James Hancock joins Soft2Bet as Vice President of B2B Marketing

James Hancock has joined Soft2Bet as Vice President of B2B Marketing, the company confirmed in an exclusive interview published on 20 October 2026 by Focus Gaming News. Hancock brings more than ten years' experience across iGaming, sports betting and payments and says his priority is to judge technology partners on live, comparable launches and transparent delivery rather than on pre-contract promises.

New role and immediate priorities

Hancock told Focus Gaming News he aims to align Soft2Bet's commercial messaging with the operational realities operators face after integration. He outlined three immediate priorities: pinpointing the strongest commercial opportunities, cultivating strategic relationships, and ensuring messaging around platform agility and gamification architecture is transparent. Hancock said he will work closely with Andrew Cochrane and the commercial team to achieve those aims.

He described his professional background as "more than a decade on the front lines of B2C and B2B," arguing that experience running brand positioning and revenue scalability inside major operations gives him a 360-degree view of how supplier solutions must fit into an operator's technology stack and processes.

Focus on post-launch performance

Hancock emphasised that the real test of a supplier relationship begins when the platform is live and handling real-world traffic. He urged operators and suppliers to replace promises with proof, highlighting the value of "comparable, successful launches" that show how technology has delivered retention, engagement and speed to market for similar operators.

"Deals are won on trust, and nothing builds trust faster than honesty," Hancock said, adding that saying "not yet" to a feature request is better than agreeing to something that becomes a post-launch bottleneck.

He explained that sales teams often promise flexibility, scalability and rapid growth, but that being "ruthlessly specific" about what can and cannot be delivered now prevents unwanted surprises and helps build durable, profitable partnerships.

MEGA engine and technical independence

Soft2Bet positions its technical independence as a differentiator: the company owns and controls its entire underlying tech stack rather than relying on third-party licences, Hancock said. He cited the company's MEGA engine as a concrete example of that independence. The MEGA engine lets operators inject advanced gamification layers into their user experience via a standalone API, without replacing the operator's core platform.

Hancock called the MEGA engine a way to bypass "the massive commercial risk and operational nightmare of overhauling" a core platform. He said this architecture allows Soft2Bet to offer targeted gamification and engagement tools while minimising disruption to an operator's existing stack. Where useful to commercial readers, Soft2Bet's product positioning sits alongside broader supplier discussions in our /b2b coverage.

Operational costs of adoption

Hancock warned suppliers routinely underestimate the hidden costs operators incur when adopting new technology. He listed the typical operational touchpoints a new feature triggers: configuration, CRM alignment, staff training and day-to-day management. Those demands, he said, vary significantly between a Tier 1 operator and a smaller brand and therefore require different levels of managed support.

To be a true partner, Hancock argued, suppliers must discuss the operational realities during the sales conversation and understand who within the operator will manage the product daily and whether they have the bandwidth to do so. He wants proposals to include a full picture of costs before a partnership is agreed.

Accountability for commercial performance

Hancock expects suppliers to be more accountable for commercial outcomes and for relationships to extend beyond integration. If a business case is built around retention, engagement or revenue, the supplier should remain involved, review performance with the operator and make adjustments when data indicates they are needed. He said success metrics should be agreed early, with a clear baseline, relevant player cohorts and a full account of costs.

"If the business case is built around retention, engagement or revenue, the relationship has to continue after integration," Hancock said.

He added that acquisition quality, marketing activity and operational decisions all affect results, so each performance review should clarify what is driving the numbers and what needs to change.

Targets for the first year

Looking ahead, Hancock defined success as repeat business: partners returning to expand into new markets or to integrate additional Soft2Bet products. He wants to see a measurable increase in operators not only going live with Soft2Bet but actively scaling with the company. Personally, he said he aims to be seen by partners as "entirely straightforward, reliable, and proactive."

Hancock reiterated his belief that B2B sales should be measured by what grows after the contract, not only by the contracts signed. For him, stronger and more profitable partnerships a year after the first launch will confirm that Soft2Bet delivered on its initial promises.