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// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // November/December 2015
PUBLIC GAMING
INTERVIEWS
Jay
GENDRON
Senior Vice President
North America Lottery, IGT
Paul Jason, PGRI:
You have worked for
a number of world-class business executives
and are now yourself a senior executive at
IGT. What do you think is the most pro-
nounced character trait of successful leaders?
Jay Gendron:
I believe the most im-
portant character trait is integrity. In busi-
ness, that translates into being straight-
forward and consistent; being willing to
fight for the right thing even when it may
not be advantageous; and sticking with
that position notwithstanding pressure
to bend. It’s about calling your customer
right away if there is bad news or an an-
swer that you know they do not want to
hear; and about always accepting respon-
sibility. It is critical to communicate can-
didly with our customers.
Complete transparency is a
Customer
First
value and pays off for everyone in
the long-term. It is only when we all un-
derstand each other’s constraints, as well
as goals and objectives, that we can truly
work together to find the best solutions.
Complete transparency creates trust,
confidence, and is the foundation for an
effective business relationship. This cul-
minates in serving everyone’s best inter-
ests and drives the best business results.
Is there a tradeoff between the goals of de-
livering value to the customer and value to
your corporate shareholders, the economics
of cost to you versus value to the customer?
J. Gendron:
I am responsible for op-
timizing customer satisfaction and man-
aging the P&L for IGT North America
lottery customers. The primary method
in which IGT can generate a profit for
its shareholders is to ensure that our
customers are successful and gener-
On Building Sustainable Growth for Government-Lottery
PGRI Introduction:
It has been just eight months since GTECH and IGT completed their merger. You wouldn’t know
it, though, by the new products on display at the Company’s NASPL and G2E exhibit booths. It would appear that
IGT is way past the integration stage and moving quickly forward with new products and innovation. My discussion
with Jay Gendron bears this out, as the focus is now on harnessing IGT resources to enable its customers to take full
advantage of a future rich with opportunity. And to make that happen now.
Jay Gendron is a lottery industry veteran whose mission is to redefine the industry standards for customer service.
Evidence of Jay’s success can be seen in his recent election into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame. Over the past 20
years, Jay has served in a wide variety of leadership roles across all different disciplines within GTECH and now IGT.
Our discussion traverses the wide array of opportunities and challenges facing the lottery industry today.
Continued on page 19