Survey of 70 VIP professionals reveals an industry managing hundreds of its highest-value players through spreadsheets, fragmented systems and manual decisions, while nearly half see VIPs go inactive without warning.
The Playa, together with Gaming Operations Academy and WarriorLab, has released The State of VIP Operations, a new study examining how iGaming companies actually manage their highest-value players.
Based on responses from 70 qualified VIP professionals – 64% of them working directly for operators – the study maps the systems, processes and daily realities behind VIP management in 2026. Respondents included VIP account managers, team leads, heads of VIP across operators, managed-service providers, and consultancies.
“VIP operations is the most human function in iGaming, run by the smallest teams, on the least purpose-built technology, against the shortest-horizon metrics,” said Viktoriia Grygorenko, CEO at The Playa. “The findings show that VIP Account Managers are asking for a clearer signal on who needs attention, what has changed and where their judgement can have the greatest impact.”
The report highlights several key findings:
Large portfolios make personalisation difficult. 68% of managers host 100 or more assigned VIP players, and one in five hosts more than 500. A manager with 250 players has roughly 100 seconds per player, per day, before reporting, escalations, and coordination take their share.
Without automation, players slip away unnoticed. At this scale, silent churn becomes a major blind spot: 46% of respondents say VIP players go inactive without advance warning often or very often, and 48% report having no indication of a player’s behavioural signals or overall health.
VIP operations remain highly manual. No respondent identified an AI or automation tool as their primary system for managing a VIP portfolio. Spreadsheets and business intelligence tools were the most common primary systems, each used by 30% of respondents, followed by CRM platforms at 25%.
Together, these findings point towards a new model of VIP operations: one in which technology handles data assembly and prioritisation, while VIP Account Managers remain responsible for the human relationship, communication and final decision-making.
Gali Hartuv, co-founder & CEO of WarriorLab, added: “The challenge is not that VIP professionals lack experience. It is that the operational environment makes it difficult to apply that experience consistently across large portfolios. Better prioritisation can help teams preserve the human element while reducing the manual work surrounding it.”
The findings carry particular relevance for Africa, an increasingly important region for the global iGaming industry. Nearly a third of the professionals surveyed (31%) manage VIP players in African markets, often as part of multi-region portfolios that apply several regulatory and cultural playbooks at once. As operators scale VIP programmes across the continent, the report’s central question – how to give the highest-value players consistent attention without a purpose-built system – applies directly.
The State of VIP Operations is available to download now here.
About the report
The State of VIP Operations is based on an online quantitative survey of 70 iGaming professionals working directly in VIP operations (64% of them working directly for operators). Respondents included professionals from operators, managed-service providers, and consultancies. Individual questions received between 52 and 70 valid responses. Respondents managed VIP players across multiple regions, including Europe, North America, and Africa; 31% covered African markets.
The Playa provides AI-powered personalisation solutions for iGaming operators and platform providers. Its orchestrated suite of ML technologies – spanning machine learning, neural networks, and LLMs – turns player behavioural data into personalised experiences across the full player lifecycle.
WarriorLab is a VIP and retention consultancy working with iGaming operators on VIP programme design, player management practices and the day-to-day mechanics of high-value customer relationships.
Gaming Operations Academy is a training and professional development partner for the iGaming industry. It works with operators and suppliers on compliance, player safety and operational capability.
