Feature
Feature
Paula Cara Farcas, CTO, Colossus Bets
Farcas became chief technology officer at Colossus six months ago, having joined the supplier as a developer in October 2015. Just 24, she has had a stratospheric rise through the ranks since graduating in 2015 with a computer science degree from Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania. Little over a year after joining Colossus, Farcas took the helm at Colossus Racing, and as the leader of partner integration grew Colossus’ network from five to more than 40 partners globally. She also led the development of Colossus’ cash-out product for Canadian racetrack Woodbine. Having worked through several obstacles relating to legacy technology on the operator’ s side Farcas launched North America’ s first ever cash-out product last year. Her latest challenge is steering her 20-strong tech team through the delivery of Colossus Racing’ s new pools product in collaboration with BritBet and a consortium of 55 British racecourses this summer. Farcas says the most rewarding part of her job is seeing new products succeed in a highly competitive market.“ I’ m also equally proud of the numerous, albeit less visible, instances when we’ ve worked around legacy technologies to deliver modernised outcomes for our partners,” she adds.“ I now have an increased appreciation of how big a challenge it is to make an impact in this industry, and innovation coupled with adaptability is key.” Over the next few months Farcas will be focused on delivering the pools product, travelling widely to meet new racing partners and cementing relationships with existing clients. She advises other women aspiring to success in igaming to“ look beyond the gender imbalance and just take the challenge”. Farcas points to the“ conscious drive” by business to bring in more female leaders in the industry, adding“ the rewards can be high for those who dare”.
Karolina Pelc, Casino Director, LeoVegas
Pelc has been heading up LeoVegas’ casino product and operations department for more than three years, having previously helmed the casino offering at Betsafe. Her career in the gambling industry started in land-based casinos as soon as she finished school and has gone on to span 15 years, the last five of which have been in a succession of senior roles. Last year she gained a raft of industry recognition for her work in launching LeoVegas’ live casino product, in particular for the implantation of the site’ s dynamic API. Her work contributed to LeoVegas picking up awards for Best Live Casino and Best Mobile Product this year. Pelc also delivered multi-fold GGR growth to the relaunched LeoVegas Live product vertical and, in conjunction with partners at Evolution, expanded it from a three-table offering to more than 12 tables in a multi-language dedicated environment. Pelc is vocal about improving diversity in the industry and told iGB earlier this year that she frequently receives messages from women struggling to get a foot in the door. Having just returned to work after the birth of her son last year, she says her biggest challenge at present is finding the balance between career and family life.“ I have some work to be done on mastering the implementation as I tend to work around the clock and feel I need to change that,” she adds. Despite needing to find a balance, Pelc is passionate about casino products and the process of bringing them to market. Her advice to women that want to do the same is:“ Be confident and dedicated to your dreams and ambitions. Yes, you might have to learn how to communicate with diverse personalities and cultures to be well understood but don’ t get held back from giving an opinion not to ruffle any feathers”.
iGamingBusiness | Issue 111 | July / August 2018 77