On the opening day of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) 2026 in Las Vegas, AiR Hub co-founders Dr. Kasra Ghaharian and Simo Dragicevic joined industry leaders to present findings from The State of AI in Gaming 2026.

The Session

State of AI in Gaming 2026: Research Results on Industry Maturity, Regulatory Readiness, and the Road Ahead

  • Moderator: Rick Arpin, U.S. Gaming Leader and Las Vegas Office Managing Partner, KPMG
  • Panelists:
    • Dr. Kasra Ghaharian, Director of Research, UNLV International Gaming Institute
    • Simo Dragicevic, Co-founder, AiR Hub
    • Eric Bowers, Vice President of Innovation and Architecture, Boyd Gaming
    • Lori Kobashigawa, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Innovation, Fontainebleau Las Vegas

The panel discussed the report’s findings that most AI deployments in gaming so far sit in back-of-house and security functions rather than customer-facing ones, and that a gap remains between operators and regulators on how AI is being used. Panelists also looked ahead to where AI could add the most value, from personalized guest journeys to faster, better-informed product development.

Kasra made the case that the gaming industry has a real opportunity to lead on responsible AI. Having spent decades building trust through its work on anti-money laundering and consumer protection, the industry is well placed to show the wider entertainment sector how responsible AI is done.

Read CDC Gaming’s coverage of the session.

About AiR Hub

AiR Hub (Artificial Intelligence Research Hub) is the industry’s first academic-led ecosystem dedicated to collaborative AI research. Its mission is to advance the emerging discipline of AI within the gambling sector and create the industry’s ecosystem for collaborative AI research. Created within UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, AiR Hub conducts novel, critical, and impactful research focused on the most pressing areas from a business and societal perspective, and aims to accelerate the adoption of trusted and responsible AI through international collaboration across industry, academia, regulators, and support sectors.