Richard Howarth, Chief Business Officer APAC for global testing laboratory GLI, discusses his career journey and his passion for fast-paced technological development.
Ben Blaschke: Thanks for speaking with IAG, Rich. You’ve been with GLI for around 18 months now. How would you describe the experience?
Richard Howarth: It’s been excellent. As far as the team goes, the quality of thinking both here in Asia-Pacific and also globally has been a great experience but also understanding the scale of GLI and its reach. We cover over 710 jurisdictions operating through 35 offices around the world. It’s been a great experience to be able to bounce ideas off that sort of scale and resource. So yeah, it’s been an excellent experience to date.
BB: You have a diverse background across multiple industries, although more recently you’ve worked with a number of firms in the gambling space including Sportingbet and Star Entertainment Group. What specific skills do you think you bring to the role and how have your past job experiences shaped those skills?
RH: It’s a good question but I always lean back on the very early days of my career at the likes of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s where they really put a significant focus on planning, on category management, on market segmentation and in particular on knowing your customer.
I’ve held those working principles right throughout my career and have brought that to GLI as well. Gaming is a very diverse market across land-based, iGaming, Systems, Regulatory and new technology. It can be a complex market to segment, but segmenting it into categories is part of the skill set that I bring – helping us to understand much more about what a client’s specific needs are. That includes the immediate needs of what we deliver, such as testing, evaluating and certifying product but also: What’s that category going to look like in 12 to 18 months’ time? Where and how are our clients looking to expand? What are their continued and future needs in that category? That’s the sort of skill set and thinking that I bring to GLI.
BB: Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where did you grow up and how has your career journey unfolded?
RH: I grew up in Melbourne. My wife and I came up to Sydney via a work opportunity. It was a great opportunity to work in sales and marketing roles with McDonald’s Australia, and then Coca-Cola South Pacific.
I had completed my undergraduate in Melbourne at Monash University in marketing and also psychology and arts, so the opportunity to work with businesses such as McDonald’s, then Coca-Cola, was fantastic! When I came up to Sydney, I was fortunate enough to be put through an MBA program at UTS (University of Technology Sydney). In terms of how my journey evolved, it’s always been about taking that next challenge, and for me the journey into enterprise software development and commercial sales within the online world came from working for a number of years with Telstra. At Telstra, my role was to commercialize online programs, both from an advertising model and also a subscription model for properties such as afl.com.au, nrl.com and the like.
A number of years in that role then led me to being approached for a role with online sports betting operator Sportingbet Group. Again, this was another exciting opportunity and challenge. The online sports betting market in Australia had become extremely competitive, so it was an incredible challenge to take on as the Director of Sales, Marketing, and Strategy. Given online wagering was going through a massive stage of growth, that was a great opportunity for me – plus it was an exciting mix of Sports and online commerce that was too good to refuse!
I moved into the Sportingbet Group and throughout that time we acquired Centrebet and Tom Waterhouse, and eventually sold the business to William Hill.
BB: Given you’ve stayed within the gaming industry ever since, what is it about this industry that appeals?
RH: Once we sold the Sportingbet Group my journey continued into the land based operator space in Casino (Star Entertainment Group). Then prior to joining GLI, I spent two years with a business called IXUP – now called Dataworks – where I was part of a team that developed BetStop, the national self-exclusion register here in Australia. We worked with ACMA, the federal regulator for online wagering, and from there I had a real interest in that regulatory piece. I presented to a lot of regulators and state governments and so forth during that period, so GLI and areas of regulatory compliance and advisory became really appealing to me as a work proposition. I knew a lot about GLI already and their leadership team, such as Ian Hughes, and
I really wanted to work with them. So, that was an opportunity I took – I’ve been really happy I did so.
As far as what appeals in general in the industry, I really like its speed and innovation. From a technology perspective, as a category, it’s so fast to innovate with product across all sectors and adopt new technologies. With technology, there are constantly evolving products in gaming – always something that really keeps you interested and on your toes. It’s that level of innovation and change that keeps my role exciting and interesting. The people I have met and get to work with daily – be they customers or work colleagues – are partnerships that I value and that make the industry a great place to work in.
BB: What does a typical working day look like for you?
RH: The typical working day for me is making sure that we deliver for our clients on time, on budget and at a high-quality level. Further, to think strategically about our customer business and how we deliver to their specific needs and growth aspirations in the APAC region.
So, a typical day is about how I support our engineering and delivery teams to ensure that they do provide the best possible quality outcomes for our customers. My day is also about developing and understanding the needs of the market and our customers across the ever-evolving Asia-Pacific region. That often means a lot of travel within the APAC region – visiting markets and customers directly in the market jurisdictions they operate in or regulate. GLI is a global business so I am often working with my global colleagues from around the world on varying customer business opportunities or challenges they face. We have many GLI experts working in many countries around the world – there is always a GLI colleague who can help with a user case or solution, or an opinion you may require for a customer. As you well know Ben, Asia and the APAC region is an ever-evolving market and an exciting region to work in. A different and unique challenge will pop up most days which keeps the job interesting on a daily, (often hourly!) basis.
BB: What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned during your time with GLI?
RH: A good question. Again, not so much lessons but I think more an understanding that the strategies and approach I bring, and the values that I adhere to throughout my career, are a great fit with GLI. I talk of attributes such as how GLI conducts business, being trusted, having integrity, being reliable, delivering on what you say you’re going to deliver. They’re all part of the GLI culture, and that’s something that’s been formed in me as I’ve grown throughout my career.
From a specific work perspective, I think GLI – across all of our business functions – we are really good at knowing our customer. That’s about knowing our customers’ current needs and their future business needs. It’s also about understanding the particular nuances and approaches of our customers and how our customers work as people, as well as their unique styles as companies.
In the end, it’s how we interact and work with people that can truly drive positive and mutually effective business outcomes for GLI and our customers.
BB: You obviously travel quite extensively in your role. Do you have a favorite destination, be it for work or pleasure?
RH: If it is with my work hat on, you can’t go past Las Vegas.
I really enjoy visiting Las Vegas and Macau. They both have world class operations and exciting integrated resorts.
I also really enjoy visiting the different market regions and countries within APAC. I feel super lucky to work with GLI in the APAC region. There are so many different countries and variations in cultures to visit – and so many great people to work with. One week I may be in New Zealand, the next in Manila, Macau, Thailand, Singapore or Vietnam – and the list goes on. There is so much variety and it keeps my work interesting, varied and challenging.
I also had the chance to visit ICE in Barcelona this year. Notably, many APAC customers of mine were also in attendance which was great to see. Barcelona has always been a favorite city of mine, as has Spain been a favorite country whether that’s for a holiday or for business. Barcelona allows the best of both worlds where you work and also enjoy some good times socializing with industry colleagues. If we’re talking a holiday, Italy, Greece, Spain are the “go-to” destinations.
BB: Finally Richard, what do you like to do outside of work to relax?
RH: I’m a passionate AFL follower, as you may know. Unfortunately, I follow the [Melbourne] Demons who are off to a poor start again for 2025! I love watching AFL, whether it’s a live game or watching on the TV with mates. I also regularly surf, run and read and follow most sports including a passion for horse racing. For me, it’s a bit of both worlds – being a couch potato and watching live sport – as well as getting out there trying to at least attempt to stay fit with a bit of running and surfing.
