Outstanding!
Our annual recognition of five outstanding women who influence the path of the industry
For years, women in gaming have been chiseling away at the old standard of a male-dominated industry. As gaming has expanded into new channels like online casinos, sports betting and more, the contributions from women professionals have helped to lead the way forward. This is our 10th annual recognition of five outstanding women in gaming. The five profiled here prove why women have the ability to thrive in top management positions. Congratulations to all five of our chosen role models. You prove that success in the gaming industry is, indeed, gender neutral.
Art of the Studio
Jamie Knight, Senior Vice President, Game Studios-U.S., IGT
For the past 20-plus years, Jamie Knight has built a distinguished career in slot game development, from her early days as a mathematician at IGT legacy company Atronic to her current job as senior vice president of game studios-U.S. at IGT.
Along the way, she has created dozens upon dozens of hit slot games, including many of the most iconic games enjoyed by players worldwide.
Yet, when Knight graduated from Illinois State University in 1998 with a degree in mathematics and computer science, the gaming industry was the farthest thing from her mind. “I stumbled into this industry of gaming,” she says. “Right out of school, I worked for a restaurant group in California, because that’s where my family lived. I quickly became part of their marketing team.”
Knight took over that marketing group, and consequently would gain skills that would come in handy later. “I learned to run an art team,” she says, “which was such a great experience early on in my career. I learned what’s important in marketing, what draws the attention of people, and what things are important. That’s come in handy quite a bit in my career.”
Then, suddenly, the gaming industry called.
In 2005, Knight got a call “out of the blue” from Atronic, an Austrian slot manufacturer that had established its U.S. base in Scottsdale, Arizona (it would eventually become part of IGT). “They said, ‘Do you want to be a mathematician in the gaming industry?’ And I’m like, ‘That’s a real job?’” laughs Knight.
“It was like a dream. I took a closer look, and that curiosity quickly turned into a passion once I learned how games were actually created. Being able to cross all the different disciplines I was really passionate about, with art, math, technology all working together… It became kind of an obsession to be one of the best at it.”
And the best she did become, developing a long list of hit games at Bally, Scientific Games and Light & Wonder, where she was senior director of game design when IGT tapped her to create a new studio in Las Vegas.
In the creation and oversight of what is now the Viva Studio in Las Vegas, Knight quickly displayed her knack for team building and leadership. “My goal was never to really set out to be a leader; it was to make the best games,” she says. “Over the years of really learning what made the best products and how to build the best teams, I realized I was a natural leader. So, a lot of people did start to gravitate towards my studio.”
The Viva Studio grew larger, and the team’s debut title, King Khufu, achieved the top two positions on industry game performance charts. “When I came to IGT, my goal was really simple—to build the best gaming studio in the industry,” Knight says. “My focus was creating a winning culture and developing great talent, and building a process that was a little different.”
Those differences turned out to be defining elements of the new studio, and IGT soon realized the approach should apply to other studios as well. “We had a different view on how to make games, so my goal was to change how we made games here,” says Knight. “Very quickly, they recognized the differences I was making for that team and how I was influencing some of the other studios. So, they asked me to take on more teams.”
En route to heading all U.S. studios, Knight revamped IGT’s premium studio in Reno. “I’m excited about the changes they made, and now the games are about to come out,” she says. “It’s exciting to see the influence I did have on the studio.”
Knight would influence other changes, but, she notes, without disturbing the creative capabilities of each designer on her teams.
“I’m really passionate about using people to their unique strengths and skill sets,” she says. “I think sometimes we put an artist in a box and say, you have to do the art and the animation and do all the pieces. They’re not always good at all those parts, so having a generalist attitude across the company wasn’t serving anybody. Using people to what their skill sets are makes that bar go up even higher, because now people are passionate about what they’re doing.”
Knight says her main goal for the coming year is to help all IGT game studios reach their full potential. She split the formerly large teams into “pods” of 15-20 people within each studio, led by a designer. “We’ve gone through a tremendous amount of change this year, and I believe we have the right talent. It’s really starting to stabilize. This team’s moving forward.”
