Chairing the first panel of the day, very much a pitch to Slovenia’s techies to give gaming a chance, Mazij argued that while the gameplay of modern online casinos might look simple, it is in fact “among the most complex in the digital world”. He highlighted that suppliers have to deal with high frequency data, real-time decision making, fraud prevention, massive scalability, and user experiences that must work across continents and regulatory environments.
He said: “What is exciting for you here is that our region is no longer just a follower, and it’s no longer participating in this global industry – we are shaping it.
“Companies founded here in the region are powering some of the biggest operators in the world. Our engineers, product teams, data scientists and entrepreneurs are influencing how millions of people play, bet, transact and interact every single day.”
The panel brought together leaders from across Slovenia’s gaming sector: Golden Whale CEO Eberhard Dürrschmid, Comtrade Gaming chief executive Aleš Gornjec, Bragg’s new AI whizzkid Luka Pataky, and Sportradar SVP, AI solutions Andrej Bratko. The discussion covered familiar ground around AI and data but also offered some candid reflections on what it takes to build global gaming businesses from a small, Central European nation.
Beyond the ‘GPT wrapper hype’
Pataky, who serves as EVP of AI at Bragg, was careful to distinguish his company’s approach from what he termed the “GPT wrapper hype” that has swept through tech in recent years.
While acknowledging that AI models themselves are becoming commoditised, he argued that Bragg’s position across the value chain gives it access to the kind of data that matters. The company handles everything from game development to platform operations, which means it can track player behaviour and use that information to inform product decisions.
The focus, Pataky said, is on predictive intelligence rather than generative AI parlour tricks. “We are trying to focus on how we build understanding of the future,” he explained. “How do we build better predictive intelligence so that we know how players will react, and what is the next important thing to serve them.”
The region’s advantages were a consistent theme of the discussion. Dürrschmid pointed out that companies from smaller markets like Slovenia are forced to think globally from the start. There’s simply no domestic market large enough to sustain a business, which means systems and processes have to be built with international expansion in mind from day one. It’s a constraint that breeds a certain kind of discipline.
Gornjec, whose Comtrade Gaming has been operating for 25 years, illustrated what that discipline looks like in practice. His company maintains 24/7 support with four-minute response times for top clients, which means engineers in Slovenia staying on call to handle issues in markets like Manila. It’s demanding work but apparently necessary in an industry where reputation travels fast.
“The industry is small, everybody talks to everybody,” Gornjec said. “You really need to do your best to serve your clients.”
The conversation did touch on some of the region’s weaknesses. Pataky acknowledged that while Central and Southeastern Europe produces strong engineers, product management remains a gap. The tendency is to focus on building technically impressive solutions rather than starting with customer needs and working backwards.
‘Who are we building for and who needs this’
“Instead of asking ourselves ‘can we do this?’, we should really start asking ourselves more about who we are building for and who needs this,” he said. It’s a mindset shift that Pataky suggested the region is still working through, moving from output-focused engineering culture to one more concerned with measurable business outcomes.
Several panellists pointed to virtualisation and immersive experiences as a likely next phase for the industry, though Pataky noted this has been discussed for some time without major breakthroughs. “I’m still waiting for that, it’s been talked about already for a while,” he said. The sense was that the industry has moved from retail to online, and something else is coming, even if its exact shape remains unclear.
The question of talent also ran through much of the discussion. Slovenia’s engineers are valued for their technical depth and, perhaps unusually, their tendency to stay put rather than chase higher salaries in larger tech hubs. Gornjec suggested this loyalty is partly cultural, while the country’s public education system produces graduates without the debt burdens common elsewhere.
Dual-listed on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange and with offices around the globe, Bragg isn’t always thought of as a Slovenian business. But appearances can be deceptive, and the company’s roots in the plains beneath the Kamnik–Savinja Alps are obvious if you know where to look.
Dingnews.com 10/12/2025