Kyle Wiltshire on iGaming Growth, Canada’s Market Revival

_{Kyle Wiltshire, CEO of Testa, is a self-described serial entrepreneur. (Image: Alan Evans/Casinos.com)}

Kyle Wiltshire describes himself as a serial entrepreneur with a focus on product development and infrastructure. He is the CEO and co-founder of TESTA and runs another company, JigenTec.

TESTA provides quality assurance and user experience testing services to help online casinos optimize performance. TESTA is a crowd-testing service built specifically for the iGaming industry. It gives iGaming businesses visibility into what's happening on the ground in the markets where they operate. Its mission is to increase product quality in the iGaming sector.

JigenTec is a team of technical experts that optimise software for emerging markets. The company focuses on speed, uptime, regulatory compliance and product localisation.

Wiltshire is also an angel investor and mentor to Canadian companies. He focuses on internet- and software-based verticals, like SaaS, e-commerce, and marketplaces.

Casinos.com spoke to Wiltshire shortly after he took part in a panel debate titled 'Who’s Winning, Who’s Losing, and Who’s Getting Screwed in Global Markets?’

It was a lively, open panel discussion that included Dinos Stranomitis, who named Germany the biggest loser. Panellists suggested that governments might be the real winners. 

Why Industry Events Like Next.io Are Key to Shaping the Future of iGaming

Alan: "I'm with Kyle Wiltshire, founder of TESTA. Kyle, why did you decide to come to Next.io? What is it specifically about this event and speaking on that panel that attracted you?"

Kyle: "Next.io is, I think, becoming a real thought leader in the industry. I see a lot of content on it.

"Next.io has taught me a lot about the different pockets and regions of the industry I'm not familiar with, so I think being here is a great opportunity to kind of flex your stuff and be able to say something important to the larger industry and community as a whole."

Alan: "Just give me a brief tour of the journey you’ve taken from a young man coming into this industry to where you are today. How did it all happen?"

Kyle: "I'm from Canada. I signed up with an operator that took me to the other side of the country and eventually over to Asia. I spent about seven years there and moved back to Canada, but my team is still in Asia.

"I know the Asian markets well, but with Next.io, I’ve learned a lot about what's happening in Europe or in the U.S. as we're now a global company. We test globally, so it's helpful to keep up to date on market trends and understand what’s going on in the space."

The Role of AI in Quality Assurance and Market Expansion

Alan: "Are you optimistic about the future of the industry? We're hearing a lot about regulations and the strength of restrictions on companies."

Kyle: "It ebbs and flows, but I’m never that worried because the industry as a whole, I believe, continues to grow. Parts are hard to measure. In the regulated markets, you've got the pressure of governments and things shift a little, but the grey markets continue to grow. We test all over the place.

"We're not just focused on the regulated markets. From my perspective, I see growth almost everywhere. AI, obviously, is the big one on the table."

Alan: "AI is coming to the fore now. How much dependence are you placing on that, and how much are you embracing it as a company?"

Kyle: "We're kind of an anti-AI company in a way because we have real people all over the globe and we rely on insights from actual ground-level experience—real people using gambling apps and products, all the little bits that make them work.

"Where AI has been extremely helpful for us is in making our work more efficient; we’re a small company that can do more thanks to the power of assembling information and accelerating workflows. That’s where we leverage AI, and that’s how we see it helping us.

"Our core value is having real people on the ground who help get things done. So, in terms of deploying AI in our company, it's like many businesses—everyone will be an AI company to some degree—but as far as what we offer to the market, it doesn’t change much."

Canada’s Gambling Future

Alan: "Canada may really open up in years to come. Is that something you’re looking forward to—maybe going home and taking all that experience to Canada?"

Kyle: "Absolutely. The Ontario market is quite large.

"It’s been growing for a while. I’m currently in British Columbia, but our neighbours in Alberta are about to implement regulations soon. I think Saskatchewan and maybe Manitoba are considering it, but I guess B.C. will be one of the last provinces to do it.

"It’ll be interesting to see the progression and how our country embraces it. I hope they do, because there’s tax revenue to be made. 

“There are government monopolies now, but I think if you open it up to a market, you get better results. I look forward to seeing that transition."

From Tech Enthusiast to Industry Leader: Kyle Wiltshire’s Personal Journey

Alan: "As a young man in school, or just living where you were in Canada, could you have envisioned yourself in this position today? Was that a goal you had set for yourself?

Kyle: "No, I just took opportunities as they came. You come to interesting forks in the road, that’s what led me into the industry. My initial attraction was as a tech person. A lot of businesses use tech just as a cost centre. But when I first worked for a gambling operator, I said, 'Wow, this is a company that exists purely online.'

"The whole product is online. They're moving more money around than most banks. I found that fascinating—the level of tech they had deployed was amazing.

"One thing led to another. I can’t say it was all part of a master plan. Those forks in the road happened—and here we are."