Emerging Leaders

Vishal Patel earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York in 2004. His first job was one state down for an entry-level position with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement in 2005.

“It was the best career opportunity for me at the time based on the education and technical experience required for the position, as well as the scope and responsibilities associated with the work,” says Patel, a Malaysian native who moved to the U.S. at age 18.

As an entry-level engineer, Patel developed broad experience testing slot machines and associated products to meet the rules and technical standards established by the state.

It’s now 2022, and Patel still works for the agency as engineering manager for the Technical Services Bureau, where he oversees the engineering, math and field inspections units.

“I am fortunate to work with a great group of caring and talented individuals within the division and the industry,” he says. The success of high-profile projects such as the launch of internet gaming and sports wagering, new casino openings, and major casino IT upgrades relies on the collaborative efforts of such colleagues, which contributes to overall job satisfaction, he says.

“Each day brings new challenges and opportunities for further growth, which is an important reason why I’ve remained with the division.”

As manager, Patel ensures that new products and new technologies meet the established standards and are completed in a timely manner to meet launch dates. These efforts ran into something of a brick wall when Covid-19 struck in early 2020.

“Covid-19 required us to quickly transition to remote work, and fortunately we had great success in maintaining productivity with the evaluation of engineering submissions, especially all products related to internet gaming and other investigative functions,” Patel says.

The transition also accelerated the need to update internal procedures from paper checklists and physical files to electronic ones, which is now standard practice, says Patel, who enjoys traveling with his family and hopes to take them to Malaysia in the not-too-distant future.

Looking ahead, Patel still sees plenty of work to do with online gaming, and sportsbook operators adding innovations to improve offerings and patron experience. What’s more, brick-and-mortar casinos upgrade to the latest casino systems capable of offering additional features such as cashless wagering and sophisticated promotional campaigns. His job goes beyond simply seeing that the games work as promised within the state’s regulations.

“My role, along with other regulators and industry partners in the coming years, is to guarantee that the technologies that are being leveraged to make gaming easily accessible and more userfriendly for patrons are also implementing more sophisticated responsible gaming, fraud detection, and cyber security controls,” Patel says. “We are always learning and updating our skill set in the evergrowing field of business intelligence and data analytics to ensure that we achieve the strongest patron protection controls.”

The DGE has already begun taking the necessary steps by recently mandating new best practices in cybersecurity with similar best practices in responsible gaming to follow by the end of this year.

Sounds like the DGE and counterparts in other states will require new engineers well into the future. “The best advice that I can offer is to not be complacent,” Patel says.

“It is easy to get comfortable with a routine set of assignments which can limit opportunities for future growth and advancement. The gaming industry is multi-faceted with a diverse need for experienced and knowledgeable individuals. It is important to take on additional responsibilities when available and to proactively pursue more challenging assignments or projects.”

—Bill Sokolic

Colin Mansfield’s involvement in the gaming industry began in a somewhat unintended manner. In the early years, Mansfield was working for a financial data firm and his coverage happened to include a few public large-cap U.S. gaming corporations, along with insurance companies and small-cap banks. After receiving his chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation, Mansfield joined the U.S. Corporates team at Fitch Ratings, where he started covering the gaming industry specifically. Up until that point, he was more focused on equity, and Fitch marked his first step into the credit markets.

Nevertheless, focusing on gaming and helping cover Caesars Entertainment during a turbulent time “integrated” him to the industry—he is fascinated by high capital intensity for massive integrated resort developments, prominent jurisdictions and markets, theories on maximizing slot and table game revenues, and the industry personalities.

As Mansfield began covering the sector more in earnest, he soon realized that he would continue to be involved in the gaming industry because of the enthusiasm. As Fitch continued to grow, Mansfield and his team built out their leisure coverage that now ranges from cruise and theme parks to fitness centers and recreational products. Today, they cover more than 60 companies across the gaming, lodging and leisure sectors.

