Isaacs delivered a keynote speech at ICE Barcelona, discussing his start as CEO of one of the biggest gaming operators in the world.
Key points:
- Biggest emphasis throughout Isaacs' talk was on planning and innovation
- CEO revealed he is also "not a fan" of meetings while revealing his 10 guiding principles
- Isaacs also went through lessons from his experiences at Aristocrat, Bally Technologies, Shuffle Master and Scientific Games
Gavin Isaacs delivered a keynote speech at ICE Barcelona 2025, discussing lessons learned from an extensive career and how he is trying to use those lessons as Entain CEO.
Isaacs walked the audience through a lifetime gaming experience, although this experience largely came from the B2B arena, while Entain is B2C.
He joked that he "wanted to have some fun with one of the easiest roles in the world" when taking the role.
It was today announced that a KPMG audit of Entain's financials will be investigated by the Financial Reporting Council, to which Isaacs also joked that Entain might not be an FTSE100 company "as of this morning."
At the heart of his talk, though, Isaacs emphasised customer focus, as well as the need to innovate in an online tech business.
"You can innovate in any part of your business, even legal and compliance, or your people," he told the audience.
Not having structure or goals is also "fatal," according to the experienced CEO, while he does not believe in the term "mergers" ("if you buy a company, it is now yours"), or five-year plans.
Isaacs also delivered his 10 guiding principles as an executive, which started with focusing on your customer and ended with having fun...
Indeed, Isaacs believes "a sense of urgency has to underpin everything" and that a one-year plan should be 90% accurate and a three-year plan is feasible. Anything beyond that, though, "may as well be 100 years."
Isaacs stressed that he is not a fan of meetings, while also going through stories from his past at Aristocrat, Bally Technologies, Shuffle Master and Scientific Games.
His career is littered with examples of turning companies around and Entain will be hoping the experience Australian can do exactly that at the B2C industry giant.
No trade secrets were revealed to an eager audience, although Isaacs' relaxed demeanour suggests a CEO who is not lacking in confidence.
Isaacs concluded by saying "if you don't focus on your customer, someone else will." He wants Entain to go from a "very good business" to a "truly great one." And his mission is to "turbocharge that transformation."
At the end of the speech, Gambling Insider asked Isaacs how he is faring in the B2C world after a career largely focused on B2B.
He responded: "While I miss dealing with my direct customers, I'm finding a lot of similarities: a business is a business. G2E was the first show where I wasn't selling something and it's the same here at ICE. I'm learning all the time."
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