Why hiring strategy is becoming a growth driver in iGaming
As more iGaming markets become regulated, operators are under pressure to expand quickly while meeting stricter compliance, payments and operational requirements. In many cases, the challenge is no longer just about securing licences or entering new markets, but about finding the right people to manage launches, compliance processes and day-to-day operations. This has increased demand for experienced professionals across areas such as compliance, payments, customer relationship management (CRM), retention and product management.
At the same time, many operators are still struggling with slow hiring processes, unclear internal decision-making and delays in filling specialist roles. In competitive and newly regulated markets, these delays can affect launch timelines, operational readiness and overall business performance. The issue has become more visible as companies compete for experienced talent with knowledge of local regulations, payment systems and market conditions.
To understand how recruitment challenges are affecting the iGaming sector, SiGMA News exclusively spoke to Siarhei Leushankou and Anastasiia Shamrylo, the founders of HuntRiot, an iGaming-focused recruitment and talent consultancy firm. In this interview, they discuss why hiring has become closely linked to business growth, the operational impact of recruitment delays, and why companies are increasingly treating talent strategy as part of their wider commercial planning.
Slow hiring processes limiting growth
SiGMA News: In high-growth markets, operators often blame talent shortages for slow scaling. From your experience, how much of that is actually a hiring process problem?
Anastasiia Shamrylo, CEO and co-founder of HuntRiot: More often than not, it’s about process maturity, not the absence of candidates. Many hiring teams track factors such as clarity of the brief, ownership, decision latency, candidate touchpoints and the employer narrative during the recruitment process. When those elements weaken, the pipeline slows down, and every week of delay increases the risk of losing candidates to faster competitors.
The focus should be on improving the system itself by locking in structured briefs, mapping the interview journey and establishing regular reviews to clear bottlenecks. Once the process becomes more disciplined, the market tends to open up more quickly. The talent exists, but what is often missing is the organisational capacity to close the loop efficiently. In high-growth scenarios, growth is limited more by hiring architecture than by the raw availability of people.
SiGMA News: Where do iGaming companies typically lose the most time in hiring, whether in decision-making, role definition, or internal alignment, and how does that impact execution?
Shamrylo: The biggest delays usually happen at the alignment stage. In iGaming, the same role is often redefined multiple times: product teams want product expertise, compliance teams demand regulatory cover, and finance teams focus on budget discipline. While that alignment is being worked through, the role often stalls.
Many companies use structured frameworks to clarify who owns the decision, which metrics matter, and who signs off on the final offer. This is often combined with clearer role definitions and impact mapping to identify which key performance indicators (KPIs) depend on the hire over the next three, six, or 12 months. When teams are aligned internally, projects are more likely to stay on course. Critical launches involving compliance, payments, or expansion into new regions are less likely to face delays because the required expertise is already in place rather than being stuck mid-process.
Specialist talent and expansion challenges
SiGMA News: Which roles are currently the hardest to fill across iGaming, such as compliance, payments, or media buying, and what does that say about how the industry is evolving?
Shamrylo: Right now, the hardest roles to fill are senior compliance leads and payments architects, particularly those familiar with complex or newly regulated jurisdictions. These professionals are expected to act as regulatory strategists, technical integrators and trusted business partners at the same time. Media buying and performance roles remain comparatively more accessible, but they now require expertise in attribution within a cookieless environment, which is a different skill set altogether.
What this shift shows is that iGaming is moving away from “growth-at-all-costs” towards more disciplined risk governance. Recruitment for these strategic functions increasingly involves assessing regulatory requirements, documentation expectations and prior experience in building similar processes. These roles have become critical factors in determining whether companies can scale effectively without facing regulatory setbacks.
SiGMA News: When companies enter newly regulated markets, what hiring mistakes do they repeat that directly delay or weaken their launch?
Shamrylo: A recurring mistake is postponing compliance and operations hires until the product is ready. Regulators do not wait for “product readiness”; they expect accountable personnel to be in place during the pre-launch stage. Preparing for launch therefore often requires translating regulatory requirements into specific skill sets, while identifying the documentation, regulator touchpoints and payment integrations needed early in the process.
Another common mistake is keeping role briefs too generic. New jurisdictions often require a payments lead who has already worked with a particular payment service provider (PSP), anti-money laundering (AML) framework or licensing environment. Many companies now use “scenario staffing” exercises to simulate launch conditions, identify which roles are likely to face the most pressure, and involve candidates earlier in the process so they understand the operational context. This can help reduce downtime and support smoother launches.