—Frank Legato
Like a Rock
Sarah Gardner, Interim CEO, UK Gambling Commission
Sarah Gardner’s gaming career spans an impressive 17 years at the UK Gambling Commission. She lightheartedly describes herself as a commission “lifer,” suggesting that despite recent increased turnover among senior commission members, she has no immediate plans to exit the regulator.
“It’s a really interesting sector because you’re trying to strike the right balance between enabling people to enjoy what they enjoy doing in their leisure time, while making sure you maintain protections for those who need it,” she says. “(In my time) I’ve done most of the jobs around the senior table at the commission.”
Gardner has seen the regulator through pivotal moments of evolution. She cites the adoption of a point-of-consumption tax in the U.K. as one of the most memorable periods of her career. “When I first joined the commission we only regulated about 15 percent of the online market, so one of the pivotal moments was my involvement in the legislation in 2014 that changed to point-of-consumption regulation.” This related to operators being taxed based on where their customer base was playing, rather than just the gaming hubs which they themselves operated from.
She has also seen the regulator through the industry-changing Gambling Act 2005 review and subsequent government white paper, which presented a number of regulatory amendments to improve consumer safety. One of the more controversial topics to come from the white paper were financial risk assessments (FRAs), a policy which seeks to implement credit checks on players exhibiting excessive gambling activity.
But the sector, along with politicians and horse racing advocates, has staunchly opposed the policy, which many claim is a rebrand of failed affordability checks. Gardner defends the implementation of FRAs, noting that the measure is “a really good example of finding a more sophisticated way than currently exists to hone in on the consumers who actually need the support.”
She acknowledges the industry’s concerns over additional player document checks, which would slow the customer journey and potentially drive users into the black market where they can avoid these checks. But the commission has been adamant that such additional checks won’t be required for FRAs.
Recently, outgoing policy director Tim Miller told an audience at iGB L!VE that the regulator had faced increased scrutiny surrounding FRAs. Gardner describes regulation as “thankless work,” with opposing views and expectations coming from different parts of the sector.
“You can never please all the people,” she says. “I can’t think of any announcement I’ve ever done where I haven’t had one half of the debate saying, ‘Oh, that doesn’t go far enough,’ and the other half saying, ‘Oh, it might go too far.’”
In a period of significant change at the UKGC, Gardner is its rock. Both Miller and long-term CEO Andrew Rhodes announced exits from the regulator in the last few months, resulting in a reshuffle of the senior management. Gardner took over as interim CEO upon Rhodes’ exit, but according to a recent update, a senior executive from the U.K. government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sports (which oversees gambling activities) will step into the commission on a secondment to lead the commission’s policy, research and statistics functions. Sarah Fox brings with her experience in policy implementation, having managed the National Lottery license’s most recent transition. She also helped produce the 2024 white paper and oversaw society lotteries and horse racing under her previous remit.
“There’s something about appreciating the (gambling) environment as being unique,” Gardner says of the challenging nature of regulating a leisure activity like gambling. “I think people come in and out of the sector pretty quickly where they try and import approaches from other sectors that actually prove not to be really transferrable to gambling.
“There’s something about taking time to understand gambling and its unique qualities.”
—Nicole Macedo
Learning, Helping
Sangeeta Reddy, Vice President, Innovation, Gaming Laboratories International
Sangeeta Reddy’s career has evolved faster than the technology she has continued to master. Reddy’s engineering career has taken her from IGT, where she spent six years as product assurance engineer, to engineering leadership positions in diverse industries including airlines (US Airways) and automobiles (GM). In 2020, Reddy returned to the gaming industry as senior director of engineering at Gaming Laboratories International.
Within a year at GLI, she was named vice president of engineering, and in January 2025, Reddy was named vice president of innovation, to head a new Innovation Division that she conceived and then developed with a select team.
