Elantil co-founder and chief information officer Shaun Tabone explains how the company’s Real-Time Data product has been built in a very different way from its competitors
Can you tell us about your Real-Time Data product pillar? What exactly does it entail?
When we began building Elantil, we looked at how traditional data platforms, like data warehouses, had failed us in the past. Not only were they slow, cumbersome, and heavily dependent on complex scheduled tasks (ETLs), but even more importantly, KPIs and metrics were often scattered, defined at the level of the report itself, and far from actionable in real time. So, with these key pain points in mind, we took it upon ourselves to build one of our own.
We realised that the real purpose of a data platform is to close the feedback loop between raw data and customer or operational action. In practice, it’s less about “reports” and more about creating an engine that continuously turns data into meaningful KPIs, then immediately converts these into actions. As such, we flipped the model on its head so that rather than starting with reports, the data comes in first, the KPIs and metrics are instantly computed and those KPIs are then transmitted in real time to any system or team that requires them.
In other words, we see the data platform as an extended gamification engine. Data flows in, insights are computed, and immediate action can be triggered. That’s the foundation of our Real-Time Data pillar.
As one of Elantil’s four pillars, how important is this product for you?
It’s fundamental. Real-Time Data underpins both customer experience and operational decision-making. Without it, you can’t automate effectively or deliver the kind of responsive experience that modern players expect.
How does this data platform differ from others in the market?
Most data platforms claim to be real time but in reality, they’re only near-real time at best. Ours, however, is truly real time: every single event is pushed into the platform, KPIs are recalculated instantly, and results are available immediately.
On top of that, our platform is Kubernetes-native (software that scales itself) and horizontally scalable as well. That means as your Kubernetes cluster grows, so does your data platform, all of that seamlessly. Those real-time KPIs can then be consumed by CRM systems, workflow tools, or our proprietary workflow engine (which also happens to be Kubernetes-native and scalable too!) This makes the whole ecosystem faster, lighter, and more efficient.
How useful is this product for operators? Can suppliers also benefit?
Absolutely. Operators benefit because they can make smarter, faster decisions without having to make heavy system calls. For example, instead of waiting for a batch process to tell you how much a player has deposited in their lifetime, our system instantly emits that KPI, before and after the change, along with all other relevant player properties.
This gives operators the possibility of doing some very cool things in real time. For example, they could set it up so that when a player from a specific country crosses €200 in lifetime deposits, they immediately receive free spins. In such an instance, the system sends the complete information needed to act, without any lag or the need for additional processing.
Suppliers also love this, as because KPIs like lifetime deposits or wagers are streamed in real time, their CRM or bonus engines don’t need to handle complex lookups across multiple systems. They just react instantly, making their systems lighter, faster, and more responsive.
How can Real-Time Data improve operators’ marketing strategies?
Modern players, especially younger generations, expect marketing that’s instant and responsive. Waiting five minutes, an hour, or worse, until the next day, just no longer cuts it.
Cashback, segmentation, recommendations, they all need to happen in the moment. Customer retention depends on making the right decision at the precise second where it will have the greatest emotional impact. Our platform gives operators this ability to act instantly, so players immediately feel the benefit of the promotion or message. Having that recognition in real time is a key part of strengthening both customer engagement and loyalty.
What sort of personalised experiences can this platform provide?
The possibilities are virtually endless. Our philosophy has always been to give operators freedom, so our job is simply to provide the enabling technology, while they shape their own interpretation of what a great player experience should look like.
We’re also building an “Experience Centre” that will showcase how our technology can be used for personalised campaigns, recommendations, and customer communications, powered by our workflow engine, and even today, clients are already creating powerful, real-time experiences on top of our platform. Some of the more creative examples we’ve seen include real-time cashback engines, instant welcome and retention offers that are triggered by player behaviour and loyalty systems that can update points and rewards automatically as they play.
In short, our Real-Time Data pillar is the foundation. What operators build on top of it, be it loyalty, retention, or entirely new engagement models, is limited only by their imagination.