The world of affiliation is growing more complex by the day.
AI is reshaping search and content creation. Social media and the creator economy are opening up new ways for audiences to discover brands. At the same time, tighter advertising rules and changing consumer habits are challenging affiliates to rethink familiar approaches to acquisition and growth.
These issues will sit at the heart of the Affiliate Leaders Summit’s 2026 conference programme. But having the right topics on the agenda is only part of what makes those conversations valuable.
They also need the right people leading them. People who have faced these challenges first-hand, understand how the industry is changing and can share practical guidance on what comes next.
That is exactly what this year’s agenda brings together, welcoming dozens of affiliate leaders, SEO experts, technology specialists and marketing innovators for three days of discussion.
In this blog, we shine a light on some of the most influential voices taking to the Affiliate Leaders Summit stage, in no particular order.
Table of Contents
Adam Bielinski, CEO & Co-Owner at iGaming Nuts
Panel: Content Evolution: Why Content is the Most Undervalued Asset in iGaming Affiliation
During this panel, Bielinski will address the dramatic evolution of affiliate content, exploring the move from long-form to short-form, the growing power of social media and native storytelling, and why affiliates must treat content as a strategic asset to gain a competitive edge.
Why he’s crucial to the conversation
With more than a decade of experience across affiliate marketing, product development and business strategy, Bielinski has seen how content has evolved from both a commercial and product perspective. Through leadership roles at iGaming Nuts, Mahalo Media and Better Collective, he brings valuable insight into how affiliates can turn content into a genuine growth asset rather than simply another marketing function.
Milorad Matejic, COO, Gentoo Media
Panel: Future Shock: The Predictions Affiliates Don’t Want to Hear
Matejic will walk attendees through the uncomfortable realities facing modern affiliation and, crucially, how to prepare for them. The discussion will explore increasingly restrictive markets, unsustainable traffic sources, growing platform control and what the future could hold if attribution, SEO and traditional CPA models continue to lose ground.
Why his voice matters
Having spent eight years at Gaming Innovation Group before becoming COO of Gentoo Media, Matejic combines deep SEO expertise with senior operational leadership. His experience gives him a valuable perspective on how search, technology and changing acquisition models are reshaping affiliate businesses, and what companies need to do to stay competitive.
Elaine Gardiner, Managing Director, TAG Media
Panel: The Future of Affiliation: Where Is the Next Billion Dollar Opportunity? & Affiliate Leadership 2030: The Strategies Defining the Next Decade
Gardiner will look at both where the industry’s next major growth opportunities could emerge and how businesses can position themselves to capture them. Across two forward-looking panels, she will lead discussions covering AI search, creator economies, emerging verticals and new performance models, alongside the technologies and leadership strategies that could define the next decade of affiliation.
Why her insights matter
With more than 18 years in affiliate marketing, Gardiner has worked across affiliate management, operations, consultancy and programme development. Her experience at companies including TAG Media, Betsson, Gaming Innovation Group and Global Gaming gives her a broad view of how the sector has evolved, and the emerging tech powering the affiliate sector.
Jonathan Edelshaim, CEO, Natural Intelligence
Panel: Affiliate Leadership 2030: The Strategies Defining the Next Decade
In this session, Edelshaim will help attendees prepare for the future of affiliate marketing, exploring where the next competitive edge will come from, which technologies and capabilities are worth investing in, and how leadership must evolve to drive future growth.
The leadership perspective
As CEO of Natural Intelligence, Edelshaim leads a major global comparison and performance marketing business at a time when AI, search and changing consumer behaviour are reshaping digital acquisition. That position gives him a valuable perspective on where affiliate businesses should invest, how leadership needs to evolve and what will create competitive advantage over the next decade.
Pierre Cadena, COO, Catena Media
Panel: Affiliate Leadership 2030: The Strategies Defining the Next Decade
Cadena will explore how the affiliate business model could evolve over the next decade as AI, changing search behaviour and new consumer expectations reshape the industry. The discussion will consider how traditional approaches to acquisition and growth may need to adapt, where new opportunities are emerging and what affiliates can do today to position their businesses for long-term success.
What he brings to the table
Cadena brings experience spanning affiliate marketing, digital media, gaming and corporate strategy. From senior roles at Caesars Interactive, WarnerMedia and Fox Entertainment to his current position as COO of Catena Media, he has helped businesses navigate major shifts in technology, consumer behaviour and distribution, making him particularly well placed to discuss how affiliation could evolve next.
