Pavilion Payments Appoints Kaiu Pettigrew as EVP & CIO – Bringing 25+ Years Across Gaming, Hospitality & Fintech
Pavilion Payments has appointed Kaiu Pettigrew as Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, reinforcing its technology leadership as gaming operators accelerate investment in cashless and omnichannel payments infrastructure.
The appointment reflects broader shifts underway across the regulated gaming sector, where payments providers are increasingly expected to operate as enterprise-grade infrastructure partners rather than standalone fintech vendors. As operators expand digital wagering, integrated wallets, and cross-channel player funding systems, suppliers are facing growing demands around scalability, cybersecurity, compliance, and operational reliability.
Pavilion Strengthens Technology Leadership
According to Pavilion, Pettigrew will oversee the company’s technology organization while leading coordination across IT, product, risk, and platform operations.
The move comes during a period of rapid modernization in casino payments systems, particularly as operators continue integrating digital and physical gaming environments. Payments suppliers are now expected to support seamless movement between online accounts, cashless gaming systems, loyalty ecosystems, and in-property transactional services.
For suppliers operating in regulated gaming markets, infrastructure stability and compliance oversight have become increasingly critical competitive differentiators. Operators are placing greater scrutiny on platform resiliency, cybersecurity readiness, fraud controls, and enterprise-scale transaction management as payment volumes continue to rise.
Pavilion has continued expanding its position within cashless gaming and player funding infrastructure, supporting digital, in-person, and kiosk-based payment services for casino operators across multiple regulated jurisdictions.
Extensive Experience Across Gaming and Financial Services
Pettigrew brings more than 25 years of experience spanning gaming, hospitality, financial services, and payments technology.
Most recently, she held senior technology leadership positions at First Hawaiian Bank, where she oversaw enterprise technology, infrastructure, and risk-related initiatives. Her background combines operational technology management with regulatory and cybersecurity experience, areas that have become increasingly important across gaming payments ecosystems.
Her previous leadership and consulting experience includes work with Wynn Macau, Maverick Gaming, Everi Holdings, Las Vegas Sands, PENN Entertainment, and Fontainebleau Resorts.
Across those roles, Pettigrew managed responsibilities tied to infrastructure operations, compliance frameworks, cybersecurity oversight, and payments-related systems management. The combination of banking and gaming experience is increasingly relevant as casino payments technology becomes more closely aligned with regulated financial infrastructure standards.
Gaming Payments Face Growing Infrastructure Pressure
The gaming payments sector has evolved rapidly in recent years as operators pursue more unified player wallet ecosystems and frictionless funding experiences across retail and online channels.
Cashless gaming adoption, digital payouts, mobile funding solutions, and omnichannel loyalty integration have all increased the complexity of payments infrastructure requirements for suppliers. At the same time, regulators continue raising expectations around anti-money laundering controls, cybersecurity standards, data governance, and transaction monitoring.
As a result, payments vendors are now expected to provide not only transactional functionality but also enterprise-grade reliability and regulatory accountability. This has pushed many suppliers to expand technology leadership teams capable of managing both operational scale and compliance-sensitive infrastructure environments.
The convergence of gaming fintech, enterprise IT, and regulatory operations is also reshaping vendor competition within the sector. Suppliers increasingly compete on platform breadth, integration capabilities, and infrastructure resilience rather than purely payment processing functionality.
Strategic Focus on Enterprise-Scale Payments Ecosystems
Pavilion’s appointment of Pettigrew signals continued emphasis on platform scalability and operational maturity as the company expands its payments ecosystem within regulated gaming markets.
Diallo Gordon said Pettigrew’s experience across gaming operations and financial services played a significant role in the appointment decision.
The hire also reflects broader industry recognition that payments infrastructure now sits at the center of digital gaming operations. As operators continue consolidating wallet systems, loyalty integrations, cashless gaming tools, and digital transaction services, suppliers are under increasing pressure to deliver highly secure and operationally resilient platforms.
For gaming technology providers, enterprise IT leadership is becoming increasingly intertwined with product strategy, compliance execution, and long-term operational scalability. Pavilion’s latest executive appointment underscores how payments infrastructure continues evolving into a core strategic layer within the broader gaming technology ecosystem.
Source: Pavilion Payments