The role of the new division is to help keep GLI clients a step ahead of rapidly changing technology. “This division was conceived from a simple observation,” Reddy says. “Technology is advancing fast, and every organization needs to adapt to how things are changing, how market trends are changing. I felt there is definitely a need for innovation, and GLI could step up and lead in that digital transformation, which is why we decided the time was right to create a division which focuses on innovation.
“GLI has been one of the most successful companies. However, going forward, how do we scale and how do we stay relevant with the market?”
It’s a mission that has particularly suited Reddy, who has embraced rapid advances in technology at every phase of her career. “Technology is my passion,” she says, “and growth in technology always excites me. Anything new, I just want to learn—because my passion for technology has always been there. I’m an observer. I always like to bring in changes. We’ve got to be very proactive; we’ve got to be ready.”
In the first year of the new division, Reddy has advanced several internal initiatives across GLI’s global network of companies, including modernizing client-facing tools, such as GLIAccess, the single digital gateway for regulators, suppliers and gaming operators to access real-time information, certifications, and project status across their engagements with GLI.
Additionally, dominating her technological consulting has been the discipline currently changing many aspects of the industry, artificial intelligence.
Suppliers are already employing AI in the early stages of game design to drastically cut the time to market for new game ideas. Operators are using AI in marketing programs that track slot play and initiate in-person intervention to keep loyal customers in-house and give them reasons to make return trips.
“AI is impacting this industry and every other industry,” Reddy says. “We don’t have clear regulations yet on AI in the gaming industry. Anticipating that there are going to be regulations, how the industry is going to shift with AI going forward is an interesting question.
“Several years ago, I went to school to learn, literally, what AI is, to stay relevant and to be ready for the technology going forward. I’ve invested at least three years of my personal time into studying AI. With our clients, we discuss AI in regard to how we can help each other, whether it comes to marketing or some intelligence internally, or agentic AI where we can eliminate some of the manual tasks.”
Reddy investing time in learning AI to assist clients reveals a common trait to her career—constant learning.
In post-grad education, she holds a certificate from the Harvard Business Publishing’s Emerging Leaders program and a certificate in Associates Computer Information Systems. Her postgraduate certification includes the Chief Technology Officer Program at the Wharton School Aresty Institute of Executive Education and certifications in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning from the Texas McCombs School of Business.
“Always learning,” she agrees. “I have just tried my best to stay relevant.”
Reddy’s goals for the coming year? “I definitely want to become smarter, and better.”
That, she says, makes her clients smarter and better.
—Frank Legato
Ahead of the Curve
Kristina Griffus, Director, iGaming and Sports Betting Operations,
Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
In the mid-2000s, Flint, Michigan native and Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribal member Kristina “C.C.” Griffus had her career all mapped out. With a degree in business management from Saginaw Valley State University and a marketing MBA from Central Michigan University, she would open up a small business. Be her own boss.
But gaming beckoned in the form of leadership intern programs sponsored by the tribe. In 2008, she started at Saganing Eagles Landing Casino & Hotel in Standish, and in 2009, joined Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant as advertising and public relations manager.
In 2019, when Michigan legalized online casino and sports betting, Griffus had to develop a marketing strategy that simultaneously rewarded the digital set and the brick-and-mortar set. “I played a key role in the development of our online casino and sports betting initiatives,” she says. “The ability to offer the opportunity for each type of player to visit and play in either outlet has enabled Soaring Eagle to capture incremental increases in deposits and coin-in over the past couple years.”
Behind the pitch is technology including artificial intelligence, now an essential tool for marketing efficiency and accuracy, Griffus says. Its use in audience targeting fosters an elevated competitive environment that requires lightning-speed responses from business operations.
“I believe we are at the peak of consumer adaptation to technology,” says Griffus, who was appointed director of iGaming and sports betting operations in 2022. “As consumer habits frequently fluctuate, marketing strategies must evolve at an identical or faster pace. Using technology to constantly analyze behavioral trends is no longer just an optional tool; evolution of technology will continue to be a vital necessity for sustainability and success in tomorrow’s business world.”
