SiGMA Magazine: Is gamification the real answer to improving workplace motivation?
Josh O’Cock, Co-Founder of Motileo and winner of SiGMA Euro-Med Startup Pitch 2025 is featured in SiGMA Magazine Issue 35, released in conjunction with SiGMA Central Europe this November. The piece explores Motileo’s strategy for gamifying the workplace to improve motivation, focusing on the current problems with disengagement in the workplace.
The full feature that follows breaks down Motileo’s gamification mechanics and the future of workplace motivation.
Visualising the win
When Josh stepped onto the stage at the SiGMA Euro-Med Startup Pitch Competition 2025, the outcome already felt inevitable. At Motileo’s Malta office, an empty space waited in his trophy cabinet, a spot Josh cleared before even travelling to the competition. “Stepping onto that stage and winning this pitch was a moment that I had visualised for a long time,” he says. “We left nothing to chance, we obsessively prepared.” That obsessive preparation paid off.
Josh first made his mark in 2015 when he founded the marketing agency Growth Gurus, going on to work with more than 400 brands. It was through this agency that he met Hilmi Aytar, “In 2024, Hilmi came to my office as a potential client and he introduced me to the product that he had built. I knew this was something really special. It was deeply aligned with my personal values around inspiration, motivation and striving to be better.”
Within days, Josh joined as Co-Founder.“He basically asked me to marry him on the spot. That was on a Thursday. By Monday, we were business partners.” And he wasted no time setting ambitious goals: “One of the first things I told him is next year we’re going to win the SiGMA Pitch. Then, we’re going to sign SiGMA as a client.”
Performance, elevated
At its core, Motileo transforms workplace performance through gamification. Gamification isn’t new in iGaming but Hilmi and Josh saw the untapped potential of applying the same mechanics inwardly, to employees. “Many great business leaders say their best asset is their team. So we apply this same thrill of gamification that works so well on players to employees…keeping your workforce engaged, motivated, aligned with the company’s goals and performing at their best.”
Gallup’s State of the Workplace Report for this year shows that nearly 80% of employees are disengaged, costing companies millions. “With Motileo, we make progress and performance feel rewarded, measurable, visible and contagious.” What makes Motileo stand out is its alignment with human psychology. “I believe that all humans want to be successful. We love recognition, and we love it in real time”
The results speak for themselves. For one iGaming client’s customer service team, they saw a 60% increase in high-rated customer chats and a 55% faster response time after Motileo gamified its support team. And clients are already expanding beyond sales and support into finance, product, development and even external casino partner networks.
Game on
For Josh, Motileo is an identity. “When people hear Motileo, they instantly think of motivation. Motileo is the Motivation Lion. It’s about peak performance, inspiration and success.”
The SiGMA prize package, including their first exhibition booth in Rome at stand 3211, will act as a springboard. “This is our chance to explode brand awareness. It’s our first exhibition booth and I see it as a real catapult opportunity for our growth.” The Motileo vision doesn’t stop there. “Any team with KPIs can use Motileo. Our long-term goal is to become the single hub where organisations integrate all their performance data.”
“Gamified performance tools won’t just be nice to have; they’ll be the standard. Gamification is not a gimmick, it’s the future of how teams will work, compete and grow together.” And Motileo? “We’re ready to lead the charge.”
For more expert insights like this, stay tuned for Issue 36 of SiGMA Magazine, which will be released in conjunction with SiGMA South Asia in Sri Lanka from 30- 02 December 2025.
