IAG speaks with Aaron Raj, Chief Technology Officer for Angel Australasia Pty Ltd, about his journey from southern India to Sydney, Australia and into the heart of the global gaming industry.
Ben Blaschke: Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where did you grow up and what are your main memories of childhood?
Aaron Raj: I grew up in the southern part of India in Coimbatore, which was a second-tier city with a mix of urban culture as well as being a tourism spot and a laid-back experience. I have a lot of vivid memories of my childhood days. Back then sports were my main focus rather than my studies because study came naturally to me. Others were banging their heads trying to learn but I could go and play a match of football or cricket before my exam and still get decent marks. But through sport I learnt about team building and strategy, so that’s what I carried forward in my life.
Church was also a big part of my childhood, coming from a spiritual family who all lived together. We had a multilevel house where we lived on the ground, my uncle and aunt on the second floor and my grandparents on the third floor. It was good for family and spiritual bonding. When they built the new church, I was asked to lead the local choir singing group and through this
I learnt leadership in a hands-on way, by bringing in people from diverse backgrounds and having them perform together. I used to do that every week, bring people in from everywhere.
Away from sports, technology was my passion. It was a natural progression with technology from school to work by learning something new everyday.
BB: Has IT and technology in general always been a passion and why?
AR: Right from my childhood I was interested in computers and games. While studying I slowly transitioned into programming because my graduation, my masters, was in computers. What fascinated me about IT was the requirement for logical thinking and problem solving. It took the thought process to a different level and when I started applying the same principals to my day-to-day life I saw results straight away. It enabled me to cultivate lateral thinking for every situation that I encounter. I have now exposed my eight-year-old son to coding as well because I want him to experience a similar thought process right from an early age, which he is enjoying.
BB: How did you come to work for Angel?
AR: When I went into the professional world, I started with Supply Chain Management and from there I moved into banking before being offered an opportunity with Bally’s. The transition from banking to gaming was natural because it’s all about dealing with transactions, so I spent more than 14 years with them. When I first started, Bally’s was developing its Indian division and my job was to bring a casino management system from France to India and build the development team from the ground up. I lived in Nice for a few years as well to transition the product back to India and that’s how it all started.
The job took me to all parts of the world, and I opened the first casino in Macau from a systems perspective, L’Arc. I went on to open around 10 different casinos from there – StarWorld and a few SJM properties – and later was tasked with setting up a technical division in Australia, so it was a long journey.
You know, every time I have to start something from scratch I get excited and Angel was the same. Once I had built that Bally’s team up in Australia I thought to myself “What’s next?” and that’s when I got this divine call from Angel.
Angel gave me the same feeling, if not more so, by taking me back to the early days of my career. Obviously, it is an established company and celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, but for smart tables it’s just the start. There are a lot of things happening dynamically in a fast-paced environment, a lot like a start-up. And unlike a typical corporate company, Angel trusts us immensely and provides us with all the resources to achieve what needs to be achieved.
BB: It must be rewarding then to see how “smart tables” have become the latest industry buzz words?
AR: How beautiful is that? For me, it’s not about the product, it’s more about “What is the need of the market?” And the day we started doing this in a factory – all the automation or whatever we could think about from a systems technology perspective – we had already been using it in our card manufacturing or chip manufacturing. We’ve done all of that and that’s what excited me. Second we have made use of it, we have benefitted from it, and then we are taking it to the wider market. We are taking this product to the customer, helping them understand that benefit, helping them use it, so it is all one complete cycle. And now all the other markets are waking up and saying, “Oh, wow”, because we launched this as a game protection tool on this side of the world but when the customers saw the data they realized all the benefits: “What is happening at an individual player level? What are my dealers doing? I don’t have to have all my tables open at the same time?” There are a huge number of use cases that have come out of it.
BB: What does a typical day in the life of Aaron Raj like?
AR: If I’m in Sydney, I start with my coffee and then with my kids who are still young – six and eight years old. Getting them ready for school is a bit of a challenge!
I have a bit of a drive from home to the office and that’s when I officially start my day. I have meetings with the team while I’m driving to work so that when I get to the office day. I can jump straight into what I need to do.
Since we’re global, I have a lot of customer meetings scheduled around the world. Also, for me, every meeting I take needs to have an outcome so I do a lot of preparation around what I want to achieve from the meeting, what questions might come and being prepared to resolve any problems the customer might have. I see my role as not just technical, not just functional, not just product but all-encompassing which helps me relate to the customer and what they need.
What makes my day exciting is that every day has a unique set of challenges which needs my attention. The challenges vary from technical to product to functional aspects of the domain.
BB: You mentioned that you’ve lived and worked all around the world. How did you find the move to Sydney, which you now call home?
AR: For me, it was a natural transition to Sydney because I’ve lived in a few countries like France, a few months in the UK, Japan, even South America. What I like about Australia is there is a lot of respect for women and children and a lot of protection for them. Second, having a young family after coming here, is that the growth of children is in a noncompetitive environment. They are not pressured to do anything. And the third aspect I like is it’s more about sports which is how I grew up and it’s how this whole country is. It was a natural pull for me. I look at Australia like a developed India – beautiful roads, clean water and not too crowded.
BB: Are you a big cricket fan?
AR: I was! I’m more of a football fan now. I played cricket, I played all sports, when I was younger, but I still follow soccer and I’m a big fan of Lionel Messi. I went down to Melbourne when he came out here. The only thing that was pending for him was the World Cup and when he won the World Cup he had achieved everything, so now my job is to get my kids to be the next Messi or Neymar!
BB: What are some of the key lessons you’ve learned during your time in your current role?
AR: Smart tables are relatively new and people struggle to understand the intricacies of them. It is quite complex and sophisticated, depending on how deep you want to dive. One of my key lessons or challenges was to convert this complex thought process into a layperson’s terms. I took a genuine interest in bridging this gap for things that are in my control. In this way, I learnt the art of breaking down complex problems into simplified solutions.
The other aspect of my role that I’ve learnt from is the constant traveling around the world and meeting up with people coming from diverse areas of the casino industry. It gives a whole new perspective on how smart tables are viewed and utilized.
BB: Who has been the most influential person in your life?
AR: Without doubt, it is my wife, Joes Salome, who is always there supporting me, and my dad, Paul Raj, with whom I echo my thoughts. I have strong belief in God as a guide for me and I have been blessed to work with many good people over the years who have been of great support.
BB: What do you like to do outside of work to relax?
AR: For me, being in this country is itself a big thing. I try to spend all my spare time with my kids and being in the swimming pool with them is my best relaxation. I just want to be with my kids because I hardly have time to spend with them.
BB: What’s your favorite movie and why?
AR: “A Beautiful Mind” because it explores the beautiful concept of how the mind works. Different people look at things from different angles and the film masterfully portrays the complexities of genius and how the mind operates. It’s a movie I can watch a thousand times without getting bored.
BB: Finally Aaron, where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?
AR: It will be no different from what I’m doing today. I’m in a very good spot doing what I love the most and I’m happy. I don’t want that to change.
