accesso Technology Group has named Lee Cowie as its new Chief Executive Officer, completing a planned leadership handover as the leisure and entertainment technology provider pushes deeper into AI-powered venue operations. Cowie, who joined the company as Chief Operating Officer 18 months ago, succeeds Steve Brown, who founded the accesso business in 2008 and led it as CEO in recent years. The company's platform now serves more than 1,100 venues across 31 countries.
The move positions Cowie to lead the company's next phase of growth across ticketing, queuing, point of sale, membership, guest experience, and data intelligence. His priorities include building out accesso Intelligence, the company's AI-powered analytics and forecasting platform that came with its acquisition of Dexibit, plus an integrated payments strategy and fuller integration across the product portfolio.
A founder's handoff
Brown said the transition had been carefully planned and that he's leaving the company in strong shape. He pointed to accesso's data intelligence capabilities, its team, and Cowie's background as a former client of the company - he started his tenure at accesso understanding operators' needs from the buyer side, which informed the product roadmap.
"This transition has been carefully planned, and I'm leaving the business in very good hands," Brown said. "Accesso has a strong foundation, a talented team and expanding data intelligence capabilities that position it well for its next phase of growth. Lee's deep experience in this industry, his unique view as a former client, and his understanding of what operators need, makes him the right person to lead the business forward."
From Merlin Entertainments to the top job
Cowie arrives with more than 15 years in senior international technology leadership across leisure and hospitality. Before accesso, he spent seven years at Merlin Entertainments, most recently as Chief Technology Officer, where he ran technology for more than 125 visitor attractions across 28 countries. He holds an MBA from Henley Business School and a BSc from Imperial College London.
"Accesso has spent 25 years building the infrastructure and ecosystem that operators trust with the moments that matter most," Cowie said. "My focus from here is on making that infrastructure more intelligent, more connected, and simpler for the operators and visitors who depend on it. The AI era is coming into our industry and we are ready for it."
Why this matters for executives and strategy
For technology leaders in consumer-facing operations, Cowie's appointment signals how far AI has moved up the agenda in the attractions and leisure sector. The focus on accesso Intelligence - a forecasting and analytics engine that helps operators anticipate demand across ticketing, queuing, and on-site spend - points to a broader shift where proof of AI value depends on integration with core systems, not standalone pilots. Executives watching this space should weigh how their own operations use guest data to adjust staffing, pricing, and capacity decisions in near real time, and whether their leadership team has the operating background to make that change stick.
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