James King lands CEO role at Robin Reed-founded SaaS start-up

Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) former director of sales James King has started in his new role as chief executive of igaming software as a service (SaaS) start-up Flows. Flows was founded by former GiG CEO Robin Reed, who approached King earlier this year to manage the business. He accepted that offer and started officially on 2 August following almost three years at GiG. Flows is being built to ingest data from partners to then allow them to customise the flow that data takes before presenting the results in any selected format, be it to the front-end, via Slack message or any other API. The concept of the company is to “democratise innovation” and “empower the workforce” by allowing partners to reach their desired tech goals, only without placing a major burden on a firm’s in-house tech or IT teams. Flows is registered in the UK where a future commercial office will likely be based but the bulk of the tech and product work will be done from Malta. The platform will allow operators to write their own flows to drive more value to their business without relying entirely on third parties. For example, a partnering operator could write a flow so that every time a player logs in and the flow is triggered, it could look up their location and check that location against a weather API. Then the player could be presented with free spins specifically related to the weather in their area. If it is raining, they could receive a sunny slot free spin. The product could also have responsible gambling uses, from automated look ups and local regulation checks to geo-location blocks and flows to identify potential problem gamblers, helping to automate their protection. King, who has been tasked with assembling his own commercial team, said Flows has the potential to reduce lengthy integrations from months to weeks, days and eventually hours, allowing for a truly agnostic industry. The former Clarion Gaming sales director said: “Many people within your organisation need access to data, digital capabilities and resources, and increasingly, they need to build without the direct help of IT. “In the wake of Covid-19, where everyone is working remotely, the notion that everybody in your company needs more access to digital capabilities has become urgent. “We want to deliver API-led connectivity that liberates resources, allowing our partners to innovate and to move quickly. “I believe that the killer of innovation is not legacy systems but legacy mindset. We want to drive that change in mindset across this great industry. “Our aim is to give everyone the agnostic building blocks to drive innovation quickly and at scale,” he added. Flows is currently in pre-sale mode. The functionality is up and running but the UX is still being developed, while a brand image could be released by the end of August. The costs associated with its SaaS model will be based on usage rather than fixed fees. To date, Flows has onboarded two operator brands (on separate licenses) with a third in the pipeline. Elsewhere, GiG director of business development Martin Collins has been appointed as the supplier’s new director of sales and business development. He will take over King’s responsibilities and will head up the sales, business development and marketing team from Malta.