Mansfield’s passion and perseverance guided him through a zigzag path. Prior to becoming a gaming credit analyst, Mansfield bounced between a few sales jobs (including being a stockbroker) and tried to break into sell-side equity research right after the financial crisis. Hard work in the early part of his 20s, including getting the CFA designation and building up a comprehensive skill set, ultimately got well rewarded.

“Joining Fitch presented me with amazing longterm career opportunities,” says Mansfield, advising young professionals that “opportunities present themselves in a non-linear fashion—you can’t predict when they’ll cross your path, but building a skill set with the longer-term vision of being prepared is the best way to position yourself for success.”

Mansfield has been doing numerous speaker series via the analyst classes in the Fitch Corporates group and has been sharing his career story within the organization to instill the long-term mentality for career-building. Additionally, he makes sure to carve out time for his younger colleagues, as he highly appreciates the opportunity of having a manager who spent one-on-one time guiding him through the gaming industry and corporate credit analysis.

“Having one-on-one exposure to my manager was key to my development, and I am trying to pay that forward,” says Mansfield.

Looking at the gaming industry tomorrow, Mansfield believes it is becoming more mainstream and less taboo, particularly after the broad legalization of sports betting.

“Gaming is part of everyday conversations now more than ever, and I think that creates opportunity for more young professionals to consider it as a career path,” he says.

Fitch Ratings promotes a lot from within and encourages rotations through groups across different asset classes, risk management, and managerial roles. As Mansfield sees it, his previous mentors’ and managers’ advancements to bigger roles are a strong motivator for those who want to follow similar career paths.

One particular aspect of covering the gaming industry that Mansfield truly adores is the work-related travel.

“My colleagues and I have been fortunate enough to travel all over the world to see the material capital investments made by the companies we cover,” says Mansfield. “Besides traveling overseas, those trips to smaller U.S. markets have been an added benefit since they are usually places I wouldn’t expect to travel to, such as Biloxi, Laughlin, the Catskills and Black Hawk.”

In his spare time, Mansfield is a golfer who also enjoys cooking and history. He is especially interested in the American pre- and early Revolutionary War history and first-half 20th century European history. A recent trip to Normandy and the D-Day beaches touched his heart in a profound way.

—Michael Zhu is a partner with The Innovation Group.

If you grow up in Las Vegas, working in the casino industry in some capacity is bound to cross your mind. For Joseph Marchetti, that thought brought him to Gaming Laboratories International, the leading company which tests technology for regulatory compliance and function.

Armed with a degree in software programming from ITT Tech, Marchetti joined GLI in 2005, attracted by the ever-changing technology and regulations upon which the industry is built. “Plus the friendly team members who interviewed me,” he says.

He started as a Level 1 test engineer in the engineering department. He still works for the company, grabbing advancements at every level—he is now director of systems and audit.

“I have been very fortunate to have the chance to work in multiple lines of the business and with multiple clients over the years. This has kept my interest very well. In addition to that, it is the people that I get to work with every day,” says Marchetti, who relaxes by hanging out with friends and family, and if he gets a chance, playing video games. His favorites are the role-playing Final Fantasy, Call of Duty and the Mario Kart racing games.

For all the chaos it brought, Covid-19 made GLI even more agile and global then it already was, Marchetti says. “Lines of communication have improved enough with the wider acceptance of technology like Microsoft Teams.”

Teams integrates the people, content and tools, according to Microsoft.

Marchetti sees a bright future in the next five years and beyond. There have been great advancements made in the areas of cashless and iGaming in the past few years.

“I expect that this trend will continue over the years to come,” he says. “I anticipate an increase in the submissions and conversations around these technologies in the near future and will work with the GLI teams to best prepare for them.”

That said, GLI and similar firms should have positions opening up to meet the demand, making these jobs fertile ground for engineering job seekers.

“Keep it in mind—I have built great relationships, and developed as a professional as well as a person, all from my interactions within this great industry,” Marchetti says.

—Bill Sokolic