Can You Trust a Machine with Your Data? Featuring Lior Gross, Director of Software Development at Caliente

04-10-2023 • 32 mins

Today, host Tom Butta talks to Lior Gross, Director of Software Development at Caliente Interactive, also known as “Caliplay.” Caliplay is a leader in the regulated Mexican online casino and sports betting market with a focus on marketing and user experience. While you cannot download their mobile app quite yet, they’re the number one free sports app on the market in Mexico.

Lior shares his experience as the first technical hire in the door when Caliente decided to pursue a joint venture with the organization, Playtech, and what he’s prioritized as he’s grown his team since. Tom learns how a natural collaboration between teams at Caliente has translated into a better overall customer experience and plugged up any knowledge gaps that may have existed in the past.

Later on in the conversation, Tom and Lior discuss where they think AI might help or hinder mobile experiences for both consumers and brands. Lior shares where Caliente is looking to employ AI versus advanced algorithms, why there might need to be less data collected in the future, and how that data will probably be safer in the hands of a computer.

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Guest Bio

Lior Gross is a CTO & Director of Software Development with 10 years’ experience in web and app development and a strong background in the gaming industry. He has been with Caliente Interactive since 2014, and leads the daily operations of the Software Development Department, which he established from scratch.

His expertise is translating business strategy into tech solutions, achievable plans, and measurable outcomes. He has successfully directed countless software-based technological projects, including multimillion-dollar programs for leading multinational companies. He has managed over 70 gaming apps on Apple Appstore and Google Play with 30M+ users worldwide - and regularly prevented and solved issues for hi-loaded applications. In addition, he has directed technical accounts for high-profile, tier-one company partners including Fox Sport (Mexico), ESPN (Global), Facebook, Google, and BBVA Bank.

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Guest Quote

“So who do you trust more with your data? A machine or a person? To be honest, I trust the machine more because I think it has nothing to gain from my data. And if you have AI to comb through all this data, and find the data points you need to collect, I think AI can improve it and maybe even collect less data than is collected today.” – Lior Gross

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Time Stamps

*(01:15) Lior's Background

*(03:35) What is Caliente?

*(05:16) Why is cross-functionality something you should pursue?

*(07:44) The benefits of working together

*(08:56) Plugging up gaps between departments from Day 1

*(12:18) How AI will change the App Landscape

*(16:03) Will users need to give up more data for AI?

*(19:17) Is Web going to go away anytime soon?

*(22:14) When to make a "Super App"

*(24:49) Trends Lior sees on the horizon