Entain has announced Dafne Guisard as its new Chief Operations Officer, effective Jan. 13, 2025.
Dafne will join the gaming and entertainment company from The Kraft Heinz Company, where she served as Chief Strategy, Transformation and Digital Officer. In that role, she led the company’s global 10-year growth strategy, developed new operational models and drove digital transformation across all areas of the company.
At Entain, she will be tasked with driving operational excellence and will lead global strategic planning, the customer service organization and M&A integration.
“Dafne brings a wealth of experience in driving strategic growth and delivering transformation on a global scale,” said CEO Gavin Isaacs, who arrived earlier this year. “Her appointment will help place Entain at the leading edge of innovation, as well as strengthen the executive management team as we build on a period of stronger-than-expected revenue growth and key market expansion. Dafne will be a tremendous asset to Entain.”
Prior to her time at Kraft Heinz, Dafne spent nine years at Anheuser-Busch InBev in various leadership positions, driving long-term company goals, creating a focused portfolio strategy, elevating brand building and delivering an ambitious innovation agenda. Her initiatives led to the highest innovation share in the industry.
She also previously spent eight years in management consulting and equities and co-founded a machine learning tech start-up.
Entain and Kahnawà:ke end Canadian Sports Interaction partnership
In other Entain news this week, the company and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) have mutually agreed to end the partnership which saw the MCK operate the Sports Interaction online gaming platform in Canada.
The MCK’s wholly-owned Mohawk Online Ltd. had held an exclusive partnership with Entain subsidiary Avid International Ltd. to provide the brand outside of Ontario. Sports Interaction, which holds an Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario license to operate in Ontario, is licensed by the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (KGC) in other provinces.
An Entain spokesperson told Canadian Gaming Business that Entain has now taken full ownership of the brand, its licensing in Canada outside Ontario and its customer database. Entain will maintain its back office from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke and will also keep hold of its licenses with the KGC, said the MCK.