GMB - First of all, let’s talk about your extensive career in the gaming
sector.
Sebastian Salat - I started a little more than thirty years ago in the
gaming industry, at CIRSA, designing its first gaming machines for casinos. The
company believed in me and I was in charge of their casino product line for
almost fifteen years. We had a great success and got a significant presence
around the world. In 2000 I was hired by the US company WMS, a leading
manufacturer of casino and video lotteries machines, to head the international
expansion of the company. At that time WMS had no business outside the United
States and Canada. For fifteen years I was the President of WMS International
and a member of its Executive Committee, and with my team we were able to make
WMS a recognized brand in all continents. When I left WMS in 2015, I was considering
whether I would prefer to work in an advisory role or assume executive
responsibilities again, until Johnny Ortiz offered me to join in the exciting
project of making Zitro a global leader in the industry from the position of
CEO. And here I am, since a year ago, happy and committed to helping Zitro
achieve this goal.
GMB – And which are your most important
projects in this new role?
The nature of my job at Zitro is the same as in previous works. I continue
searching for a differentiated and competitive commercial offer, the creation
and management of professional teams, and, starting from these two components,
the expansion of the company to new markets, looking for a diversification of
the business that helps to reduce the vulnerability of the company, and
increase its market share and profitability. In addition, having worked for
operating companies, for manufacturing companies, and in product lines as
diverse as video slot machines, AWP machines, video lotteries, systems, telematics
casinos and social gaming, has given me the opportunity to get a wide experience
in the game industry that, now, I can put to the service of Zitro.
GMB - In which markets did you act most?
Throughout my professional career, I have dedicated myself to the
international expansion of the business I was leading. It has been many years
in which I´ve had the privilege to act in practically all the markets where
gaming is regulated. I’ve had direct responsibilities in the creation of
business in diverse markets as the European, Asian, South African, Australian
or Latin American. And indirectly, as a member of the WMS Executive Committee,
I have also acted in markets as important as US one. However, I have always had
a special focus and affection for the Latin American market, not only because
of my cultural affinity, but also because of the enormous business potential
that exists in this part of the world.
GMB - What was it like to be named CEO
of Zitro, a new company, but with excellent expertise in technological
solutions and much knowledge of the Brazilian market?
Being CEO of Zitro is a real honor, and working with Johnny Ortiz is a real
privilege. Helping Zitro to grow is a fascinating challenge, and you can
already see the first results. In just a few months we have gone from being the
leader in the video bingo market to being a diversified supplier, with other
product lines such as Bryke video slots or bingo hall systems BET, and that has
been done keeping our leadership in video bingo. We have also diversified our
business from the geographical point of view, increasing our presence in
Europe, Latin America and Asia. I believe that in the last twelve months we
have been able to gather enough evidence to confirm our commitment to achieving
our goal: to make Zitro a global leader in the gaming industry.
GMB - When you arrived to Zitro, did you
think that bingo machines would have the acceptance they have today?
Difficulties force us to be better, and that was exactly what happened with
Zitro when the Brazilian market closed. Zitro had to innovate in product and to
see how they could develop markets that did not exist at that moment to try to
repeat the success of the video bingo in Brazil. And that’s how the Mexican
market was born, and also the Spanish bingo market, which gave a tremendous
boost to the bingo business in the country.
But Zitro did not limit itself to offering in these new markets for video bingo
products similar to those offered in Brazil, but enriched the bingo video with
more fun content games, new platforms, progressive prize systems, new
functionalities and promotional systems . With all this Zitro has made video
bingo a new category of gaming that today has great acceptance in any casino in
the world.
GMB - How was the Brazilian market in
the 1990s and 2000? Do you consider it was an atractive market?
Brazil was an excellent market, a huge engine for the global gaming
industry that also resulted in the birth of video bingo as a gaming category
and in the genesis of new companies, such as Zitro, that today compete on a
global scale.
GMB – What do you think about the
discussions in the Brazilian National Congress to approve a law for the gaming
sector?
I am not the one to value those discussions. It is surely necessary to
place them in the Brazilian idiosyncrasy and in the particular political
situation that the country is going through. From the highest respect, I can
only ask congressmen to do what they can to regulate as soon as possible an
industry that has repeatedly proved to be an engine of technological
innovation, job creation, and economic growth.
GMB -
Do you think Brazil will have a gaming law in the first half of 2017?
I hope we have it as soon as possible. Brazil needs
this law as much as the industry wants it.
