SOFTSWISS report says AI is reshaping iGaming jobs

SOFTSWISS has published the fifth edition of its annual iGaming Trends Report, which presents the sector as an early indicator of how artificial intelligence is reshaping digital business.

The report draws on a survey of more than 500 iGaming professionals, contributions from more than 65 industry experts, desk research and proprietary market data. Contributors included WorldGaming, formerly Clarion Gaming, AWS, Pentasia, BGaming and FinteqHub.

It examines gambling as a test case for change in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, payments, regulation and hiring. SOFTSWISS argues that the pressures affecting iGaming are likely to emerge across other digital industries with high transaction volumes and strict regulatory oversight.

The report forecasts that the global iGaming market will generate €307.3 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2026. That would rank it fourth among the eight digital-first industries tracked in the study, behind eCommerce, sports and film.

Citing H2 Gambling Capital data, the study highlights a compound annual growth rate of 29.95% between 2019 and 2026. It projects a further annual growth rate of 9% from 2027 to 2031, taking gross gaming revenue to about €461.84 billion by 2031.

SOFTSWISS also gives iGaming the highest score in its Digital Maturity Index, rating the sector 4.67 out of 5. The ranking is based on measures including AI adoption, mobile-first infrastructure, digital customer acquisition, payments innovation, regulatory technology adoption and data-led decision-making.

Workforce shifts

One of the report's central findings is that AI is changing how operators structure product, marketing, technology and operations teams. AI proficiency is becoming a basic expectation across departments, while employers build leaner teams and add roles such as AI Product Managers, AI Artists, Heads of AI and AI Engineers.

At the same time, dedicated Chief Product Officer roles are becoming less common. Product responsibilities are increasingly shared across technology, marketing and senior management, while demand for junior hires is softening.

Alexandra Kavelich, Deputy Chief Marketing Officer at SOFTSWISS, said: "iGaming is often viewed as a specialist entertainment sector, but the technology behind it addresses many of the same challenges facing every digital business: processing transactions in real time, protecting consumers, detecting fraud, personalising products and operating across multiple regulated markets. The difference is the speed and intensity at which these pressures converge. This makes iGaming an early indicator of what could come next for fintech, SaaS, eCommerce and the wider digital economy. Technologies being tested at scale in our industry today are likely to become standard operating infrastructure elsewhere tomorrow."

Security overlap

The report also identifies cybersecurity as an area where AI is changing risk. AI has made impersonation and social-engineering attacks more convincing and easier to scale, increasing pressure on companies to rethink how they monitor fraud and network threats.

Data from Qrator Labs shows fintech accounted for 44.2% of distributed denial-of-service incidents recorded in the first quarter of 2026, while betting was among the three most frequently targeted sectors. That has strengthened the case for a more joined-up approach to cyber defence.

Traditionally, cybersecurity, fraud, payments, anti-money laundering and identity checks have been managed as separate functions. The report argues that this structure can leave teams with only a partial view of an attack, and that operators need to connect signals across all of those areas.

Regulatory questions

The study also highlights a growing regulatory issue around consumer-facing AI tools. While companies are deploying AI internally, regulators are doing the same. The report cites research showing that 85% of financial-sector authorities in advanced economies already use AI-powered supervisory technology.

It also points to the risk that general-purpose AI assistants can direct users to unlicensed gambling services. The report cites a March 2026 investigation that found ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Grok could be prompted to recommend offshore casinos without licences.

According to the study, there is no formal requirement for such AI assistants to verify whether a business is operating legally before recommending it. It says that gap is likely to draw greater scrutiny of filtering, suppression and licence verification as regulators assess AI's role in consumer discovery.

The report presents iGaming as a live case study for sectors such as fintech, software and eCommerce, where payments, identity, cybersecurity and regulation also intersect. It concludes that the next phase of AI adoption will depend as much on organisation and oversight as on the technology itself.

Betting already sits among the most frequently targeted sectors for DDoS activity, the study notes, while operating in one of the most tightly regulated parts of the digital economy.