XSummit 2026, the leading Customer Experience (CX) event in Latin America, held on June 29 and 30 at the Rebouças Convention Center, in São Paulo, included for the first time a panel dedicated to responsible gambling in its program.
The debate “Responsible Gambling as Part of the Experience Journey” brought together representatives from the betting sector and a specialized support network, at an event whose agenda is dominated by retail, health, technology, and hospitality brands.
The panel, moderated by Wellington Paes, founder of Conexão Customer, featured Maria Neves, CX, Customer Support and Reputational Channels Director at Grupo Esportes Gaming Brasil Esportes da Sorte, Carolina Luna, Head of Compliance at the group, and Ricardo Magri, CEO and co-founder of Empresa Brasileira de Apoio ao Compulsivo (EBAC).
The inclusion of the topic in the agenda of a major national CX event reflects the attempt by the betting sector, still in a phase of regulatory consolidation, to discuss responsible gambling outside the traditional iGaming circuit.
Customer service and organizational culture
Maria Neves described the operator’s transition to integrate a support structure that grew from 300 to thousands of employees, and argued that identifying signs of vulnerability in the customer is part of the service journey itself.
For the director, taking care of the customer involves offering tools such as limits, pauses, and guidance at the right moment, recognizing the context and engaging specialized support networks without judgment.
“The goal is to demonstrate the real impact of these actions for the customer. Esportes da Sorte’s model aims to establish a benchmark of excellence,” she says.
“Customer service goes beyond resolving requests: it involves recognizing the context, guiding without judgment, and engaging specialized support networks. We have structured support areas focused on redesigning the customer journey toward a differentiated standard, strengthening processes in a market undergoing consolidation,” Neves concludes.
Compliance and regulatory framework
Carolina Luna, Head of Compliance at Esportes da Sorte, placed the discussion within the sector’s legal framework, noting that Law 14.790/2023 and the ordinances of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) under the Ministry of Finance established specific parameters also for the customer experience, not just for the platforms’ financial operations.
The executive described the KYC mechanisms, facial recognition, document verification, and anti-fraud partnerships with companies such as Sportradar, and explained that the company maintains teams certified by EBAC and the Instituto de Apoio ao Apostador (IAA), referring risk cases for external technical assessment and suspending accounts until the analysis is concluded.
“The requirement from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets brings together compliance and consumer care, opening professional opportunities for specialists seeking to work in this market,” Luna explains.
The view from the prevention side
Ricardo Magri, CEO of EBAC, praised the event’s initiative to include and discuss responsible gambling and said he took the opportunity to talk about the positive aspects of player protection and to demystify the topic before an audience completely unfamiliar with the betting sector.
“Prejudice against betting is trendy, but in fact most people end up betting in some way,” he noted.
A topic outside the iGaming bubble
Among the speakers at the event’s other panels were executives from Leroy Merlin, TikTok Brazil, Einstein Hospital Israelita, and Mercado Livre.
Other companies such as Havanna Brasil, Claro, Unimed, and Whirlpool were also present, a lineup that reinforces the unprecedented nature of having a discussion on responsible gambling on the XSummit agenda.
Closing the panel, Maria Neves argued that spaces like this help the sector overcome stigmas and consolidate a perception of industry integrity, citing similar processes that have taken place in other regulated markets.