Not many CEOs can take being mocked via a Muppet lookalike. Or are willing to submit to live brainwave testing, onstage, in front of an audience of gaming insiders.
But then, not many CEOs lead their companies in the style of David Lopez, who has steered AGS to explosive growth in the four years he’s been in charge.
Lopez, a former executive with Shuffle Master and with Global Cash Access, has instilled a casual, loosey-goosey, anything-goes feel at the slot and table game company, and AGS’ 616 employees apparently are thriving under it. He’s the face of this week’s AGS customer summit, called GameOn, at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
And, in typical Lopez style, he points to the ability to delegate as one of the reasons that this year’s customer gathering has been elevated beyond the usual live product infomercial.
“I am exhausted after setting this thing up,” he joked to about 100 attendees who dined Wednesday night at a nearby winery, as he credited his staff. “I must have sent six texts about GameOn.”
But there’s a method behind Lopez’s shoot-from-the-lip persona. His goal was to build a team, and he has succeeded at that, said Chad Beynon, an analyst with Macquarie Securities.
“For smaller companies… (success) starts with company culture and a collective willingness-to-win attitude,” Beynon said. “David has transformed AGS into this, through recruiting the right team of personnel, developing the right products, and having a ton of fun along the journey.”
Lopez clearly spelled out his leadership objectives during his opening remarks Wednesday. One particular company trait he promotes is ‘Act Like a CEO.’
“We empower people to make decisions,” he said. “When you deal with someone who’s part of the AGS team, you know they speak for our company. We don’t run things up the chain of command. That’s not the way we do business.”
But while employees view Lopez as encouraging and energetic, he also sets an expectation of urgency, in terms of both customer service and innovation. He strives to maintain a “Day One” mentality at AGS, imploring everyone at the company to be as engaged with their work as they would on the first day of any task.
“Day One companies are obsessively focused on customers,” he told attendees Wednesday morning. “We take nothing for granted, stay hungry and keep a scrappy attitude.” (It’s not his original saying, by the way. Jeff Bezos used it at Amazon.)
“We want to be scrapping for your business and working hard. These are things that come through in our values, and we hope you see them. And if you don’t see them, if you see us losing that tenacity, (if we’re) no longer in a Day One attitude… give us a call.”
The company, originally known as American Gaming Systems, was rebranded AGS after being purchased in 2013 by funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management. Lopez was recruited to become the CEO in February 2014.
The company, which got its start with Class II gaming in Oklahoma, had its Big Bang in May 2015, when it acquired Cadillac Jack, a Class II supplier that was then working on launching a Class III platform, for about $375 million.
“When we acquired Cadillac Jack, they were like the peanut butter to our chocolate,” he said. “We didn’t have any peanut butter at all (before then).”
That move helped create the momentum of growth in the market and increased the company’s geographic footprint. The company has since added table games products and social apps.
The company went public in January of this year and trades under the symbol AGS.
“David’s trustworthy and inclusive culture, in addition to a great product roadmap, has made the company a major market share gainer, which we think will continue for several years,” Beynon said. “David’s impact on AGS’ culture is as important as any single product the company has created.”
The event opened with a video of two Muppets, ostensibly Lopez (wearing a Taylor Swift T-shirt) and CMO Julia Boguslawski, discussing the upcoming events.
Later, Craig Forest, an associate professor at Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering, led a session on brain science. Lopez himself was the subject, wearing a padded helmet onstage so Forest could conduct an EEG. Lopez played a slot game via an iPad while a graph of his brain activity was shown on a large screen. The usual brain jokes ensued.
Thursday morning, Lopez gave more insight on AGS.
“I love our team, and I hope for our customers it shines through that we get along,” he said. “There’s not a lot of hero ball at AGS. We all pick up a broom when we need to.”
