Michael Leznik

CEO

Greater London, England, United Kingdom29 yrs 10 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchAI ML Practitioner

Key Highlights

20 years of experience in AI and Machine Learning.
Proven track record in building high-performance analytics teams.
Expert in translating ML research into production systems.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic leader in AI and Machine Learning for the gaming industry.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Machine LearningArtificial IntelligenceTeam LeadershipData Science StrategyPredictive AnalyticsData AnalysisMarket VisionAutomated Trading Systems

Other Skills

MLOpsData ScienceTalent ManagementM&A Due DiligenceTeam BuildingProbabilistic ModelingMarketing OptimizationGraph AlgorithmsAutomated LTV ModelsR&D ManagementSentiment AnalysisNatural Language ProcessingPattern RecognitionMatlabProgramming

About

Strategic AI and Machine Learning leader with ~20 years of experience building and scaling high-impact ML organisations in start-ups and growth-stage companies. Proven track record of recruiting and leading world-class ML engineers, data scientists, and AI researchers, and delivering industry-leading AI capabilities—particularly within gaming. Expert in taking ML from research to production: translating theoretical concepts into scalable systems, owning the full ML lifecycle across modelling, infrastructure, MLOps, and commercial deployment. Experienced leader of distributed and remote teams across multiple platforms and domains. Deep technical background across classical ML, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and emerging AI technologies, combined with strong executive judgement to drive AI-led competitive advantage and business outcomes.

Experience

29 yrs 10 mos

Total Experience

3 yrs 6 mos

Average Tenure

8 yrs 10 mos

Current Experience

Aristocrat

Data Science Vice President (AI & Machine Learning)

Oct 2024 – Present · 1 yr 7 mos · Hybrid

Report directly to the Chief Data Officer, defining and executing the enterprise-wide machine learning and AI strategy aligned with business objectives and technical roadmap.
Lead the development and deployment of production-scale ML/AI solutions across the organisation, ensuring models deliver measurable business value and ROI.
Build, mentor, and scale high-performing ML/AI teams including data scientists, ML engineers, and research scientists across multiple locations and projects.
Establish ML operations (MLOps) frameworks, governance standards, and best practices for responsible AI development, ensuring model reliability, fairness, and compliance.
Partner with C-level executives and business stakeholders to identify high-impact AI opportunities and translate business challenges into technical solutions.
Own the ML/AI technology stack, tooling decisions, and infrastructure requirements, working closely with engineering and data platform teams.

Machine LearningArtificial IntelligenceMLOpsData ScienceTeam Leadership

Product madness

2 roles

Data Science Vice President Product Madness & Pixel United

Promoted

Oct 2020 – Present · 5 yrs 7 mos

Head of Data Science

Jul 2017 – Oct 2020 · 3 yrs 3 mos

Reporting directly to C-Level executives, I define data science strategy and methodology across Pixel United's digital gaming portfolio.
Played a key role in M&A due diligence and post-acquisition integration of multiple digital businesses into Pixel United.
Rebuilt and scaled the complete data science organisation (central and embedded DS, BI, and engineering) from ground up to 40+ professionals supporting the entire digital group.

Data Science StrategyM&A Due DiligenceTeam Building

Uber interactive ltd

Operations Consultant

Jan 2017 – Jul 2017 · 6 mos · London, United Kingdom

King.com

2 roles

Head of Data Science (London)

Promoted

Apr 2013 – Jan 2017 · 3 yrs 9 mos

Reported directly to CMO, leading predictive analytics and probabilistic modeling for marketing optimization across King's portfolio.
Developed scientifically validated game launch procedures with optimized marketing mix, measuring effectiveness and ROI.
Built data science team from scratch, delivering critical analyses including virality attribution (graph analysis), ML propensity systems, predictive CLV models, and TV advertisement impact measurement.
Provided functional leadership for data science methodology across King, scaling the organisation to 70+ data scientists company-wide.

Predictive AnalyticsProbabilistic ModelingMarketing Optimization

Senior Data Scientist - Game Analytics

Aug 2012 – Jan 2017 · 4 yrs 5 mos

In this position, I was responsible for scientific analysis of the company’s big data across London game studio as well as the Marketing department.
My work has helped to scale the launch of Candy Crush Saga through some innovative graph
algorithms.
Developed automated LTV models helping User Acquisitions efforts

Data AnalysisGraph AlgorithmsAutomated LTV Models

Greenlight

2 roles

Chief Research Scientist

Promoted

Jun 2009 – Aug 2012 · 3 yrs 2 mos

In this position I am reporting to CEO and responsible for expressing the company’s market vision and strategic direction in terms of scientific models and their technological implementation.
Some of my developments in the area of Search Engine Data analysis changed conceptually the way company operates and played the most significant role in increasing company’s revenue and position in the business market.
Built and currently manage a top flight technological team and oversee the research and development within the R&D department.

Market VisionR&D Management

Senior Research Scientist

Aug 2007 – Jun 2009 · 1 yr 10 mos

Developed Paid Search Automated Trading System (Greenfield project) System based on modeling of text ad - keyword behavior in stochastic environment.
Developed prototypes for Sentiment Analysis of Blogosphere (system was used for keywords discovery and generation customer’s feedback).

Automated Trading SystemsSentiment Analysis

The university of hertfordshire

2 roles

Statistical Business Consultant

Jan 2005 – May 2007 · 2 yrs 4 mos

Statistical Business Consulting, The University of Hertfordshire.
Value at Risk Analysis of gambling slot machines, based on computer simulation.

Visiting lecturer

Dec 2003 – Jul 2007 · 3 yrs 7 mos

Besides administrative responsibilities as a member of
academic staff, I was solely responsible for lectures,
final year examinations and marking for undergraduate
courses.
Teaching Quantitative Methods, Introduction to Computer
Programming with Java, Operations Management.

Checkm8

Software Developer

Jun 2000 – Sep 2003 · 3 yrs 3 mos

CheckM8 is an innovative provider of rich media and ad management technologies for the online advertising industry.
As one of the senior developers in the company I have been involved in the design and implementation of Internet based rich media and ad management technologies for the online advertising industry Rich Media Manager (RMM). RMM was designed to help publishers and agencies to centralize and streamline their rich media production and management processes.