SBC Summit unveils four Lisbon tech academies

• Four Tech Academies cover AI, player experience, marketing and Web3.
• The sessions run 29 and 30 September at Sala Tejo, MEO Arena.
• Academy add-on costs €249 and requires a full SBC Summit pass.

SBC Summit will run four dedicated Tech Academies at its 2026 Lisbon edition, giving delegates hands-on training across artificial intelligence, player experience, digital marketing and Web3.

The sessions take place on 29 and 30 September at Sala Tejo inside the MEO Arena, ahead of the wider conference running from 29 September to 1 October.

Skills over sessions

Each Academy is built around a different discipline shaping the betting and gaming industry, combining expert-led sessions with live demonstrations, case studies, AMAs and workshops. The format is designed to move delegates past passive listening and into active, applicable skill-building.

The Academies sit alongside SBC’s wider six-stage conference agenda, which this year also tackles Western Europe’s regulatory squeeze across licensing, enforcement and player retention.

The AI Academy, backed by CreateFuture and BetConstruct AI, looks at where artificial intelligence is creating real value in betting and gaming, and where human oversight still matters most. Sessions cover building an AI decision assistant, adoption strategy and a dedicated look at deepfake fraud.

The Player Experience Academy, powered by Soft2Bet, examines behavioural design, gamification and player segmentation, balancing retention against player protection across different regulatory markets.

The Digital Marketing & CRM Academy turns to campaign planning, creator partnerships and budget allocation, building on themes explored in the our previous CRM Academy report. A fourth track, the Web3 Academy, covers blockchain payments, provably fair gaming and hybrid platform design.

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Sojmark on the shift

Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, said:

“SBC Summit’s conference agenda is a fantastic place to educate yourself on current and future industry developments, but the Tech Academies give delegates the opportunity to take that learning a step further. The Academy format allows us to get more specific, dig into the details and create the kind of collaboration, knowledge exchange and active participation that is rarely found at industry events. Attendees won’t just leave with a better understanding of their chosen subject; they’ll leave with skills and strategies they can actually put into practice.”

The four tracks draw on Behshad Behzadi, Chief Product, Technology and AI Officer at Sportradar; Lluis Mora, Chief Security Officer at Entain; and Francesco Postiglione, CEO of Casumo. Also confirmed are Andrew Cochrane, Chief Commercial Officer at Soft2Bet; James Fox, Senior Industry Manager at Google; Stephen Denver of OpenAI; Alex Savage of Meta; and Dinis Guarda, CEO and Founder of Ztudium.

What it will cost

Each Tech Academy add-on is priced at €249 and includes three hands-on masterclasses spanning trading, casino and responsible marketing. Attendance also requires a standard SBC Summit ticket, with Expo, Conference, Networking, Business and VIP options available depending on the pass tiers delegates already hold.

Operators, affiliates and regulators may qualify for complimentary passes through SBC’s application process. Academy attendance also counts toward delegates’ Continuing Professional Development, part of the CPD accreditation SBC secured for its conference programme earlier this year.

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Delegates book their chosen Academy through SBC Connect, the event’s official app, which also lets attendees save sessions and browse the wider agenda. SBC Summit is expected to draw more than 40,000 industry professionals to Feira Internacional de Lisboa and the MEO Arena between 29 September and 1 October.

The addition puts pressure on rival events to match dedicated, ticketed skills training rather than general session tracks, particularly as AI and Web3 literacy become recruitment criteria in their own right across supplier and operator marketing teams.