MEP David Casa Calls on Gambling Operators to Invest in Staff Before AI Job Cuts

Maltese MEP David Casa has urged gambling operators to invest in their workforces before turning to artificial intelligence to cut costs. He warned that reports of gaming workers losing jobs to AI deserve attention. Casa made the comments in a keynote at the SiGMA World conference in Rome on Wednesday and in a follow-up interview with iGaming Business.

Casa, Malta’s longest-serving member of the European Parliament, said Europe should embrace AI’s potential to save time, detect fraud and help staff do their jobs better. But the human cost of automation cannot be ignored.

“Behind each job, there is a person, a family, a rent payment and a plan for the future,” he said. “My appeal to you is to invest in the people who helped build your success.”

He asked operators to examine how professional roles might change instead of being cut and to offer training before losing skilled workers. Experienced staff bring judgment that technology cannot replace.

“A tool may help you work faster, but an experienced team knows when something has gone wrong, when a player needs help and when a decision needs a human choice and a human voice,” he said. Training should be built into company plans from the start, with time and money set aside.

Pressures Driving AI-Related Job Cuts

Casa’s remarks arrive as the sector contends with layoffs. Last month Flutter announced it would cut up to 1,400 roles across its UK&I division, citing the UK’s sharp rise in remote gambling taxes. BDO corporate finance director Ollie Woodward told iGaming Business that automating roles with AI could have contributed, with operators deploying the technology across coding, customer support and CRM.

Gambling.com Group announced an AI-led restructuring to cut its workforce by 25% and save $13m a year, equating to about 150 employees. Incoming CEO Kevin McCrystle said 80% of the company’s new code is generated by AI. Former FanDuel employees told Front Office Sports that AI adoption was among factors in cuts at the operator. In Malta, a former iGaming designer told Times of Malta they lost their job after helping train an AI system that managers believed could replace around half their team.

A December 2025 Resume.org survey of 1,000 US hiring managers found 59% emphasise AI when explaining layoffs because it plays better with stakeholders, while only 9% said AI had fully replaced roles. GamingMalta disputes reports of widespread AI-driven layoffs, saying talent is being redeployed.

Where the Risk Lies for Operators

Casa called for more common ground across Europe’s fragmented gambling markets, with strong shared standards to improve player protection. He restated opposition to a proposed EU-level gambling tax, saying it could drive investment away, put jobs at risk and make illegal sites more attractive. Operators face the concrete risk that rapid AI adoption without parallel training programs will erode institutional knowledge and expose gaps in areas requiring human judgment. The survey data underscores how AI often serves as a convenient explanation rather than the sole driver, suggesting firms should measure true displacement before scaling deployments further.