Leanne Muleba, COO, Matching Visions
Panel: Ad Crackdowns = Affiliate Minefield
Muleba will tackle the growing compliance issues facing affiliates as advertising restrictions, disclosure requirements and platform enforcement intensify. She will explore how affiliates can remain compliant without sacrificing conversion, which traffic sources carry the greatest risks and how businesses can avoid losing rankings, accounts and partnerships.
What sets her apart
Muleba has worked across almost every part of the affiliate operation, progressing from content and affiliate management into product leadership and ultimately the COO role at Matching Visions. With responsibilities spanning affiliation, sales, finance and day-to-day operations, she brings a practical understanding of how tighter advertising and compliance requirements affect both commercial performance and the teams responsible for delivering it.
Chris Duncan, COO, Spotlight Sports Group
Panel: The Future of Affiliation: Where Is the Next Billion Dollar Opportunity?
Duncan will examine where the next major growth opportunities for affiliates could emerge as technology, consumer behaviour and digital discovery continue to evolve. He will explore how businesses can capitalise on new markets and performance models, adapt their content and identify which emerging opportunities have the potential to deliver sustainable, long-term growth.
What he brings to the discussion
Duncan brings extensive experience spanning media, commercial strategy, audience development and digital transformation. From leading UK Publishing at Bauer Media Group and Times Newspapers to advising businesses on media monetisation and content strategy, he has spent much of his career identifying and developing new revenue opportunities, making him particularly well placed to assess where affiliation’s next billion-dollar businesses could be built.
Keith Geary, Director of Marketing, Mr Gamble
Panel: Content Evolution: Why Content is the Most Undervalued Asset in iGaming Affiliation
Geary will explore how the role of content is changing as affiliates move beyond traditional SEO and embrace social platforms, short-form formats and more brand-led approaches. He will examine why content should be treated as a commercial asset rather than simply a production function, and how stronger content strategies can help affiliates build audiences, strengthen their brands and ultimately drive better performance.
What his participation means
Geary has decades of expertise across digital marketing, product, media and brand strategy. From marketing roles at Playtech and Camelot to leading casino, media and operations at Game Lounge, he has worked across both operator and affiliate environments. Now Marketing Director at Mr Gamble, his background gives him a valuable perspective on how affiliates can evolve their content strategies to build stronger brands and drive commercial results.
Will Barfield, Head of Fan Reach, Better Collective
Panel: Measurement in 2027: the cookie decline and the first-party data crisis
Barfield will examine how affiliates can rethink measurement as third-party tracking becomes less reliable and traditional attribution models lose their effectiveness. He will explore which advertising technologies can still deliver meaningful insight, how first-party audience data can strengthen measurement and how affiliates can demonstrate their value to operators when performance is increasingly difficult to attribute.
What he brings to the discussion
Barfield’s background features roles across programmatic advertising, audience data and performance measurement. At Better Collective, he leads the programmatic strategy and commercial growth of FanReach, overseeing first-party audience products and data-led media solutions. Combined with more than a decade working across paid media, adtech and campaign optimisation, his hands-on knowledge of how audiences are targeted and measured makes him ideal to tackle affiliation’s changing data landscape.
Vadim Aidlin, CEO, Mamuta Media
Panel: Ad Crackdowns = Affiliate Minefield
Aidlin will explore how affiliates can navigate increasingly strict advertising rules without undermining acquisition and conversion. He will examine how tighter platform enforcement is impacting SEO, paid media and other traffic sources, where the biggest compliance risks sit and how businesses can adapt their acquisition strategies as regulations continue to evolve.
Why his voice matters
Aidlin has spent more than 20 years across affiliate marketing, adtech, SEO and digital acquisition. As CEO of Mamuta Media, he leads customer acquisition strategies for regulated iGaming operators, while his previous role at Betsson Group saw him oversee SEO across more than 25 brands and multiple regulated markets. His experience on both the operator and acquisition sides gives him a strong understanding of how advertising restrictions can impact traffic, performance and commercial growth.
The Voices that Matter
From navigating new regulations to embracing new technologies and rethinking how audiences are reached, the challenges facing affiliates are becoming increasingly complex.
The voices highlighted here represent just a snapshot of the expertise coming to the Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026. Across three days, leaders from across the industry will share ideas, challenge established thinking and explore what the next chapter of affiliation could look like.
With change showing no signs of slowing down, these are the voices that will help affiliates understand what is coming next and, more importantly, how they can prepare for it
