The SECURITY 10
- Gambling IQ
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
GamblingIQ recognises the leaders safeguarding the integrity, resilience and trust of the global gambling industry. Selection is grounded in evidence, not visibility; measured by technical impact, operational execution, regulatory alignment and the ability to protect complex systems at scale.
Read 'Defenders of Trust': Security & Fraud Report 2026 here:
MICHAEL Tobin (CONTINENT 8)
Michael Tobin founded Continent 8 in 1998 after spotting demand for data-centre services while working as a chartered accountant. Early contracts with gaming pioneers prompted a strategic pivot to iGaming and accelerated international expansion. Continent 8 launched DDoS mitigation in 2004 and established operations in the Isle of Man in 2006; a New Jersey data centre followed in 2019 to serve US sports betting. The firm’s private network now spans more than a hundred jurisdictions and hosts major operators, suppliers and anyone connected to the industry. Tobin has long argued that infrastructure and security must be core products: under his watch Continent 8 created C8 Secure and Threat Exchange to integrate protection, detection, response. He emphasises resilience and sustainability; the group holds ISO 50001 certification for energy management. Celebrated in industry circles, he was inducted into the SBC Sports Betting Hall of Fame in 2024. In the future, he sees AI as both test and opportunity, but insists that “trust will remain stubbornly human.”
Website: Continent8.com
2. JAMES Maida (Gaming Laboratories International - GLI)
On June 23, 1989, James Maida joined forces with Paul Magno to create GLI with world headquarters located in Toms River, New Jersey, USA. Now the world’s dominant gaming testing lab, GLI operates more than 30 offices and 1,600+ staff, offering certification, standards and cybersecurity across land based, online and sports betting markets. Maida & co-founder Magno’s pitch has not changed: speed without compromise. GLI promises to get products to market on time and on budget, provided they meet rigorous regulatory standards. That dual emphasis on timeliness and integrity has made GLI indispensable to operators and regulators alike. Under his stewardship GLI has expanded its remit as the industry has evolved, buying specialist firms, adding security divisions and drafting standards such as the Gaming Security Framework. It runs regulator roundtables, trains officials and travels to nascent markets to translate technical requirements into workable policy. That combination of technical muscle and regulatory diplomacy gives GLI unusual leverage: it helps shape standards and then enforce them.
Website: gaminglabs.com
3. DAVID Briggs (GEOCOMPLY)
Englishman David Briggs co-founded GeoComply and helped build the technical foundations that enabled regulated online gaming to scale globally. Working alongside wife and co-founder Anna Sainsbury, he was instrumental in developing the infrastructure that allowed digital platforms to verify legitimate users in real time — a prerequisite for the growth of modern online betting and other high-risk digital markets. Much of today’s regulated industry would not exist in its current form without the systems Briggs helped put in place.
Scale and audience matter. GeoComply now processes more than 2.5 billion checks every month, operating at a level that makes its technology a critical layer for fraud prevention and identity verification across gaming, financial services, fintech, media and entertainment. That scale supports real-time fraud prevention and identity verification across highly dynamic, high-volume digital environments.
Website: GeoComply.com
4. JOHNNY Ayres (SOCURE)
Johnny Ayers has built Socure into a leading provider of digital identity and fraud-risk tools for regulated industries. Founded in 2012, the company is now valued at around $4.5bn valuation and reported verifying allmost 3 billion identity requests in 2024, covering some 370 million unique identities, and now serves 3,000 organisations and 4 billion end-users across banking, fintech, government, telecoms and gambling. Under Ayers’s leadership the firm has broadened its platform: it purchased Effectiv to add real-time risk decisioning, integrated those capabilities into its RiskOS workflow engine, and launched Signals to provide granular fraud telemetry. Recognition has followed. Socure has been named to CNBC’s list of the world’s top fintech companies and has received Datos Impact awards for digital identity verification and first-party fraud solutions. Ayers, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner, sells a straightforward proposition: higher automated approvals, fewer false positives and faster onboarding. The company supplies identity services to major operators, including DraftKings, anxsd is pushing further into payments and public-sector identity programmes. Ayers has led as a data-driven gatekeeper, turning identity and behavioural signals into measurable, auditable decisions for institutions keen to grow while keeping regulators onside.
