feedback on each new feature, using their experience. Without this level of immersion, it is difficult to build an effective product.
— What benefits does AI bring to ordinary players?
— First, the player does not see an endless array of games or sports events that they are not interested in. They don’t need to scroll, search, or search through various sections. We show them the best offers in the first lines.
Secondly, we always know what else to offer the player so that they don’t get bored. Most users are constantly looking for something new, and based on their previous experience, we have a good idea of what else to offer them. Recent A/B tests have shown that we are increasing the average number of unique games per player by 15%. By the way, this is also a great metric for the operator, since the more games a user has in their active game portfolio, the more GGR they generate.
— Are operators willing to adopt AI technologies or are they still wary of them?
— Of course, there is some caution. We work with data, and operators are very careful with it. Fortunately, we do not ask for any personal data and store the data of each operator separately, which ensures anonymity and security of storage of everything that we receive from the operator.
Also, the operator has less control over the lobby, because each player sees something different, and at first it may not be obvious that we recommend worthwhile games. But this is only the first time. We strive for maximum transparency, provide access to dashboards with real-time analytics, and regularly provide performance reports. When operators see analytics, trust becomes significantly greater.
— What can you say to the skeptics?
— On the horizon of 3-5 years, operators without personalization will remain far behind those who use an individual approach. This applies not only to the lobby, but also to Churn Rate predictions, LTV, early detection of high rollers and players with addiction, as well as settings for bonus campaigns. AI and the data-driven approach work provably better than manual settings.
It is important to understand that we are not trying to replace casino managers. We give them more effective tools so that they can work faster and better, and achieve greater results.
— Is it possible to develop an online casino without AI in the modern world?
— It is still possible, the question is efficiency. If the brand has good traffic and its conversion processes are well established, then the casino will be profitable even without AI. It’s just that with AI, it can earn more and develop faster.
— Does artificial intelligence threaten ordinary online casino employees? For example, will chatbots replace support staff?
— Chatbots in conjunction with support already work faster and more efficiently than just support. Many top brands have already implemented similar solutions. Now high-quality support is provided not only to VIP visitors, but also to ordinary players, which obviously affects their brand loyalty.
With the personalization of the lobby and bonuses, everything is more complicated. Human control, expertise, and add-ons are still important here. I would not use the word «replace», it is rather about new features and more effective approaches.
— How to solve the issue of jobs ethically?
— Did they fire all accountants when computers and accounting systems appeared? It’s the same story with typewriters, printers, etc. There is no less work, just technology opens up new opportunities and allows you to progress.
If we are talking about online casinos, then casino managers will simply have their hands free, and they will be able to do more, dive further. Create new features, ways to communicate with players, and improve their experience without spending all your time on manual work.
— ZingBrain AI helps you develop advertising campaigns and makes them more personalized. Does this violate the principles of responsible gaming?
— This is a complex and multifaceted issue. First, we focus on long-term effects, improve the player’s gaming experience through personalization, and minimize the player’s desire to move to another brand, thus increasing LT and LTV.
Secondly, our solution does not affect the player’s current deposit limits, session time, etc. If the limits are set, they will be met and will not be exceeded at the expense of our solution.
Third, we help operators identify players with gambling addiction problems early and enable them to respond as quickly as possible.
— In a recent interview, you talked about the difficulties with sharing personal data. Do operators inform their customers that their information is now available to artificial intelligence?
— It is important to note that we do not operate with personal data of players. Integration works at the Player ID level. As mentioned above, all data about the player’s game activity is stored anonymously and securely. We ask for much less data than the operator has about its players.
Operators inform players about the rules for working with data in the privacy policy. Moreover, the recommendation sections themselves tell you about the presence of personalization. In general, everything here follows the canons of Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify.
— Can customers choose which functionality to use: with or without built-in AI? For example, can a player opt out of the recommendation lobby?
— Operators usually don’t add this feature, but our product doesn’t completely take over lobby management. The player can easily ignore all personalized sections and follow their usual game search algorithm. There are no barriers to this.
— Your service helps you predict the probability of a player leaving an online casino. What are the most common reasons why customers leave ad platforms?
— There are many reasons. There is no provider, there is no necessary payment method, there are not enough bonuses, support does not work well, slow payments, up to the magic «I’m not lucky here». Our task is to predict the moment of departure and allow the operator to react earlier, understand why the player decided to leave, and try to save it.
— What is the best way to build audience loyalty?
— All items from the previous answer are affected. An integrated approach is important, so that at all stages of acquaintance with the operator, the player does not experience problems, and ideally gets a positive experience. The more such positive experience and individual approach, the higher the loyalty. This is exactly what we are trying to achieve with ZingBrain AI.
— You are more specialized in marketing and operational tasks. Can you guess how exactly artificial intelligence will help slot developers?
— Not just to assume, but to confirm that it already works. Quite simply, using generative models, you can create art for slots much faster than manually. Many game providers already do this.
Moreover, AI can be used to determine the optimal combination of mechanics, themes and objects for a slot for a specific GEO and a specific segment of players. We are already doing this together with the Aviatrix provider and plan to develop this direction further. AI can effectively «tell» game manufacturers what games to develop so that they are in demand with the audience. This way, you can not only increase the performance of games, but also avoid spending money on developing games that will not find their audience.
— Algorithms take into account the preferences of players and give useful recommendations. Users are starting to trust them more and more. How to avoid manipulations when using AI?
— Players are not easily manipulated. If you offer irrelevant recommendations, they will try them and simply stop using them. Trust and loyalty to the operator are very valuable, and any manipulation is an easy way to lose them.
— The use of AI technologies is still poorly regulated. What problems do you think you might face in the future?
— Openness is the key to proper regulation. We openly talk about what models and approaches we use in ZingBrain AI. We are ready to advise regulators and explain to them exactly what we do, what data we work with, and how we influence players. We do the same for each of our partners. We do not have direct access to the UI, and we do not collect any data about players and their behavior, except for what the operator sends us itself.
— Share your plans. What services do you want to add? What markets are you planning to enter?
— We have a lot of plans, and we try to move quickly and quickly test hypotheses using A/B tests. Recently, we added a Smart Push feature to allow operators to offer specific games to relevant players and thus gain more control over recommendations. Also, at the player level, we added a Discovery Score, which determines their predisposition to finding new games.
We constantly collect feedback from operators and conduct a lot of research to improve the product and add really necessary features. In the near future, we will develop our sportbook business. We will add personalized navigation by sports and leagues, recommendations for betting and express trains, and even a live constructor that will help bettors collect express trains on the fly.
We will also develop everything related to retension, communication with players and building the optimal communication mode using bonuses, email and offers of relevant games. We also have some secret developments that we plan to launch next year. I wouldn’t want to reveal any more details about them yet, so follow our social networks, it will be interesting!