This month, Golden Whale’s co-founder, COO Claudia Heiling, talks about technology and innovation in the Founders Column. She is collaborating with GameOn.
Innovation has been the driving force behind the igaming sector. We have worked to improve the experience of players by embracing new technologies, such as AI.
It is important to keep up with the latest technological advances. If you fall behind, your players may flock to competitors who have a more innovative product. Technology can help your business provide the best products to your clients, and it can play an important role in keeping your players. Let me explain.
For a little background information, I’m the COO and co-founder of Golden Whale. This company provides machine learning services and infrastructure to gaming companies. Our focus is on solving the industry’s most costly problems, namely customer retention.
You may be wondering how I got into the gaming industry. It was due to my early love of PC games (nobody beats me in Tetris!) and luck. This was a combination of early interest in PC games – nobody beats me at Tetris!
After graduating from university I began working for Greentube. As the company grew, I grew my responsibility. This was instrumental to multiple market entry of portals and games in B2C as well as B2B.
Golden Whale was founded by me and my former colleagues who missed the igaming vibe.
Starting at scratch
It was always in my back pocket to start a company, but timing is everything. The market conditions must be taken into consideration when building a company. We have always been data-driven and knew that the time was right for machine learning in gaming.
It’s not just about the fit between product and market. First, put your customer first. Whether you are offering B2B services or B2C offerings, the focus should always be on the client. Our B2B business partners and we are openly sharing our ROI, which is a win for everyone.
Build your business on something that you are passionate about. In a world driven by data, like the gaming industry, scaling new technologies has always been a core concern. Consider who founded the business with you. Trust and complementary skills, in addition to the need for experience, are also important.
A lean and flexible structure is another lesson that you should consider. It is particularly important to remember this when you are starting something. Make sure that your team has the skills to succeed. If you find something “yours”, believe in yourself, and act.
The greater focus
The technology has played an important role in the development of my career, and has been responsible for many major changes that have occurred within the industry. This focus on technology development will not disappear anytime soon as the industry matures. It shouldn’t.
Technology will become more prominent in the future. This is due to two factors. We’ve entered a new era, one of “useful”, machine learning. Artificial intelligence has, however, been around since many years.
ChatGPT, and similar tools have allowed almost everyone to see how useful these can be for our everyday operations. Machine learning will soon become a part of everyday life.
The need to improve retention strategies is growing as a result of increasing competition, escalating costs for user acquisition, and evolving regulatory frameworks. Retaining existing players, while important for growth and profitability, is also crucial. AI, machine learning and other technologies can also be used to improve player retention.
Our industry will be impacted by the fact that almost all new technologies create some form of disruption. Adapting to these new methods of working and utilizing AI and machine-learning is also crucial. To me, it’s important to be open-minded about change and embrace the new. To achieve this, you must first identify your use cases. Don’t just implement new technologies for their own sake.
Find inspiration
To understand what benefits a new solution or tool could have for my company, I always begin with a proof-of concept project. Focus on the low-hanging fruit, as these are often some of your biggest problems. This could include questions such as: “Which of my players are at high-risk of leaving?” or “Which of my players only come to play for free spins?”.
After you’ve identified the pain points you want to address, you can run a test campaign using your engagement strategies. Use the positive results to promote this new strategy within your organization. Add more use cases as you see fit.
Our industry, like any other sector, has to reconsider its strategies for engagement and retention. Markets are now flooded with personalised offers. Not adapting to the market will therefore leave you behind.
Segments are very useful for visualising and understanding large data sets. The average is also the enemy of individualisation, and this applies to segments that are well defined.
It’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest digital trends in order to identify ways in which igaming can enhance its retention and engagement strategies.
Digital innovation is particularly notable in industries such as mobile apps, ecommerce and fintech. These can be sources of inspiration to the gaming industry.
Auto-CRM is the future of CRM
A common error we see on the market is rushing to implement a large “one size fits all” solution. This takes a long time to configure and set up in such a way as it will be useful to the users in their daily operations. To keep your structure fast, flexible and equipped for the future, I recommend using a modular approach that is easy to connect.
It may sound complicated but the rewards are endless if you do it correctly. Golden Whale specializes in providing highly personalized gaming experiences, and unlocking machine learning’s potential.
We deliver specific predictions and recommendations to product teams and CRM to help them engage customers in a very individual way, with the aim of running a sustainable and healthy business.
After working in the industry over the past 20 years, and seeing how new technologies are constantly changing our work and lives, I think the future belongs slim data-driven auto-CRM managers and product managers, who know the importance of combining creative work and new services that use AI and machine-learning.
Humans will always be the best at conceiving new campaigns and product features. Machines excel at finding the best point of operation, based on multiple dimensions and factors.
It seems to me that allowing machine learning to support optimisation and exploiting while humans are able focus on new features and ideas is a valuable and obvious development. The learning curve for any gaming operation is accelerated by this approach.
The next step is
This year will be a time of change in the gaming industry, as new technology floods the market.
For those who are interested in entering the tech or igaming space by 2024, be prepared to join a rapidly-changing, competitive, growing environment that is at the forefront for innovation and digitalisation. There will also be many opportunities to grow and learn, both personally and professionally.
When you are hired, look for those who can help you. Help your supervisors solve their problems by being solution-oriented. If you feel that the work environment is not right for you then you can change it. There are many different workplaces in the industry.
Look for an employer who shares your values and strengths. Look for inspiring role models and make meaningful connections whenever possible. Don’t be afraid to speak up and not wait for others to choose you – especially for introverts.
It’s a creative and exciting place to be at the intersection of tech and gaming. Data scientists are living their dream with so much data to play around with.
