ComeOn Group’s chief product and operating officer Daniela Vella has outlined the company’s approach to AI adoption, stressing that efficiency gains alone do not define a successful strategy.
Vella, who has been with the group for 14 years, says she has witnessed a clear evolution in how technology is embraced across the organisation.
The company has introduced automations that have since become industry standard, including instant player withdrawals, and later launched pay and play with its Malta-regulated brands.
ComeOn views AI in the same way it has approached previous innovations, treating it as a core part of operations and daily workflows rather than a peripheral tool.
Teams across the organisation are encouraged to use AI, spanning technology, development, design, customer support, and compliance functions.
ComeOn owns its entire platform, including front end, back end, core components, wallet systems, and sportsbook, giving it the flexibility to integrate AI according to its own roadmap.
An AI Council was established with representatives from technology, data science, compliance, and other departments to avoid silos and ensure consistent governance across the organisation.
The company introduced AI into customer support as far back as 2020 with a chatbot, and more than 80% of its teams now use Gemini regularly, averaging around four times per week.
When the company upgraded from a scripted bot to a generative AI model, customer satisfaction and engagement increased, and fewer players needed to escalate to a human agent.
One of the most striking examples of AI’s impact has been in creative production, where campaign assets that previously took two months to produce can now be completed within a week.
Vella was clear that AI has not replaced the creativity of designers, saying “they are still very much in charge of the creative direction that we take” and that AI simply accelerates execution and iteration.
On the question of productivity, Vella acknowledged that outputs still require careful validation, particularly anything that influences business decisions, with data science teams checking models for errors or hallucinations.
She noted that AI has significantly improved the documentation process, describing how preparing records for released features “used to be a tedious, time-consuming task” that consumed hours of team time.
AI is listed as one of ComeOn’s four main objectives for 2026, measured through a company-wide OKR programme alongside metrics tracked by the AI expert council.
Vella identified the volume of available tools as the biggest barrier to scaling, noting that without clear governance and a roadmap, adopting new tools can become costly without delivering real value.
The company does not aim for full automation at any stage of the player journey, with Vella stating that the overarching principle is always to maintain human oversight.
Looking ahead, ComeOn expects to integrate more AI agents into areas such as CRM, content creation, payments, and operations over the next 12 months.
Vella described a broader industry shift, saying the conversation is moving from whether companies use AI to how effectively they use it, and that ComeOn is well positioned to take advantage of this change.
On a personal level, Vella said AI now allows her to visualise and build ideas that previously required relying on others, thanks to the emergence of new coding and development tools.
She closed by emphasising that people remain central to the company’s strategy, describing AI as “the engine that powers the drive, rather than the driver itself.”
