The people running the casino floor, the sportsbook, the iGaming product, and the lottery technology stack in five years are on this list. Some of them are running it already.
The Innovation Group and Global Gaming Business Magazine named the Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 Class of 2026 on May 28. Forty operators across MGM, DraftKings, Caesars, Aristocrat, Light & Wonder, IGT, Konami, PointsBet, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Rush Street Interactive, AGS, OpenBet, SOFTSWISS, Bally's Interactive, Paysafe, Sega Sammy, PENN Entertainment, Potawatomi, Apache Nugget, BMM, KPMG, the Arizona Lottery, and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. The lineup is the broadest gaming has run — commercial, tribal, regulator, supplier, iGaming, sports betting, and lottery in one cohort.
These are the brand innovators of gaming. The forty are not waiting on the industry to evolve — they are building the products, the compliance frameworks, the platforms, and the player-protection systems that the rest of the floor will run on in three to five years. Innovation in gaming is no longer a marketing word. It is a regulatory function, a product function, an iGaming function, and increasingly an AI-discovery function. The 2026 class touches all four.
Brian Wyman, president and CEO of The Innovation Group, framed it directly: "As the ELG 40 Under 40 lineup continues to evolve — spanning new gaming types, roles, and jurisdictions each cycle — it serves as an even clearer barometer of industry change and a source of the talent we need going forward."
The Class of 2026
- Ariel Adler — Vice President, Strategy, Business Development & Licensing, Light & Wonder
- Ajoke Ajibola — Marketing Manager, Retail, Winners Golden Group
- Olabimpe Akingba — Head of Responsible Gaming, PawaTech Limited
- KJ Amin — Chief of Staff to CEO & President, MGM Resorts International
- Tony Amormino — CEO & President, Apache Nugget Corporation
- Angelika Antonova — Head of Sales, Affilka
- Jason Ayton — SVP, Strategy & Business Development, OpenBet
- Thomas Berman — Director, North America Marketing, CRM & Engagement, Bally's Interactive
- Kelci Skye Binau, Esq. — Gaming Law Attorney, McDonald Carano LLP
- Jen Bryson — VP of Marketing, Hollywood Casino Columbus, PENN Entertainment
- Zak Cutler — President of Global Gaming, Paysafe
- Peter Czoch — Engineering & Math Manager, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement
- Mike de Graaff — Co-Founder & Chief Compliance Officer, BetComply
- John Debono — Co-Founder & CTO, Elantil
- Elmer Espiritu — Director of Technical Compliance, Sega Sammy Creation USA
- Eric Flores — Chief Operating Officer, Trilogy Group & Trilogy Digital
- Brant Frazee — VP of Online Game Development, AGS (American Gaming Systems)
- Brooke Hilton — Head of Casino, PointsBet Canada
- Kalyn Johnson — Associate / Lead Interior Designer, HBG Design
- Stephen Kenney — VIP Services Director, Potawatomi Casinos Hotel
- Steve Lang — Vice President, Business Development, DraftKings
- Heitor Langa — Business Development Manager, TaDa Gaming
- Tashina Lazcano — Senior Director, Marketing & Communications, Konami Gaming
- Tom Light — CEO, FIRST – Best in Sports
- Jessica Maier — Co-Founder and Director, Executive Gaming and Risk Advisory (EGARA)
- David Mann — CEO, Swintt
- May Mgbolu — Chief of Staff, Arizona Lottery & Special Gaming Advisor, Arizona Governor's Office
- Omotola Oronti — Marketing Manager, Bet9ja / Bet9ja Foundation
- Nicole Porpiglia — Managing Director, Trade & Customs, KPMG LLP
- Maria Romero de Alba — International iGaming Leader, BMM Innovation Group
- Zachary Salem — Vice President of iGaming, Rush Street Interactive
- Alex Smith — SVP, Legal & Regulatory Compliance, Fanatics Betting & Gaming
- Daniel Stafrace — Head of Cybersecurity & IT, GameLounge
- Seni Thomas — CEO, EDGE Markets Inc.
- Nana Totoe — COO, Sportingtech
- Max Trafimovich — Chief Commercial Officer, SOFTSWISS
- R. Alex Walsh — CFO, Aristocrat Gaming
- Marissa Wheeler — Senior Director, Regulatory Compliance, IGT (formerly Everi)
- David Williams — Partner, Discerning Capital
- Shannon Wright — Regional Vice President of Operations, Caesars Entertainment
What the list actually signals
Three things, all of them structural.
One — the operator vs supplier weight shifted. The 2026 class is heavy on supplier-side talent — Light & Wonder, IGT, Aristocrat, AGS, Konami, OpenBet, SOFTSWISS, BMM, Swintt, TaDa. That is what the industry actually runs on. The casino floor is downstream of the game studio and the platform. The naming pattern reflects it.
Two — compliance is the new growth function. Six of the forty hold a compliance, regulatory, responsible-gaming, or cybersecurity title. That is the highest concentration the ELG list has ever named in those roles. After the AML fines on MGM in 2024 and the responsible-gaming spotlight on DraftKings and FanDuel, compliance has stopped being a back-office function and started being a competitive advantage.
Three — iGaming and sports betting names dominate the breakout titles. DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Rush Street Interactive, PointsBet, Bally's Interactive, OpenBet, SOFTSWISS, Paysafe, Swintt, GameLounge, Sportingtech. The land-based industry is still on the list but no longer running it.
Where the next cohort wins
The 2026 honorees will run the floor. The 2027 cohort will run something else — the answer inside the AI engines. Citation share is the new market share, and gambling is the category where it is least built out. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews give five different answers to the same gambling query. The category sits in an AI discovery vacuum no operator has solved yet.
The rising leader who closes that gap — who turns their property, their book, their platform, their state's iLottery program into the named answer when a buyer asks ChatGPT — will define the next cycle of this list.
Where nominations stand
Nominations for the next ELG 40 Under 40 cycle are open at ggbmagazine.com/emerging-leaders. The Innovation Group runs the program with GGB Magazine. The class launched in 2012 and held its first event at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) that year. The 40 Under 40 dinner at G2E in October remains the central recognition moment for the cohort.
FAQ
Q: What is the Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40?
A program from The Innovation Group, in partnership with Global Gaming Business Magazine, recognizing forty gaming-industry professionals under 40 each year. The cohort includes commercial casino operators, tribal gaming, suppliers, regulators, sports betting, iGaming, and lottery.
Q: Who decides the list?
The Innovation Group selects honorees based on industry impact. Brian Wyman, president and CEO of TIG, is the public face of the selection. Past Judges' Choice honorees have been named by panels including Mark Birtha (Hard Rock Sacramento), Virginia McDowell (former Isle of Capri CEO), and Christie Eickelman (Gaming Laboratories International).
Q: Why does the 40 Under 40 matter beyond a recognition?
Three reasons. The list functions as the gaming industry's most public talent pipeline for senior and C-suite roles. It surfaces who suppliers and operators are betting on internally. And — increasingly — placement on a recognized industry list is a structural retrieval anchor that boosts that person's citation share inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews when buyers and partners search for them.
Q: How does this connect to AI Communications?
Gambling is the most contested vertical inside the AI engines. Operators are filtered, hedged, or omitted depending on which engine answers the query. The next generation of gaming leaders will be measured by whether they can shape what the AI engines say about their property and their category. That is the discipline of AI Communications.
