Zachary Leifer: Board Candidate & Executive Advisor

Zachary Leifer is a Board Candidate and Executive Advisor based in Las Vegas. He has served as Chief Marketing Officer of 1/ST Technology, Chief Commercial Officer of PokerAtlas and Vice President of Corporate Information Technology at Las Vegas Sands, and he is open to corporate, private-company and nonprofit board roles and executive advisory engagements.

Commercial leadership and enterprise technology

As a commercial growth and transformation executive, I help companies create more predictable value from data, digital transformation, technology and AI, measured in revenue growth, EBITDA improvement, stronger customer economics and enterprise value.

My perspective comes from leading the commercial functions responsible for growth and the enterprise technology capabilities needed to support it. At Las Vegas Sands, I was recruited from Vice President of Digital Marketing and eCommerce at The Venetian to Vice President of Corporate Information Technology. I bring that experience to the questions behind major investment decisions: where value will come from, what must change to capture it, and how leadership will know whether the investment is working.

What I bring to a board

Commercial growth and customer economics

I test whether the growth plan improves the economics of acquiring, retaining and serving customers, and whether growth depends on unsustainable acquisition spending, discounting or reinvestment.

Digital and technology investment

I bring a commercial perspective to technology proposals, connecting capabilities to the business decisions and operating changes they must support. The central question is whether the organization can turn a new capability into financial value once it is in place.

AI investment governance

I help leadership teams make AI decisions through AI investment governance, organizational readiness and value realization, using the approach outlined below. I write about the gap between scattered AI use and enterprise value in AI Is Already in Your Company. Is It Creating Enterprise Value?

Customer data and personalization

I evaluate how customer data informs acquisition, retention, pricing and experience. Leading customer data platform and predictive customer-valuation initiatives gives me a basis for asking whether proposed personalization capabilities change customer behavior and contribution, or simply increase campaign activity.

Capital allocation and ROI discipline

I bring experience securing investment through commercial forecasting and presenting the case to senior decision-makers, with a focus on assumptions, alternatives, resource requirements and the evidence needed to continue, change or stop an investment.

Transformation oversight and organizational alignment

I examine whether a transformation has an accountable leader, aligned incentives and sufficient operating support, and I weigh adoption and organizational friction alongside financial performance and delivery milestones. These conditions were a focus of research I completed during the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, summarized in Why Data and Digital Transformations Fail. I look at how AI is reshaping organizational structure and leadership pipelines in The Org Chart Is Being Rewritten.

Gaming, hospitality and wagering

My industry experience spans integrated resorts and gaming, hospitality, horse racing and wagering, and B2B and B2C gaming technology, sectors where customer experience, loyalty, distribution and commercial performance are tightly linked.

Board-level engagement

My board-facing experience comes from the executive side of the table: presenting investment priorities, supporting capital decisions and connecting operating plans to commercial outcomes.

At 1/ST Technology, I secured an increase in the board-approved marketing budget from $8 million to $15 million through direct board-level briefings and ROI forecasting.

During my four years as Chief Marketing Officer, 1/ST Technology delivered 67% revenue growth and a 22% EBITDA CAGR, while customer acquisition cost fell 56% and LTV/CAC improved 73%. Those results reflect the work of the broader organization. Read the 1/ST Technology commercial growth case study.

I secured $13 million in capital investment for digital transformation initiatives that generated $36 million in incremental direct-channel revenue at The Venetian, then part of Las Vegas Sands. Explore The Venetian direct-channel transformation case study.

My subsequent Corporate Information Technology role at Las Vegas Sands included leading a global cloud governance program across the U.S., Singapore and China and setting capital-project, ROI and delivery governance standards for property marketing-technology teams worldwide.

AI Investment Governance and Value Realization

The governance principles that determine whether AI creates value are similar to those that have shaped earlier investments in big data, digital transformation and enterprise technology. Leaders must define the business outcome before selecting the technology, establish accountable ownership, assess organizational readiness, protect the required resources and determine how financial value will be measured.

My perspective is informed by experience governing digital transformation, customer-data, predictive-analytics, marketing-technology and global cloud initiatives, as well as research completed during the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

I help boards and leadership teams examine whether an AI investment has a defensible business case, appropriate ownership, organizational support, clear decision rights and a credible method for measuring value. This includes asking where AI belongs in the business, which workflows must change, what risks require oversight and how leadership will determine whether the investment is producing the intended commercial or operating result.

Executive advisory

I advise CEOs and leadership teams where commercial growth and transformation meet. That can mean clarifying why customer acquisition is becoming less efficient, evaluating a data or technology investment, improving coordination across commercial functions, or assessing whether an AI initiative is ready to move beyond experimentation. The work begins with the economics of the business: what outcome matters, where performance is constrained, and which decisions, capabilities or organizational conditions must change.

My advisory perspective combines marketing and commercial leadership with enterprise technology experience. At PokerAtlas, my mandate as Chief Commercial Officer spanned sales, product, revenue operations, finance and customer success. I built the multi-year operating P&L and long-term organizational structure and led go-to-market and product marketing.

Through State of Mind Strategies, my commercial advisory practice, I work with leadership teams on commercial growth, customer economics, digital transformation and the business application of technology and AI, with ownership of the work remaining inside the business.

Availability

I am open to corporate, private-company and nonprofit board opportunities and executive advisory engagements. I am based in Las Vegas and available nationally and internationally.

To discuss a board or advisory role, email zacharyleifer@gmail.com with the organization, the business challenge and the expected timing so I can assess the fit. I also speak to executive and board audiences; see keynote, panel and board-session topics.