Management Team

Mr. Lopez has served as the Chief Executive Officer of AGS and Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company since February 3, 2014. Mr. Lopez has also served on the board of the Company since May 2017. Mr. Lopez most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Cash Access, Inc., which he joined in May 2012. Prior to his role at Global Cash Access, Inc., Mr. Lopez served as Chief Operating Officer of Shuffle Master Inc. from November 2010 until May 2012. Mr. Lopez joined Shuffle Master Inc. in February 1998 and held various positions within the organization during his 14-year tenure, including Interim CEO, Executive Vice President, President of the Americas, Vice President of Product Management, as well as serving as a member of its board of directors from November 2010 until May 2012. Mr. Lopez is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a B.S. in Business Administration.

Mr. Akiona serves as Chief Financial Officer of AGS and Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer of the Company. Mr. Akiona was appointed to serve as Treasurer of the Company and Chief Financial Officer of AGS on February 23, 2015. Mr. Akiona, most recently served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller of SHFL entertainment, Inc. and Bally Technologies, Inc. Mr. Akiona joined SHFL entertainment, Inc. in December 2005 and held various positions within the organization’s finance and accounting department during his tenure, including Vice President and Corporate Controller and Director of SEC Reporting. Mr. Akiona is a graduate of University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting.

Mr. Gallo joined AGS in February 2010 as Vice President, Licensing and Compliance and Compliance Officer and currently serves as the Company’s Secretary. Previously, Mr. Gallo was General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development for Youbet.com, and Vice President of Legal and Compliance and Corporate Counsel for Konami Gaming. Mr. Gallo has also worked as an attorney in private practice, and as an active duty captain in the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps. Mr. Gallo received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California and a Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific.

Rob Ziems joined AGS in January 2023 as Chief Legal Officer. Ziems has served as in-house counsel for gaming corporations for most of his career handling legal and regulatory matters worldwide. Most recently Ziems was the President and Global Chief Legal Officer. Ziems was with Aruze for 12 years. Prior to Aruze, he served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Mikohn Gaming, later known as Progressive Gaming International Corporation (“PGIC”), where he managed the global legal, human resources, compliance, and internal audit departments, in addition to overseeing all corporate activities. He began in the gaming industry as Associate General Counsel at Station Casino, Inc. and later joined Aristocrat Technologies, Inc. as Associate General Counsel. Ziems earned his law degree from Drake University School of Law, his Master of Business Administration from Indiana University, and his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of South Florida.

Mr. Lee was appointed to serve as Chief Technology Officer of AGS, on July 1, 2015. Mr. Lee most recently served as Chief Technology Officer of Cadillac Jack. Mr. Lee joined Cadillac Jack in 2006 and served as their Chief Technology Officer during his tenure. Prior to his role at Cadillac Jack, Mr. Lee served as the Vice President of Engineering for Bally Technologies. Mr. Lee is a graduate of Georgia State University.

Joining AGS as Chief Marketing Officer in late 2015, Julia leads integrated marketing and corporate communications strategies designed to heighten AGS’ profile with both its customers and other key constituents. Most recently, Julia helped drive corporate communications and manage operations for the Office of the CEO as Chief of Staff at Scientific Games, a $3 billion gaming and lottery supplier. Prior to that, Julia served as Vice President of Global Marketing at Bally Technologies. In 2008, she started her career in gaming at Shuffle Master, managing dual roles as Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Julia carries an MBA from Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business in Winter Park, FL. As someone who gambles often and enjoys the casino experience, Julia understands firsthand the importance of the player being at the center of the AGS-universe when it comes to great game creation and promotion.

Kris Morishige was promoted to AGS’ Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President of Finance in March 2019. In this role, Morishige serves as a strategist, consultant, and implementer as a key member of AGS’ senior management team. She is an advisor to the CEO and senior management team; assists the CEO in facilitating effective decision-making; coordinates the execution of strategic initiatives; and assesses inquiries directed to the CEO. In addition, she oversees treasury, planning, budgeting, and forecasting.

Prior to that, she served six years as AGS’ Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis.

Before joining AGS, Morishige served 11 years as the Director of Finance at Shuffle Master. Previously, she served as a Senior Financial Analyst at Anchor Gaming and through that company’s acquisition by IGT in 2002.

Morishige earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration – Accounting from UNLV.

Mark DeDeaux, Senior Vice President, Slots, joined AGS in 2019 to oversee games product management, gaming operations, and sales administration. In 2021 he was promoted with responsibility for the overall profitability of AGS’ slot business, through collaboration with R&D to formulate strategy and help successfully execute the development of AGS’ hardware and software slot portfolio. DeDeaux brings more than 24 years of gaming industry experience, including 13 years in gaming equipment sales and operations with Next Gaming, Scientific Games, and Bally Technologies, along with more than 10 years in casino management.

John Hemberger is the Senior Vice President of Table Products for AGS. Hired by President and CEO David Lopez to create a table games division for the company in the summer of 2014, Hemberger has grown AGS’ table games portfolio to include more than 25 game titles and a competitive array of table game equipment with more than 1,800 total product installations across the world. In his role as Senior Vice President, Hemberger is responsible for business development, sales, R&D, and product management for all AGS table game products. He also led the acquisition efforts of some of the company’s most successful and award-winning products to date – including Buster Blackjack, War Blackjack, Criss Cross Poker, Bonus Spin, andIn-BET. Hemberger was named one of the gaming industry’s “40 under 40” by Global Gaming Business magazine in 2017.

Drew joined AGS in 2016 and currently serves as Vice President and General Manager for Latin America, a role in which he oversees the company’s team in Mexico and is responsible for expanding prospects throughout Latin America.

Previously, Drew served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for BMM, where he was responsible for client engagement with gaming manufacturers in the Americas.

Prior to BMM, Pawlak was appointed Vice President of Business Development for Ultrazone Franchising, a unique provider of location based entertainment (LBE) centers, which Pawlak founded in 1992. Pawlak has also produced live shows for theme parks, cruise lines and hotel and casino operations in the US and abroad.

Drew’s vast experience in client services, technology, and ability to grow a new business in a unique market space, add to his significant contribution to AGS as it continues to grow in Latin America.

Adam Whitehurst joined AGS in April 2019 as Vice President of Strategic Accounts and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales in September 2019 to oversee North American sales and business development.

Whitehurst is an accomplished sales leader and business development executive with more than two decades of experience in Gaming, where he led sales teams to high levels of performance, successfully integrated sales teams after mergers and acquisitions, negotiated complex, multi-year, enterprise-wide deals, and established a strong track record of trusted customer success and building high-performance teams.

Before joining AGS, he served five years as the Vice President of Game Sales for Scientific Games with responsibility for the eastern U.S. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of Games Sales – Central Region, for Bally Technologies before it was acquired by Scientific Games.

Whitehurst earned a Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Florida.