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# Allwyn Names Francesco Rodano Responsible Gaming Head
- URL: https://www.igamingnews.biz/allwyn-francesco-rodano-responsible-gaming/
- Published: 2026-09-16T08:28:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T08:30:41.000Z
- Description: Allwyn has named Francesco Rodano, Playtech's former chief sustainable gambling officer, its new Group Head of Responsible Gaming, effective 9 September 2026.
- Author: iGamingNews Editorial Desk
- Tags: Executive Moves, Responsible Gambling, Allwyn

*Image credit: Source: company announcement.*

**Allwyn named Francesco Rodano, Playtech's former chief sustainable gambling officer, as Group Head of Responsible Gaming, the lottery operator announced on 9 September 2026.**

Rodano steps into a newly created, group-wide post covering every market where Allwyn holds a lottery concession, from the UK National Lottery to its operations in the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece and Cyprus. He will build responsible gambling frameworks, toolkits and policy for central and local teams and push player protection into product design, customer journeys and brand decisions, according to Allwyn's own announcement.

He spent ten years at Playtech, most recently as chief sustainable gambling officer, where he led the supplier's global player-protection programme and helped drive the rollout of BetBuddy, an AI-driven behavioural-analytics tool built to flag harmful play before it escalates. Before that, Rodano spent close to a decade as director of remote gaming at Italy's Agenzia Dogane e Monopoli, the regulator that built the country's national online gambling framework, giving him a rare view of the compliance line from both the rulemaker's and the vendor's side.

The hire lands on top of an accreditation Allwyn already holds. Its lottery businesses meet Level 4 of the World Lottery Association's responsible-gaming framework, the highest tier available. In July, the company launched the Allwyn Player Protection Lab, offering up to 100,000 euros each to two research projects on steering gambling behaviour away from harm. Rodano now owns turning that research and Allwyn's existing standard into a single, consistent programme rather than a patchwork run market by market.

"Francesco's appointment and the experience he brings are another clear commitment to that philosophy," said Robert Chvátal, Allwyn's group chief executive, in the announcement. Group chief brand officer Tatiana Jouanneau also welcomed the hire, pointing to Rodano's depth of responsible-gaming experience and understanding of consumers.

Rodano framed the move as personal as well as professional. "Player protection is something I live and breathe and I look forward to implementing that passion," he said.

The appointment follows a stretch of leadership change at Allwyn. UK chief executive [Andria Vidler stepped down in August, with Phil Walker named interim CEO](https://www.igamingnews.biz/allwyn-uk-ceo-transition-vidler-walker/) of the National Lottery business, part of a wider run of [iGaming CEO turnover](https://www.igamingnews.biz/igaming-ceo-turnover/) across the sector this year.

## Player protection keeps hiring from the supply side

Rodano's move also tracks where the industry is pulling its harm-prevention leadership from. [Mindway AI has become the vendor operators lean on to screen players for risk](https://www.igamingnews.biz/mindway-ai-gambling-harm-detection/), and [AI-driven tools are increasingly the first line of player protection](https://www.igamingnews.biz/ai-responsible-gambling-tools-2026/) rather than a back-office check. Allwyn has gone a step further than buying the software: it has hired the executive who helped build a rival version of it, betting that a national lottery competing for public trust needs that expertise sitting inside the company, not just licensed from outside it.

## Related coverage

- [Allwyn UK CEO Andria Vidler Steps Down, Phil Walker Named Interim](https://www.igamingnews.biz/allwyn-uk-ceo-transition-vidler-walker/)
- [Mindway AI Leads Gambling Harm Detection for Operators](https://www.igamingnews.biz/mindway-ai-gambling-harm-detection/)
- [AI Is Now the First Line of Player Protection](https://www.igamingnews.biz/ai-responsible-gambling-tools-2026/)
- [Seven iGaming CEOs Turn Over in Six Weeks](https://www.igamingnews.biz/igaming-ceo-turnover/)