Allwyn has appointed former Playtech executive and Italian regulator Francesco Rodano as its new Group Head of Responsible Gaming, strengthening the lottery-led gaming group’s focus on player protection across its international operations.
Rodano joins Allwyn with around 20 years of experience spanning gambling regulation, public policy, technology and safer gaming. His most recent decade was spent at Playtech, where he held senior roles focused on policy and sustainability before leading the supplier’s global player-protection programme.
He served as Playtech’s chief policy officer for much of his time with the company and later became chief sustainable gambling officer, a position he held from January 2025 until August 2026.
One of Rodano’s major areas of work at Playtech was the rollout of BetBuddy, the company’s AI-powered safer gambling platform. The technology uses behavioural monitoring, predictive analytics and gambling research to identify potentially risky patterns of play and support earlier intervention with customers. Playtech reported that BetBuddy had been integrated with 28 brands across 17 jurisdictions during 2025.
Before joining the private sector, Rodano spent almost a decade as Director of Remote Gaming at Italy’s Agenzia Dogane e Monopoli. During that period, he helped establish Italy’s national regulatory framework for online gambling and worked with regulators in other jurisdictions. He was also involved with a European Union expert group focused on gambling regulation.
Allwyn said the appointment supports its strategy of making responsible gaming and player protection central to the company’s continued expansion. Its existing businesses have achieved Level 4 certification under the World Lottery Association responsible gaming framework, the highest accreditation available under that system.
Chief executive Robert Chvátal said Rodano’s regulatory, policy and technology experience fits Allwyn’s aim of embedding player safety and integrity throughout its products and markets. Rodano will be able to draw on the group’s presence across multiple jurisdictions to share responsible gaming practices between its operations.
His arrival comes during a wider period of senior management changes at Allwyn. Phil Walker became interim CEO of Allwyn UK on 7 September, while Khalid Reede Jones was appointed CEO of Allwyn North America earlier this year.