Casinos have no shortage of buzzwords flying across their desks these days — “AI,” “automation,” “predictive modeling,” “digital transformation.” But operators know the real truth: None of it matters if your underlying processes are a mess.
And if you’ve been in this industry longer than five minutes, you also know this:
We’re sitting on rework, bottlenecks, bad data, siloed departments, legacy systems, and untapped revenue big enough to fund a half-dozen new slot banks.
That’s why Raving partners Jeff Gray (Lean/Business Optimization) and Jonathan Cocek (AI & Technology), together with Raving CEO Deana Scott, are building a new kind of operational efficiency and AI audit — one that actually reflects the way casinos function in real life.
Their core message to the gaming industry? AI is powerful — but only if you clean up your foundation first.
Why casinos can’t “AI” their way out of broken processes
Jeff has spent decades inside global operations — Adidas’ supply chain, major U.S. resort organizations, and tribal enterprises looking to improve customer experience and profitability. He’s walked enough back-of-house hallways to know the truth: Casinos leave an unbelievable amount of money on the floor simply because no one has mapped their processes.
He puts it plainly: “If your data is bad or your process is broken, AI just makes the mess bigger — faster.”
Jeff shared a simple, real example from a casino client: A basic maintenance-and-staging project — literally just reorganizing workflow and movement — reduced wasted motion by about 40 percent.
Forty percent. No software. No shiny dashboard. No vendor contract.
The data problem casinos don’t want to talk about
Jonathan has been building analytical systems and predictive models for nearly 20 years — for Hilton, Marriott, McDonald’s, SeaWorld, Allegiant Airlines, Affinity Gaming, Truckee Casinos, and large tech firms like MongoDB, Dell, Microsoft, and others.
When he evaluates casino tech, he looks for one thing first: “Is your house in order?”
Casinos often have ten versions of the same document. AI will surely hallucinate if it doesn’t know the source of truth.
Even basic marketing operations are feeling the strain. Jonathan shared a conversation with a Las Vegas gaming CIO: “It took three months just to enrich the customer file for a single marketing project. AI can speed that up — but not if your infrastructure can’t support it.”
Lean first, AI second — the combo casinos have been missing
Jeff recently experimented with a colleague’s AI tool after completing a discovery project. The tool produced a few interesting ideas — but that was it.
It couldn’t visualize the process or tie the metrics together — a reminder that AI doesn’t replace walking the floor and understanding the work.
What an AI efficiency audit looks like
Deana is pushing this hybrid model because casinos need a structured way to prioritize AI opportunities.
“Everyone wants AI, but very few have a plan. A combined efficiency and AI audit tells you where the biggest opportunities are — and which ones actually pay off.”
Jonathan breaks the audit process into steps operators can understand:
1. Score everything by value and risk
Is this a million-dollar gain or a three-month distraction?
2. Validate the data
If your data has gaps and inconsistent departmental metadata, you’ll hit the wrong target.
3. Evaluate systems and integration
Some casino technology already has embedded AI.
Some absolutely don’t.
Some need middleware, so data can be collated and can talk to each other
4. Determine the insight you actually want
Don’t buy a Ferrari when you need a forklift.
5. Build governance
Who gets access?
What’s transparent?
Does it align with your values?
The Bottom line: AI is here — but success depends on the prep work
Casinos don’t need more hype. They need accuracy. Foundation. Clean systems. Real processes.
Give AI a clean, well-measured operation, and it becomes one of the most powerful tools the industry has ever had.
Give it chaos, and it will amplify the chaos.
That’s why Raving’s combined Operational Efficiency + AI Audit is built specifically for gaming — from data to front-line processes, to customer journey, to revenue protection, to operational bottlenecks.
If you want to explore what this looks like for your property, the Raving team is ready.
