Ian Bradley, the newly appointed co-CEO of FIRST.Bet, has positioned artificial intelligence as the defining force separating future sportsbook platforms from their competitors.
Bradley joined the company in June and now works alongside founder Tom Light, bringing significant executive experience from his previous role at DraftKings.
Despite being with FIRST.Bet for only a matter of weeks, Bradley has already identified AI investment as a central pillar of the company’s development strategy going forward.
He noted that AI’s potential in sports betting extends well beyond the more obvious applications such as modelling, pricing, and risk management.
“AI is changing the whole product lifecycle: how quickly an idea gets to market, how we personalise the experience, and how much operators can extend the platform themselves,” Bradley said.
He stressed that the technology is reshaping not just the speed of product development but also the scope of what can be built in the first place.
“We already have a dedicated AI team accelerating delivery and building tools internally,” he said, adding that FIRST.Bet also supports partners in building their own products on top of its SportOS API.
Bradley was equally focused on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, describing it as the biggest test any sportsbook platform can face, particularly given FIRST.Bet’s strong presence across Latin America.
“For a sportsbook business, the World Cup is the moment everything is judged on,” he said, explaining that the tournament brings millions of casual bettors in alongside regular players and lands right in the company’s core markets.
He argued that success during the tournament would not simply be measured by uptime but by an operator’s ability to convert a surge in activity into lasting customer growth.
“The World Cup is both a proving ground and an acquisition moment,” he said. “Get it right, and operators feel the benefit for the rest of the year.”
Before joining FIRST.Bet, Bradley spent more than six years at DraftKings as senior vice president and managing director of its B2B segment, serving a non-compete period before making the switch.
He said the move was driven by a desire to shape an entire business rather than focus solely on a single product area as he had done previously.
“What I wanted next was the chance to shape a whole business across product, technology, trading, and commercial,” Bradley said, describing the opportunity at FIRST.Bet as exactly that.
