“In the 18 years that GGB has been producing “25 People to Watch” in its January issue, there rarely has been a collection of individuals more suitable to watch than those for 2020,” states the magazine editors. Nominations for the ‘25 People to Watch’ are made throughout the year and submitted to GGB’s Editorial Advisory Board, who make the final determinations.
Among other executives, this year is listed AGS Vice President and General Manager for Latin America, Drew Pawlak. Here is a summary of Frank Legato’s article published by GGB:
Pawlak joined AGS in 2016 as Vice President and General Manger for Latin America. Since then, the company’s footprint in Mexico is back to more than 9,000 total footprint, with record sales in 2018 contributing to 13% of AGS’ total AEBITDA. The company is now actively seeking out new and upcoming business across South America and the Caribbean. And Pawlak is using that established network of contacts to helm that effort.
“My first time in Latin America was in 1992, and I have been actively working in that region since,” Pawlak says. “I spent a tremendous amount of time in Peru. BMM’s South America headquarters were there, and I worked all the regional shows. It was a fantastic market for BMM and a fantastic market for gaming in general.”
“First, we had to identify what Latin American markets we want to enter and prioritize those,” Pawlak says. “Then we needed to make modifications to the platform and the library to make sure we have a product that complies, and that we believe would perform.” The first AGS games went live in Argentina in November, and Pawlak says Peru is next, slated for the second half of 2020, followed by Chile. AGS is selling directly and working with distributors to place its products in Latin America.
Pawlak says the AGS Mexico team will be responsible for driving the company’s expansion in Central America and the Caribbean—Panama, Dominican Republic, Belize and other growing markets.
Pawlak’s other responsibility is to stay ahead of the introduction of gaming in new jurisdictions. For Latin America, that increasingly means the potentially huge market of Brazil.
“I’ve been entrenched in the Brazilian market for the last 13 years with the old operators and obviously the suppliers, who are clients and friends of mine from BMM,” Pawlak says. “I believe that AGS is in a very good position should Brazil legislate, and I believe that they will.
“We’re ready for Brazil. We’ve got a complete library of games—we currently supply Latin bingo in the Philippines, so our box originates in Brazil. AGS has a ground game, which is going to be the key to success for any international supplier into that region.”
AGS is poised to grow in Latin America and continue its momentum in Mexico, and at the center of that growth will be Drew Pawlak.
Source: Global Gaming Business
