Exclusive: Growth Without Discipline Is Expensive: Motti Gil on Finance, Regulation and Sustainable Expansion in iGaming

In an industry defined by rapid innovation and global expansion, finance leaders are increasingly expected to do more than manage numbers. They are helping shape business strategy, guiding investment decisions, navigating regulatory complexity, and ensuring that growth remains sustainable.

In this exclusive interview with iGaming News Today, RubyPlay CFO Motti Gil shares his perspective on the financial priorities defining today’s market. From IPO readiness and strategic acquisitions to the growing role of AI in finance, he offers practical insights into what it takes to build resilient businesses in the iGaming sector.

Q1. What attracted you to the iGaming sector, and what has kept you excited about it over the years?

Motti:

I started my career in the high-tech industry, mainly in telecom, where I spent approximately 15 years in various roles ranging from controller to CFO at privately held and publicly traded companies. I’ve also worked across different sectors within the telecom industry, telecom infrastructure, software, consumer devices, and Wi-Fi smart antenna technology. In 2016, I joined Aspire Global, which was my first step into the online gaming industry. What attracted me from the outset was that it was a fast-paced, fast-growing industry where everything is measurable. You can take actions and clearly see the results and impact. I also liked that it was a new environment where I could learn and challenge myself. What has kept me engaged over the years is the opportunity to work across different parts of the iGaming value chain,helping companies to grow both organically and through M&A.

Q2. What are the most important financial priorities for gaming companies in today’s market?

Motti:

In iGaming, the financial priorities look quite different depending on whether you’re an operator, a platform provider, or a B2B supplier – but there are fundamentals that apply across the entire value chain.

The starting point is always a clear view of your market position. In iGaming that means understanding the competitive landscape – which is consolidating fast – knowing where you have genuine differentiation, and being honest about where you don’t. Finance has a critical role in translating that strategic picture into capital allocation decisions. 

Regulated market strategy is key regardless of where you sit in the ecosystem. Whether you’re an operator managing licences across multiple jurisdictions, or a B2B supplier whose clients operate in regulated markets, the compliance and regulatory framework shapes your revenue predictability, your counterparty risk, and ultimately your valuation.

Revenue quality and sustainability matters. Over-reliance on a single market or channel, or a customer base that churns quickly, can create significant risks. Finance needs to push the organisation toward metrics that reflect the durability of the business, not just its current momentum.

Setting KPIs and targets, I’m a firm believer in ambitious but coherent frameworks – ones that are consistently tracked across business units and geographies. 

And finally, to ensure cost discipline, iGaming companies often scale quickly and can develop cost structures that outpace revenue growth. Whether it’s technology investment, headcount, or market entry costs, finance needs to ensure the organisation is growing efficiently – not just growing. 

Q3. What are the biggest lessons gaming companies should understand before entering public markets?

Motti:

The first question a company should ask is why it wants to go public. Going public should never be just about prestige. Once a company becomes publicly listed, it takes on a major burden, especially for the CEO and CFO, who may end up allocating about a third of their time dealing with investors, bankers, analysts, and market expectations. In my previous roles, the purpose was clear: we wanted to demonstrate our performance publicly to attract bigger customers, create additional funding vehicles for M&A, and allow employees to benefit from the company’s success. If a company does not have a strong strategic reason, it may be better to become IPO-ready without actually listing.

Q4. From a CFO perspective, what makes an acquisition strategically successful?

Motti:

A successful acquisition starts with proper preparation. You need to understand your needs, screen the market, map potential targets, and identify which opportunity can create the most value, whether through synergies or strategic expansion. Once a target is selected, due diligence should go beyond legal, numbers and projections. One of the most important areas is the cultural fit. Many transactions fail because companies are not aligned culturally. It is also critical to set the right expectations before signing, especially around the post-merger integration process, transparency, governance, and how the acquired company will function within a larger group. A successful deal is comparable to one plus one equalling three – one where the combination creates real added value beyond maintaining the status.

Q5. How does regulation influence financial planning and long-term decision-making?

Motti:

Regulation has a major impact on financial planning. In regulated markets, revenues are typically lower because operators bear tax burdens and B2B providers often share that burden through revenue-share models. There are also significant costs associated with entering regulated markets, including technology, compliance, and product changes, and those costs continue after entry because businesses need to remain compliant as regulations evolve. However, despite the lower margins and added burden, regulated markets create more sustainable long-term businesses and usually lead to higher company valuations. Non-regulated markets may bring quicker profits, but regulated markets are where long-term strategic value is built.

Q6. How do you see AI influencing financial operations?

Motti:

I see AI as an enhancer and a multiplier for employees, not as a replacement for them. It can dramatically reduce the time spent on manual tasks, allowing finance teams to focus on areas that create real value, such as partnerships, resource optimisation, and proactive guidance to the business. I encourage my team to continuously adopt and explore these tools . In my view, the bigger risk is not that AI will replace people, but that people who do not adapt to it will be left behind. Finance should not only be about reporting; that is the baseline. The real value comes when finance helps and enables growth, and AI can strengthen that role.

Q7. What advice would you give someone looking to build a career in finance within the gaming industry?

Motti:

iGaming is a genuinely exciting industry to build a finance career in – it moves fast, it’s global, and the complexity keeps you sharp. But it does require some thinking about how you position yourself.

Understand the industry first, not just the numbers. iGaming has its own language – GGR, NGR, hold percentages, bonuses, player lifetime value, jurisdiction-specific tax treatments, etc. Finance professionals who take the time to really understand the commercial mechanics of the business, whether that’s how an operator monetises its player base or how a B2B supplier structures its revenue share agreements, will always have more impact than those who treat it as just another set of accounts to manage.

Be clear on what kind of finance professional you want to be. There’s a spectrum here – from highly technical roles in tax, treasury, regulatory reporting and statutory compliance, through to commercial finance and FP&A roles that sit much closer to the business. Both are valuable, but they require different strengths and lead to different career paths. Know which direction energises you and be intentional about building experience in that area.

Choose your environment carefully. A smaller operator or supplier will expose you to the full breadth of finance – you’ll touch everything from payment reconciliations to board reporting – which builds excellent foundations. A larger, more structured organisation offers depth, process orientation, and exposure to more sophisticated financial frameworks. Neither is better, but they shape you differently.

Get comfortable with data and technology. iGaming generates enormous volumes of data and the industry has been at the forefront of analytics-driven decision making. Finance professionals who can work with data – not just consume reports but dive into and challenge them – are significantly more valuable. 

And perhaps most importantly – stay genuinely curious. iGaming is an industry that never stands still. The best finance people I’ve worked with in this industry are the ones who ask questions well beyond their job description. 

About RubyPlay:

RubyPlay is a B2B iGaming company operating as a studio-based, layered content ecosystem.

The company is built around multiple market-focused studios, all supported by a shared technology, infrastructure and distribution platform. Each of our studios, RubyPlay Studio, Koala Games, Mad Hat Games, xSlots and Firerose, develops its own dedicated catalog aligned with specific markets and audiences. Together, these studios form an extended proprietary content library.

RubyPlay also operates a dedicated studio focused exclusively on bespoke, branded and white-label content, enabling operators to assemble tailored games by combining creative, technical, and market capabilities from across the ecosystem.

Rather than leading with a single supplier brand, RubyPlay is designed to support operator-led branding, allowing clients to adapt content to their own identity, strategy, and market needs.

This model positions RubyPlay as a long-term content partner for operators seeking flexibility, relevance and brand control.