SiGMA News: Many operators aim to move fast but build slow hiring structures. What needs to change internally for hiring to actually match business speed?
Shamrylo: Hiring needs to stop being viewed as “HR support” and instead be treated as a managed operational discipline. That includes assigning clear role owners, codifying scorecards, aligning decision rights, enforcing service-level agreements (SLAs), and tracking metrics such as pipeline velocity and time-to-offer.
Planning roles several weeks in advance, using multi-channel sourcing, conducting regular pipeline reviews and maintaining closer coordination with launch teams can help improve recruitment efficiency. The key is to avoid over-engineering the process, as every delay in approvals can slow execution in competitive markets.
When structured more effectively, hiring stops being a brake and becomes an accelerator, particularly for operators working in high-risk or fast-moving environments.
The commercial cost of hiring delays
While operational hiring inefficiencies continue to slow execution across many iGaming businesses, recruitment decisions are also having a growing financial impact on operators entering competitive and newly regulated markets. Delays in hiring specialist talent can affect launch timelines, acquisition costs and long-term scalability, particularly in regions where speed-to-market has become increasingly important.
SiGMA News: Recruitment is often treated as a cost centre. At what point does it become a direct driver of revenue or market performance for operators?
Siarhei Leushankou, CBDO and co-founder of HuntRiot: The shift happens when companies stop looking for “headcount” and start looking for “multipliers”. In iGaming, a high-performing Head of Acquisition or Lead Product Manager does not simply fill a role; they can directly influence profit and loss (P&L). Recruitment becomes more closely tied to revenue when hiring aligns with critical business objectives.
For example, hiring a specialist who has already worked through the regulatory requirements of a specific jurisdiction can significantly shorten launch timelines. In a high-margin industry, those additional months in the market can have a direct impact on revenue performance.
SiGMA News: What is the real financial impact of a delayed hire or a wrong hire in iGaming, especially in competitive or newly regulated markets?
Leushankou: The cost of a “bad hire” can extend far beyond annual salary costs. Hiring the wrong Chief Technology Officer (CTO), for example, can result in six to 12 months of lost technical progress while also creating risks around system stability during major events such as the World Cup, which can potentially lead to millions in lost gross gaming revenue (GGR).
In newly regulated markets, delayed hiring can also affect market share. If operators enter a fast-growing market several months late because they were unable to secure local expertise, customer acquisition costs (CPA) are likely to be significantly higher by the time operations begin. In that context, recruitment costs are often viewed against the potential commercial impact of delayed market entry or operational disruption.
Long-term business impact of hiring decisions
SiGMA News: How should operators rethink recruitment budgets when entering new markets where speed to market is critical?
Leushankou: Companies need to stop looking at recruitment as a flat fee and start viewing it more as part of market-entry planning. When entering a new jurisdiction, time is often the biggest challenge. Operators are increasingly moving from “passive hiring” to more targeted headhunting.
It is often cheaper to pay a premium for a “plug-and-play” expert who already understands the local payment landscape and player preferences than to save on recruitment costs and later spend more dealing with operational setbacks. In highly competitive markets, delays in execution can have significant commercial consequences.
SiGMA News: Where do companies tend to overspend or underspend in hiring, and how does that imbalance affect long-term performance?
Leushankou: Many companies overspend on middle-management structures while underspending on niche technical or operational expertise. At the same time, strategic areas such as CRM and retention are often overlooked. In iGaming, it is generally much cheaper to retain a player than to acquire a new one.
Neglecting the talent needed to optimise the player lifecycle can create a “leaky bucket” business model, where growth becomes difficult to sustain without continuous spending on acquisition.
SiGMA News: From a commercial perspective, how do the right hires influence key outcomes such as user acquisition, retention, and overall profitability?
Leushankou: Every key metric is ultimately a reflection of people’s work. A strong media buyer can identify acquisition opportunities that competitors may miss, helping to lower blended customer acquisition costs (CPA). An experienced Product Owner can improve user experience (UX), reduce churn and strengthen retention. Profitability is often the sum of these different functions working effectively together.
At HuntRiot, we go beyond the hire. We act as a strategic bridge, often recommending high-potential projects or helping clients address operational “open questions”. In iGaming, talent is the only asset that can actually decrease your costs while increasing your revenue simultaneously.
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