Accentuate the Positive

You might say Victoria Reed was destined to work in the gambling industry.

“My dad is a huge horse racing fan, so I grew up with our back garden at the four-furlong mark of Lingfield Racecourse in Surrey, England,” says Reed, CEO of Better Change. “Life revolved around the racecourse with everything from birthdays to Guy Fawkes Night and Christmas celebrated there, so I was always exposed to the industry. I was always aware that it was an exciting, innovative industry with lots of opportunity, so I feel like it was inevitable that I’d end up working in it at some point.”

With a career marked by stints in music, staffing, marketing and, of course, gaming, Reed started Better Change in 2021 after growing irked by negative news stories around gambling.

“It’s so much easier for journalists to write about the rare cases where someone experiences harm as a result of our products, but rarely highlight the positive stories or the great work the industry does to protect players,” she says. “I was also frustrated with the lack of support we were getting from the regulator. I could see why operators were discouraged from going above and beyond the regulations when it comes to player protection.”

She launched U.K.-based Better Change “to support the industry and show how player protection could also help with commercial viability.”

Better Change is focused on blending evidence with practical operational insight, drawing on academic research, behavioral science and data analytics to understand how and why people gamble and what makes a difference in preventing harm.

“Just as importantly, we listen to those customers who gamble responsibly as well as the people on the front line in operators’ teams, to make sure our solutions are grounded in reality and not just theory,” says Reed. “Responsible gaming works best when operators, regulators and players are aligned. By combining these perspectives, we’re able to build approaches that are not only effective and ethical but also commercially realistic and culturally sustainable within businesses.”

While many look-ahead stories focus on how artificial intelligence will change from the standpoint of operators, the pace of player behavior change looms equally large, according to Reed. Add in economic pressures on consumers and businesses, and investing in player protection becomes more difficult.

“Another challenge is turning large volumes of customer data into meaningful, preventative action,’” she says. “Many organizations have the information, but not always the systems or confidence to intervene early and consistently.”   

To that end, Better Change is “putting a lot of energy into practical, measurable improvements such as helping operators use data more effectively, enhancing training for frontline teams and developing tools that make safer gambling a natural part of the customer experience.

“We’re also expanding our collaborative work with regulators and treatment providers, and assisting with emerging market entry.”

As in years past, the mission for 2026 is to help operators support player well-being and create a sustainable gambling culture.