SBC Summit brought together key figures from across the sports betting industry earlier this month, including Andre Zammit, SVP of Sportsbook at LeoVegas Group. During the event, Zammit joined the panel “Sportstech Intelligence: How Live Data Shapes Smarter Odds,” which explored how real-time information is changing sportsbook pricing, trading, and player engagement.
In this interview with Yogonet, Zammit discusses the growing role of AI and automated trading, how operators balance speed with accuracy and risk management, and why human expertise remains essential to interpreting data. He also shares lessons from operating across regulated markets such as the UK, Germany and the US, and outlines LeoVegas’ priorities for growth, technological independence and international expansion.
At SBC Summit, you joined the panel “Sportstech Intelligence: How Live Data Shapes Smarter Odds.” Looking back at the discussion, what do you think are the biggest changes happening in the way sportsbooks use live data today?
Looking back at the panel, the biggest shift is that live data has moved from being a simple speed game to an intelligence game with AI-driven automated trading and dynamic personalization. Historically, sportsbooks focused almost exclusively on latency, getting raw scores fast enough to suspend or update markets. Today, latency is baseline table stakes.
At LeoVegas Group, our foundation has always been ‘Mobile First,’ and in-play betting is where that product-led focus creates the biggest competitive advantage. From our perspective, real-time data presents huge opportunities across both pricing and experience: frictionless in-play pricing, dynamic personalization and smart in-play engagements.
As odds can move within seconds during a live event, how do sportsbooks balance the need for speed with accuracy, risk management and responsible trading?
Balancing split-second speed, accuracy, risk, and player safety comes down to a crucial reality: having fast data is no longer a competitive advantage on its own; it’s completely unsustainable without the right infrastructure behind it.
You can buy the fastest, most expensive sports data feeds on the market, but if your back-office tooling and trading engines can’t process, risk-assess, and act on that data in real time, it creates friction rather than value. The balance is maintained through a robust tech stack: automated pricing engines, automated liability engines, and smart bet delays, to name a few.
AI and advanced modelling are becoming increasingly important in sportsbook operations. Where are you seeing the most practical value from these technologies today, and where does human expertise remain essential?
The true value of AI in sportsbook operations is unlocked when technology and human expertise work hand in hand, which is why operators are heavily investing in upskilling traditional traders to become model operators and risk strategists.
Machine learning provides the speed and scale required to price fast-paced in-play micro-markets and flag complex risk patterns automatically. However, algorithms are blind to qualitative context, like breaking locker-room news, tactical shifts, or unusual weather.
By training traders to interpret data models, manage algorithmic guardrails, and apply real-world sports intuition, sportsbooks create a ‘trader-in-the-loop’ architecture. The machine handles the math at scale, while the upskilled trader provides the strategy, governance, and real-time context.
You have worked across markets including the UK and the US for several renowned brands. What have those different markets and experiences taught you about scaling sportsbook operations across regulated jurisdictions?
Working across the UK, the US, and Germany teaches you very quickly that there is no one-size-fits-all playbook for scaling a sportsbook globally. The UK is a hyper-mature, highly competitive market. It taught me the importance of product depth, relentless innovation around in-play markets, and building operational resilience around strict regulatory compliance and safer gambling standards.
Germany is one of the most strictly regulated and complex environments in Europe. It reinforces the need for hyper-tailored compliance architecture, from navigating severe in-play betting restrictions and strict deposit limits to managing high taxation models while maintaining a viable, attractive product.
The US is essentially 50 separate micro-markets disguised as one country. It proved that state-by-state compliance, custom market tailoring (like American prop-heavy betting and same-game parlays), and localized risk management are essential to long-term survival.
The biggest takeaway for scaling sportsbook operations across these markets is modular platform architecture. You need a strong, centralized core engine for risk, data, and player account management, paired with hyper-flexible local layers that adapt instantly to regional tax structures, product restrictions, and player behaviors without breaking the core system
Beyond the topics discussed at SBC Summit, what are the main priorities for LeoVegas’ sportsbook business as you look ahead to the next stage of its growth?
Looking ahead, our focus is built on tech independence, market share growth, and global scale. Achieving full ownership of our proprietary sportsbook engine gives us total control over our pricing, risk, and product innovation. We’re using that agility to accelerate market share across our core markets while driving international expansion as the digital arm of MGM Resorts.