Over the past 25 years, she says, “global consumerism has expanded substantially, nurtured continuously by technological advancements and digital accessibility.” To those who fear the end of human jobs, gobbled up by AI, Griffus says, “I do not believe technology will replace the human workforce entirely; however, people who refuse to use new technology will inevitably be replaced by people who do.”
In the digital age, Griffus acknowledges, a segment of the market sees land-based casinos as passé. But even they adjust their preferences based on experiences in the brick-and-mortar property. “Identifying the combination of players’ past experiences, personalities and preferences are the real key elements in segmenting players successfully. The challenge is identifying the change in individuals’ preference and being ready to capture that as an opportunity.”
In July, Soaring Eagle Gaming announced the multi-year renewal of its partnership with the Detroit Lions. “We have had discussions with other teams; however, our core demographic is a huge part of the NFL fan base. The laser focus on the Lions partnership has allowed us to build a strong presence at Ford Field, and the fans definitely recognize that.”
In her opinion, “a marketing partnership with a professional team has less ambiguity than a sportsbook operator/brand having ownership of a professional team.”
Most industry professionals know there will never be a one-size-fits-all solution, and marketing itself must evolve to meet consumer demand, notes Griffus. “We evolve in our marketing efforts just as quickly as our players evolve in their preferences. We focus on recognizing triggers that motivate players and we plan accordingly.
“Overall, the continuous engagement with our players through omnichannel marketing is like a rollercoaster ride. The results will always have its ups and downs, but we’ll keep adjusting our seatbelts and prepare for the next ride.”
—Bill Sokolic
A Voice for Player Health
Marie-Noëlle Savoie, Interim Chief Social Purpose Officer and VP of Marketing,
British Columbia Lottery Corp.
Marie-Noëlle Savoie has for some time been acknowledged as one of Canada’s most influential leaders in regulated gambling.
During her over six years at the British Columbia Lottery Corp. (BCLC), she has overseen a broad portfolio spanning player health, legal services, compliance, anti-money laundering, privacy, investigations, data governance, security, marketing and many other areas. Since joining BCLC in 2020, Savoie has led initiatives with both local and national impact.
Speaking to GGB last year on how she got her start in gambling, Savoie said her financial sector career ended during Covid-19. She jokes that she swapped it for something “way more fun.”
“When I started, especially going from the securities industry to gambling, it’s so different,” said Savoie. Early in the transition, she connected with the group Global Gaming Women to formally delve into the sector and meet like-minded peers to help guide her in her new role.
Canada’s online gambling sector was nascent when she entered in June 2020, and early on she sought to establish connections with local vendors and others in the region, to focus on the important matters and build a coalition against illegal gambling in British Colombia. She has been working with this cross-sector coalition for a few years now and cites it as a highlight of her gambling career.
“It’s been really impactful. And I’ve been talking to a lot of my folks around the country. It wasn’t like that when I started. It was (the middle of) Covid and everything shut down. So it was nice when I was able to branch out a little bit.”
In a sector where safety, trust and accountability are paramount, Savoie stands out as a transformative leader—redefining safer play, raising standards for compliance and shaping the future of responsible gambling in Canada and beyond.
Most impressive about her time at the BCLC is how diverse her portfolio has become. Speaking late in 2025, she highlighted data governance as a focus for her over the next few years. At the time she said the area was hugely important but lacked focus.
She continues to work on the BCLC’s proprietary platform, which educates players and provides resources on player safety techniques and tools across Canada. The tool is available at all lottery retail outlets, casinos and community gaming centers (CGCs) in the province.
The platform provides a GameSense Advisor (GSA) program, which is described as an important service to players, gambling staff and the community. Education, support and referral services are provided to facilitate healthy approaches to gambling and reducing harm.
As Savoie said at the time, “I’m really looking forward to sinking my teeth even more into what we call player health, which is the responsible gambling area, and really continuing the work in there.”
—Nicole Macedo
