Ariel Hayat

Background

About Ariel Hayat

Senior executive with 20+ years building and scaling complex, regulated, technology-driven businesses. The last decade has focused on iGaming and Live Dealer operations at global scale. I currently hold two complementary roles within Playtech PLC's Live Dealer business: Chief Studio Development Officer, where I hold full budget ownership and partial P&L responsibility for our global studio strategy and growth, and CEO of PTR (Playtech Romania), where I hold full P&L ownership for our largest site. Under my leadership, PTR has scaled from early-stage operations to 600+ employees and delivered growth exceeding 300%. In the past year alone, I initiated and executed a €10M+ cost-reduction program that improved gross margins across the Business Unit without disrupting service delivery or compliance. My responsibilities span budgeting and financial forecasting, pricing models and investment prioritization, multi-site operations across regulated markets, and global studio strategy, from new builds to infrastructure standards. I've negotiated multi-million-euro commercial agreements with tier-one clients, led integrations and high-stakes crisis situations while protecting profitability and continuity, and represented the business directly in regulatory and compliance matters. My path here started outside iGaming. I co-founded ventures, then led senior management and business development roles at a public retail group (400+ employees, 75 stores, M&A and IPO involvement); before that, economic planning and policy roles in telecom and government. That range shapes how I operate now: I move comfortably between long-term strategy and disciplined day-to-day execution, and I'm at my best where growth, transformation, and high-performance team-building intersect. Always glad to connect with peers and leaders across iGaming, regulated tech, and global operations.