Tech entrepreneur Max Polaczuk has got the new role.
Max Polaczuk.
NZX-listed Black Pearl Group has appointed tech entrepreneur Max Polaczuk as vice president of artificial intelligence. This underscores Blackpearl’s ambition to position AI at the core of its operations, not just as a function but as a fundamental driver of business growth and innovation.
“It’s no secret that AI has become the rocket-fuel of ambitious businesses. At Blackpearl, we’re on a mission to innovate at a speed that sees us stay as far ahead of our competitors as possible," founder and CEO Nick Lissette said. "As such, AI isn’t a department; it’s business as usual and elevating AI to an executive function underscores its central role in our decision-making, product development and market leadership."
He said Polaczuk has a track record of anticipating industry shifts and building AI-powered businesses from the ground up, "making him the ideal leader to accelerate Blackpearl’s AI-first vision".
As the driving force behind Sportsflare, Polaczuk built and scaled an AI-powered eSports betting platform that was acquired in 2023 by Entain for over $15 million. Sportsflare’s technology transformed the industry by introducing real-time micro-markets, AI-powered bet builders and performance-based betting solutions.
Beyond Sportsflare, Polaczuk also co-founded Idyllic, a Wellington-based AI startup focused on democratising generative content creation. Idyllic’s platform makes AI-driven creativity accessible to everyone, blending cutting-edge technology with an intuitive user experience to help people produce content both faster and more accurately.
In addition, his machine learning research has been cited by leading tech companies and universities, including Google and Amazon, and he has consulted on AI systems across both the private and public sectors in New Zealand. Prior to joining Blackpearl Group, Max built large-scale AI systems at Xero, working alongside Blackpearl Group’s CTO, Sam Daish.
"I’ve been building AI products for a long time – well before AI entered the mainstream business arena in 2022. At Blackpearl, I’ll do what I do best: build AI products that generate real revenue. This isn’t just about innovation for the sake of it; it’s about driving business growth. AI is central to Blackpearl’s future, and we’re moving at full speed to build that future," Polaczuk said.
At Blackpearl, Polaczuk led the rapid development of Bebop, the company’s AI-powered sales intelligence tool, in one quarter. The company said Bebop is a game-changer for SMEs, offering powerful sales intelligence at a fraction of the cost of competitors like ZoomInfo, Kaspr and Apollo.
"Max played a pivotal role in bringing Bebop to market at unprecedented speed; it was really astounding. This is the new norm for Blackpearl – AI-driven innovation, delivered at pace," Lissette said.
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