Konstantinos Papakonstantinou, head of AI of Kaizen Gaming, joins Bjorn Katerbau, chief growth officer of Aircash, for a fireside chat at ICE Barcelona 2026 to address a central theme shaping the industry’s AI debate: while new capabilities are emerging, much of what is now branded as AI is a repackaging of long-established tools.
According to Papakonstantinou, the past two years have seen growing attention on generative and agentic AI, but he stresses that traditional machine learning and predictive analytics continue to deliver the majority of measurable returns.
Those technologies account for an estimated 90% to 95% of AI-driven business value, with newer approaches yet to prove similar impact at scale. “We are still to see the benefits from the new magical abilities,” he notes.
Rather than treating AI as a novelty, Papakonstantinou argues that competitive advantage depends on how effectively operators apply it. The priority is using AI to deliver content and information in more personalised and accessible ways.
Personalisation drives AI returns
Kaizen Gaming’s AI-led personalisation has generated the strongest returns, particularly reward personalisation across casino and sportsbook products. Generic bonuses no longer resonate. A deeper understanding of individual player preferences is what’s essential to topline growth.
He also warns against chasing hype. Projects often fail due to unclear success metrics, or organisations prioritise trend-led use cases over proven applications. “You do not have a way to measure success, and you give in to the hype too much,” he says.
Watch more highlights from iGB@ICE 2026 on the iGB YouTube channel.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/igb-ice/ai-is-not-new-but-operators-matters