Website: Socure.com
5. BRUCE Lowthers (PAYSAFE)
Bruce Lowthers is CEO of Paysafe and has led a strategic turnaround focused on strengthening regulated payments, advancing secure transaction technology and accelerating product innovation. Lowthers prioritises scalable, compliant solutions for the gambling industry — from instant bank payouts to tokenisation and fraud prevention — positioning Paysafe as a trusted backbone for operators. A fintech leader with over two decades’ experience in payments, Lowthers joined Paysafe from FIS where he held senior roles including President. Under his stewardship the company has tightened governance, reduced leverage and deepened operator partnerships across North America and Europe. Combining operational discipline with payments engineering expertise, Lowthers aims to make safe, reliable payments infrastructure a competitive advantage for both operators and players and to protect player funds globally.
Website: Paysafe.com
6. The SEVER Brothers and Vyacheslav Zholudev (SUMSUB)
Peter, Andrew and Jacob Sever co-founded Sumsub in 2015, along with Vyacheslav Zholudev, noting that existing identity-verification tools struggled to stop sophisticated document and image fraud, which slowed onboarding and compliance. Andrew (Andrey) Sever, a physicist by training, serves as CEO and leads global strategy and expansion, while Peter is Chief Strategy Officer focusing on product-market fit and growth, and Jacob drives engineering and anti-fraud R&D as Chief Innovation Officer. Starting from a small team with roots in image-forgery detection, the brothers married computer-vision expertise to commercial rigour to build a full-cycle verification platform that unites KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring and fraud prevention. Under their stewardship Sumsub has scaled rapidly, serving thousands of clients with hundreds of employees across multiple offices and target verticals including fintech, crypto and iGaming. The Severs emphasise reusable, privacy-aware verification, high pass-rates and faster onboarding; a message reinforced in interviews and press coverage that positions Sumsub as a partner for compliance teams worldwide. Their family-led founding story, technical pedigree and relentless product iteration explain how a project born from anti-photo-editing research became a global regtech vendor trusted for verification and fraud prevention; today the brothers continue to speak widely on fraud trends, AI risks and compliance best practice for regulated sectors and beyond.
Website: Sumsub.com
7. CHARLES Mizzi (Malta Gaming Authority - MGA)
Charles Mizzi is Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Gaming Authority, steering the regulator with a clear mandate: strengthen trust through tougher, more tech-literate supervision. He has prioritised moderni- sing the Authority’s toolkit; bolstering compliance capacity, sharpening enforcement and embedding data-driven oversight across AML, safer-gambling and integrity work. Under his leadership the MGA has published its 2024 annual report highlighting enhanced regulatory activity and stronger governance, and overseen new cross-border cooperation agreements to improve intelligence sharing. Mizzi also championed the Authority’s ESG agenda and the roll-out of ESG Code approval seals for licensees, signalling an expectation that sustainability and governance practices are central to industry legitimacy. His approach balances market competitiveness with an insistence that robust regulation is the foundation of consumer and investor confidence.
Website: mga.org.mt
8. ROBIN Tombs (YOTI)
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yoti, the UK digital identity and age-assurance company he helped establish to put privacy-preserving ID on people’s phones. He combines serial-entrepreneur experience as a co-founder of Gamesys with a long focus on trustworthy identity systems, leading product, engineering and policy strategy as Yoti scales into regulated markets. Tombs has steered Yoti toward certification and interoperability with formal trust frameworks, and has emphasised privacy-first approaches to facial age estimation, verified credentials and attribute services for platform partners. Under his leadership Yoti has grown commercial relationships across major tech platforms while publicly engaging on the policy implications of age assurance and reusable digital ID. Tombs positions Yoti as a technical and ethical partner for operators and regulators seeking dependable, privacy-aware identity rails.
Website: Yoti.com
9. RASMUS Kjaergaard (MINDWAY AI)
As CEO, Rasmus Kjaergaard has grown Mindway AI from a small startup to the fast growing software company it is today. Rasmus’ focus is on the commercial and strategic development of Mindway AI through product innovation, partnerships, and market expansions. Rasmus is deeply invested in the safer gambling agenda and a firm believer in the power of partnerships and collaboration in the pursuit of better player protection. Rasmus has +20 years of experience in leadership and B2B sales of complex tech solutions and services in both to private and public sectors.
Website: Mindway.ai
10. MIKE Dreitzer (Nevada Gaming Control Board)
Mike Dreitzer is Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), appointed by Governor Joe Lombardo in June 2025. He brings over 25 years of experience in gaming regulation, law and industry leadership, including service as a Nevada Deputy Attorney General and senior roles at Gaming Arts, Ainsworth Game Technology and BMM Americas. As chairman, Dreitzer leads regulatory oversight of Nevada’s gaming industry, focusing on modernisation, transparency and efficient enforcement while upholding public confidence. He holds degrees from Cornell University and Emory University School of Law and has lived in Nevada for decades.
Website: www.gaming.nv.gov