Turn “fragile & founder-built” into supportable
Reduce key-person risk, document critical flows, introduce operational guardrails, and calm production.
Regulated platforms • Revenue-critical systems • Stability-first leadership • Advanced AI modelling • Innovation
I stabilise and scale betting and finance platforms
so boards, regulators, and customers trust the tech.
CTO with 15+ years leading fintech, gaming, and sports betting platforms in regulated markets. Experience includes PokerStars (millions of transactions(*) per day), Racing & Sports (millions per week), and the launch of the Isle of Man’s first digital bank.
(*) transactions = pricing, bet placement, and settlement events
- Role: CTO / VP Engineering in regulated fintech, gaming & sports betting.
- Experience: 15+ years across PokerStars, Racing & Sports, Adrenaline, and Capital International Bank.
- Specialism: Stabilisation, governance, and scaling of revenue-critical platforms.
- Track record: MTTR ↓ 90%, cloud cost ↓ ~50%, revenue-enabling product launches.
- Commercial focus: Aligns technology decisions to margin, cost control, uptime, and regulatory outcomes.
- Availability: UK-based from March 2026; open to interim or permanent CTO / VP Engineering roles.
- Proven innovator: developed and launched innovative products online and on live television.
- Founder system stabilisation: make undocumented platforms operable, supportable, and transferable.
- Operational maturity: RACI (Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed), incident management, on-call, change control, audit-friendly governance.
- Commercial & risk alignment: translate technical risk into business outcomes (revenue, margin, compliance).
- Delivery predictability: clearer ownership, fewer surprises, better cross-team decision-making.
- Deliver Growth: after stabilisation, I focus on turning platforms into growth engines: faster product cycles, differentiated data products, and margin expansion.
46
development & operations staff led across AU + Sri Lanka (Racing & Sports)
$1.5M+
cost savings via localisation tooling (PokerStars)
Hybrid Cloud Cost Optimisation
AWS → Oracle hybrid strategy, board-approved. Six-figure savings projected.
Innovation at scale
Rolled out innovative data solutions to scale platforms.
AI In Your Business
Leveraged AI/ML to optimise platform performance and profitability.
Sensible Guardrails
Just enough process to manage risk and compliance, without killing speed or innovation.
AWSTypeScriptPython
KubernetesServerlessObservability
Incident MgmtGovernance / Audit
How I help
When you need someone to come in and help stabilise, professionalise, or deliver complex systems in regulated environments.
Board / regulator-ready governance
Accountability models, incident governance, risk reporting, security posture improvements, audit alignment.
Ship outcomes without chaos
Clear ownership, predictable delivery, and pragmatic process—enough structure to reduce risk, not slow you down.
Operating Models and Delivery Patterns
I also help leadership teams shape repeatable operating models and delivery patterns across multiple products or business units.
Case studies
Problem → approach → measurable impact.
NFL simulation & pricing platform
Real-time • Production
Problem
Broadcaster needed higher-quality, telemetry-driven odds and derived markets from live NFL data feeds.
What I did
Built AI powered models based on 20+ years of previous real NFL data. This powered prediction engines, APIs, pipelines, and cloud-native services with explicit SLOs (Service Level Objective), observability, and cost controls.
Impact
Launched live in-play markets and probabilities on ESPN via Adrenaline’s integration during the 2025 NFL season, producing clear revenue streams and obvious opportunities to expand into Live Sports Betting.
AWSTypeScriptPython
AI / ML toolingLive data
Virtual American football
Simulation • Data • Betting platform
Problem
The client needed a realistic virtual American football sports game, but lacked the knowledge and underlying data to build it.
What I did
Built an AI powered simulation platform using real NFL and college football data, running 2M+ simulated games to generate realistic outcomes and telemetry using 20+ years of historical data and AI model based prediction, packaged for straightforward integration into the client’s product. This product generated 50+ betting markets based on these simulations, creating a rich experience for the user.
Impact
Built a virtual American football game scheduled for US casino launch in 2026, proving the company’s predictive models were strong enough to support a move into live events data.
Simulation
AI / ML tooling
Data engineering
2M+ games
Integration
US casinos
Regulated wagering ops maturity uplift
Ops • Governance
Problem
Production incidents + unclear ownership. Audit expectations rising. Delivery slowed by ambiguity.
What I did
Introduced RACI (Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed), incident governance, on-call tiers, escalation, and exec-facing risk reporting.
Impact
↓ incident MTTR (Mean Time To Resolution) by 90% • ↑ delivery predictability • Gave execs predictable delivery and audit-ready operational reporting.
Incident MgmtSupport modelRisk reporting
Embedded betting launch (UK)
Delivery • Client alignment
Problem
Pre-launch issues threatened go-live of a new embedded sportsbook product.
What I did
Took go/no-go ownership with client, froze scope, re-cut the critical path, and reset launch criteria with exec sponsors.
Impact
Unblocked a strategic product launch, enabling UK market entry and unlocking new revenue streams, while repositioning the business toward an out-of-the-box sportsbook platform offering.
Example
Program delivery
Stakeholder alignment
Go-live readiness
Regulated market
Smarter pricing, higher margins
Real-time • Betting
Problem
Operators needed to optimise take (hold) without degrading the customer experience. Traditional pricing applied a largely static vig across markets, ignoring real bettor behaviour—leaving money on the table in some markets and reducing competitiveness in others.
What I did
Designed and delivered an advanced AI-based pricing platform using real-time behavioural and market data to predict bettor preferences and dynamically optimise vig, integrating via APIs into live, risk-controlled trading workflows.
