The Affiliate Leaders Summit will tackle rising advertising regulation, emerging market opportunities, and the future of the affiliate model head-on through its Future of Affiliate Strategy track.
Taking place on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, the track will bring together affiliate executives, operators, media leaders, and performance marketing specialists to examine how regulation, technology, changing audience behaviours, and international expansion are reshaping affiliate strategy.
“Affiliates have always been quick to adapt, but right now there’s just so much coming at them at once,” said SBC Founder and CEO Rasmus Sojmark. “AI is changing how people find brands. Regulation keeps shifting. Attribution is getting harder to pin down. Having the right knowledge has never mattered more.
“The Affiliate Leaders Summit, and this track especially, is about looking ahead, helping affiliates arrive prepared and ready to make the most of these changes.”
What’s on the Future of Affiliate Strategy schedule?
The track will open with ‘Ad Crackdowns = Affiliate Minefield‘, examining how affiliates can maintain conversion as advertising restrictions and platform enforcement have become increasingly difficult to navigate. Featuring Vadim Aidlin (CEO, Mamuta Media), Laila Bertagnolli (CEO, Deal Machines), Rene Gabriel (Sales Director, Livesport) and Leanne Muleba (Chief Operations Officer, Matching Visions), the panel will explore which traffic sources remain viable, how affiliates can keep content compliant as rules change, and the commercial consequences of falling behind new advertising requirements.
Attention then turns to the longer-term sustainability of existing affiliate models during ‘Future Shock: The Predictions Affiliates Don’t Want to Hear‘, featuring Pierre Cadena (COO, Catena Media), Stephen Clibbon (Head of Affiliates, VL Partners), Jenny Gonzalez (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Rocahead), Elena Granishevskaia (Head of Affiliate Marketing, M88 Mansion), Milorad Matejic (COO, Gentoo), and Yonit Shvinkelstain (Co-Founder, Leverage). AI, regulation and growing platform control are reshaping customer acquisition, and the panel will challenge assumptions about which affiliate models, markets and traffic sources can still deliver. Discussion will cover the future of SEO, attribution and CPA models, and how affiliates can prepare as traditional acquisition strategies stop paying off.
‘The Future of Affiliation: Where Is the Next Billion Dollar Opportunity?‘ examines how affiliates can adapt to a changing landscape and build a business that’s primed for a lucrative exit. Featuring Chris Duncan (COO, Spotlight Sports Group), Karina Ferraioli (Founder & CMO, Master Affiliates Network), Elaine Gardiner (Managing Director, TAG Media) and Esko Rissanen (Director of Revenue, Gentoo), the panel explores how affiliates can optimize across prediction markets, sweepstakes, AI search, creator economies, and new performance models, helping delegates identify where the strongest growth potential lies.
Changing audience habits will also come into focus during ‘Content That Still Cuts Through: What Audiences Actually Engage With Now‘. Featuring James Connelley (Chief International Officer, LiveScore Group), Jamil Qanai (Director of Commercial, LiveScore Group), Greg Lacan (Co-Founder, UniK SEO), Javier Rodríguez (Head of Affiliation & Digital Marketing Manager, Afiliapub), Rui Costa (Head of Content, Gentoo) and Sue Dawson (Operations Director, FTD Digital), the panel will examine how affiliates can adapt as long-form reviews compete with short-form video, live streams, creators, and communities for attention, exploring which formats are driving repeat engagement and where content strategies need to evolve.
Elsewhere on the track, sessions will explore how affiliates can balance growth and compliance across multiple jurisdictions, identify new opportunities across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and reach new audiences through emerging verticals. The track will also feature a special presentation on how affiliates can attract a new generation of bettors to horse racing.
Get access to the Future track at Affiliate Leaders Summit
Attendance at the Affiliate Leaders Summit Future of Affiliate Strategy track is reserved exclusively for attendees with a VIP Pass. Affiliates and regulators may be eligible for a free pass. Find more information here.
