Aarti Carl, Eeze, on Bucharest as an iGaming hub: ‘A lot of other gaming

In an interview with European Gaming, Aarti Carl, chief people officer at Eeze, explains why the supplier built its new Bucharest office around its technology teams, what she had to learn from scratch in a market she had never worked in, and how Eeze is taking its company values to teams in Malta, Bucharest, London and Ukraine.

Key findings

• On opening in Bucharest: ‘We have noticed a lot of other gaming companies are setting up there now.’
• On working across markets: ‘You have to understand the local culture and environment rather than assuming that what works in one location will automatically work somewhere else.’
• On designing the office: ‘I think it is important that the space works for the people who are actually going to be there.’
• On company values: ‘I do not think they should just sit on a wall.’
• On choosing initiatives: ‘You cannot just do something because somebody else is doing it.’

Learning Bucharest from scratch

European Gaming:Eeze has moved into a new office in Bucharest, designed around the needs of its technology teams. What did that involve for you, and how does the working environment fit into the wider people agenda?

Aarti Carl: Bucharest was a new location for me, so I had to learn everything from scratch, and that includes the culture, the environment and the employment law, too. 

We had an aim in mind: to make the office a tech-friendly environment. We have whiteboards everywhere, a social area, and an adaptable space we can use in multiple ways. There wasn’t much of a social area before, and you spend a lot of time in your working environment, particularly when you are working in technology, so I think it is important that the space works for the people who are actually going to be there. We can also host our roadshow in the office, which is useful.

The new office has also helped us from an employer-branding perspective, as we are still trying to put our name out there in Romania. We saw other gaming companies setting up, so getting there and establishing ourselves was a strong opportunity for us.

It has been interesting personally as well because Malta is somewhere I have worked before, and I already had that network there, whereas Bucharest has been completely new.

‘You have to understand the local culture and environment rather than assuming that what works in one location will automatically work somewhere else.’

Editor’s note: Bucharest is one of the 10 cities in European Gaming’s 2026 guide to Europe’s iGaming hubs, listed alongside Malta, London, Barcelona and Stockholm and ranked as the continent’s live casino centre.

Taking the values to four locations

EG: You have launched Eeze’s company values and are taking them directly to employees through a roadshow across Malta, Bucharest and London, and online with Ukraine. Why take them out to the locations rather than communicate them centrally?

Aarti Carl: For me, launching the values is just the start. It is one thing to launch a set of values, but the real focus is making sure they are part of everyday life, because I do not think they should just sit on a wall, they should be reflected in how we work together, how we support one another and how we make decisions every day.

We have introduced toolkits and guidance for our managers to help bring those conversations into one-to-ones, team meetings and performance discussions, because that is really where they become real rather than just being something that has been communicated to people.

The roadshow is another part of that, we wanted to take the values out to the different locations rather than just sending something out centrally and saying, ‘here are our values.’ 

We are travelling to Malta, Bucharest and London, as well as doing it online with Ukraine, so we are actually spending time with the different teams and talking about the values.

‘When you are working across different countries, you have to find ways to bring everyone along with you. You cannot just assume that everybody is going to experience things in exactly the same way.’

Why company-wide initiatives matter as headcount spreads 

EG: Eeze has been putting a greater focus on company-wide initiatives. What role do these play as the business grows and teams spread across more locations?

Aarti Carl: Finding different ways to support people and give them opportunities to get involved is important. Whether that is through work and development, bringing people together or simply doing something fun, all of those things have their place, particularly as you become a bigger organisation and people are not necessarily all working in the same place.

We have done a lot over the last few years, but there is still so much more we can do, and that is probably the bit I enjoy the most because you can keep building on what you have already done.

Showing rather than telling in new markets

EG: One of the upcoming initiatives, ‘Beat the Traffic’, will see Eeze colleagues cycle from Marsaskala to Msida against a car, built around a message about being ‘stuck’ in your job. What does an idea like that do for Eeze as an employer?

Aarti Carl: It is another way of showing people what Eeze is like rather than just telling them. We are still trying to put our name out there in different markets, so that is important for us as we continue to grow.

The campaign has a message around being stuck in your job, yes, but it is done in a way that is quite light-hearted and a bit different, which I think suits Eeze. We are a gaming business, we are innovative, and we like to do things differently, so it feels quite natural for us.

I think that is where these initiatives are useful because they give the people within the business something to get involved in, but they also give people outside the business a bit of an insight into what Eeze is like and the sort of environment we are trying to create.

Deciding what is worth doing

EG: How do you decide which initiatives are genuinely valuable for employees rather than simply something that looks good from the outside?

Aarti Carl: We have to keep asking ourselves whether we are doing the correct thing for the business, but also whether we are doing the right thing for our people, which has always been quite important to me.

Initiatives are much the same. You cannot just do something because somebody else is doing it; you have to think about what you are trying to achieve and whether it is right for your people and the business. 

For me, there needs to be a reason behind what you are doing, and you have to be prepared to look at it afterwards and ask whether it has achieved what you wanted it to.

Where the people agenda goes next

EG: What would you like to see Eeze do more of when it comes to company-wide initiatives?

Aarti Carl: There are still so many things we have not even touched yet at Eeze, even though we have achieved a lot over the last few years, but we are still on that journey, and that is probably the bit I enjoy the most because there is still an opportunity to keep building things and seeing where we can go next.

I think there is always more we can do around our people initiatives, and we must find the right things for the business at the right time. 

As we grow, we are going to have different needs, different locations and new employees, which all pose different challenges, so we cannot just stand still and say, ‘this is what we do’ — we must keep evolving with the times. I have seen throughout my career, particularly from working in different businesses, that you learn something from every journey.

‘For us, the important thing is that whatever we introduce, we do not lose that sense of who we are.’

About Eeze

Eeze is an international B2B supplier specialising in live casino, slots, and interactive game shows. Headquartered in Malta with offices in London and Bucharest, it operates as part of the Tain Group and holds gaming licences across multiple jurisdictions, including Malta and the Isle of Man. Its studios employ more than 400 staff. Aarti Carl was appointed chief people officer in April 2026, leading a repositioned People Function that previously operated as HR.

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