Impact
In controlled trials, the system delivered material improvements in operator take versus a typical 10% hold.
Odds Markets
AI / ML tooling
Improved Profit
Restoring cloud cost predictability at scale
Costs • Hosting
Problem
High cost of AWS hosting.
What I did
Reviewed AWS usage, identified cost-saving opportunities, and implemented optimisations that reduced hosting costs by 50%.
Impact
~95% reduction in peak spikes over 18 months (from ~20k to ~1–2k). Consistent 50% reduction in monthly spend over 2 years. Restored cost predictability, removed growth constraint, improved margins.
AWS
Cost alignment
Experience
If you need someone who's walked the walk in complex, regulated environments, I'm that person.
Chief Technology Officer — Racing and Sports
2025–Feb 2026 • AU / International
Executive owner of engineering, cloud, security, and production operations in a multi-jurisdictional regulated wagering business.
- ASX listed company with revenues of AUD $21m, growing 31% YoY (FY24–FY25).
- Led ~46 staff across AU + Sri Lanka.
- Responsible for governance, risk management and budget for all IT functions.
- Launched BetBridge Embedded Betting Solution into UK market.
- White label "Wagering360" platform stabilised and launched new clients.
- Reduced managed trading software performance incidents from 10 per week to zero over last 2 months.
- Led AWS → Oracle hybrid-cloud strategy - a migration projected to deliver six-figure savings over three years.
- Implemented modernized operating models and escalation frameworks aligned to listed-company expectations.
- Improved incident response, governance, and executive visibility of material technical risk.
Chief Technology Officer — Adrenaline
2023–2025 • US / UK
Led technology, data, and product strategy for NFL-centric sports betting products in regulated US markets.
- Launched NFL live probabilities on ESPN via Adrenaline’s integration during 2025 NFL season
- Built next-gen odds/personalisation products contributing to >10% uplift in GGR during time-limited trials.
- Cloud-native services in AWS using TypeScript/Python; leveraged ML tooling (e.g., SageMaker).
- Participated in fundraising and investor discussions supporting product expansion.
IT & Development Manager — Capital International Bank
2021–2023 • Isle of Man
Senior hands-on leader delivering secure, regulated banking platforms for e-gaming and corporate services clients.
- The first banking license granted for 20+ years on Isle of Man
- Launch of first ever digital bank on the Isle of Man.
- Managed the bank platform and team responsible for maintenance and feature development.
- Reduced operational issues by 25% in one year through proactive investigation and platform stabilisation.
- Delivered FATCA/AML reporting, risk pre-screening tooling, and platform enhancements.
- Stack: Laravel/PHP, .NET, Angular, Azure/Kubernetes.
Director & Head of Sports Operations — Champion Tech
2018–2020 • Isle of Man / International
Co-founder exec for a B2B sportsbook provider: product delivery, certification, and live operations.
- Built and launched Asia facing SportsBook in Tier 1 regulated environment.
- Built internal operational tooling: real-time bet monitoring and regulatory reporting.
- Close collaboration with regulators and outsourced service providers.
Short-Term Software Engineering Roles - Senior
2017-2018
* AmeriSource Bergen * Mott MacDonald * Adobe
- Further details available on request
- Variety of programming languages / databases / platforms (Java / SpringBoot / React / AWS / Azure).
CMS Infrastructure & Development Manager — PokerStars
2010–2016 • Isle of Man / International
Led global CMS platform delivery across 8 licences and 26 languages across poker/casino/sportsbook/live events.
- Designed localisation tooling reducing translation/update cost of ownership by $1.5m over 3 years.
- Managed websites across 26 languages and 8+ regulated jurisdictions.
- Supported major launches and migrations across regulated markets.
Various Software Engineering Roles - Junior -> Lead
1996-2010
Started off at junior level, increasing responsibilities and becoming lead developer by early 2000.
- Further details available on request
- Variety of programming languages / databases / platforms.
Writing
Some examples of topics that I write about, what occupies my mind 24/7.
The rarest score in NFL: 2-0
How a rare score may still turn up in your model.
Architecture deep dive: Bet Placement
Bet Placement: Why It Fails (and What the Architecture Is Usually Trying to Tell You)
Lessons for Engineering Leaders
Things engineering leaders get wrong (and I’ve definitely got wrong at least once) #374
L1/L2/L3 Support Models and Ownership
Struggling with L1 / L2 / L3 Support Models? Read to find out why ownership is so important.
Work with me
If your platform is holding the business back—or starting to worry the board, connect to talk about what “stable and scalable” actually looks like in your context.
What experience taught me
- Scaling before stabilising compounds cost and risk. I now stabilise first, then accelerate.
- Optimising locally can hurt globally. I now design changes around business outcomes, not team boundaries.
- If the board can’t see the risk, the business is already exposed. I now make risk explicit, measurable, and reviewable.
- “Almost ready” systems fail in production. I now insist on production-grade observability, runbooks, and rollback paths before scale.
- Teams don’t fail—systems and incentives do. I now fix operating models before pushing delivery speed.
What I’m looking for
- Regulated businesses in gambling or fintech that need stability at scale, while still driving innovation and measurable business value.
- Founder-to-operator transitions; PE-backed scale-ups; pre-exit stabilisation.
- Regulated platforms: uptime, compliance, operational credibility are non-negotiable.
- Stability first, then growth: remove chaos, establish control, then accelerate.
- Innovation: building robust, adaptable systems that enable faster product evolution and drive sustained market share growth.
GamingSports bettingFintechPayments
Get in touch
For CTO / VP Engineering roles, or similair.