Observed Signal · Sep 9, 2026 · Event · Source: Hello Partner · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Awin, CJ, Partnerize, impact.com CEOs to Map Industry's Future
The CEOs and co-founders of Awin, CJ, Partnerize, and impact.com will join forces for a keynote at PI LIVE Europe to discuss the future of the affiliate and performance marketing industry. The discussion comes as the industry faces significant shifts driven by AI, including the rise of AI shopping agents and changing customer journeys. Recent research cited in the article shows 72% of AI platform users use AI for product research, 42% of consumers use AI tools for shopping, and Mastercard predicts one in ten will routinely use AI agents to shop by 2030. The leaders will address the need for new measurement and attribution models beyond last-click, aiming to scale the industry tenfold. The keynote will be moderated by Jennifer Goodwin.
High-profile executives from major affiliate networks will discuss the future of the industry, signaling strategic focus on AI's impact. Significant for affiliate marketing stakeholders.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Awin, CJ, Partnerize, and impact.com are participating in a joint keynote at PI LIVE Europe.
- The keynote features CEOs and co-founders Sean Sewell, Todd Crawford, Adam Ross, and Santi Pierini.
- The discussion aims to map out the future of the affiliate and performance industry.
- The article cites Mastercard's prediction that by 2030, one in ten people will routinely use AI agents to shop and pay.
- The event is scheduled for publication on September 9, 2026.
Connected Companies & Entities
5 Entities mapped“For the first time, Awin, CJ, Partnerize, and impact.com are coming together to map out the next chapter.”
“For the first time, Awin, CJ, Partnerize, and impact.com are coming together to map out the next chapter.”
“For the first time, Awin, CJ, Partnerize, and impact.com are coming together to map out the next chapter.”
“Research from Adobe found that for those already using AI platforms, 72% said it was their primary tool for researching products and brands.”
“Mastercard recently predicted that by 2030, one in 10 people will routinely use AI agents to shop and pay.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
AI and Retail Media Take Center Stage at IPX 2026
Coverage of IPX London 2026 highlights affiliate industry shifts driven by AI, changing discovery behaviors, and the rapid rise of retail media. Anthony Clements (impact.com) framed AI as the fourth seismic change after search, mobile and social, citing a study where 75% of AI-active consumers began purchase journeys outside standard web search and 25% did so to avoid sponsored ads. Panels urged a mindset shift from last-click attribution to full-funnel, multi-attribution approaches and stressed creator segmentation and convergence between creators, affiliate and retail media. Industry challenges flagged included late payments (25% of affiliates paid at 90+ days; a cited £11bn opportunity to fix), measurement gaps (server-to-server tracking, AI visibility measurement) and protecting creator value from uncredited AI scraping. Storytelling, subscriber value in email, and creator freedom were emphasised as commercial levers.
AI's Impact on Publishing: Framework for Navigating the Chaos
This article from Hello Partner discusses the disruptive impact of AI on the publishing and affiliate marketing industries, particularly focusing on declining organic search traffic and revenue. It highlights an APMA survey where 42% of publishers reported a decline in Google organic search traffic due to AI, and 46% said AI search negatively affected traffic or earnings. The piece promotes the upcoming AIP Summit at PI LIVE Europe, which aims to explore solutions, such as partnerships for AI visibility and AI-driven tools for partnership programs. It also mentions the BuildLab competition where companies like Tradedoubler, Awin, Impact.com, Optimise, Everflow, Adtraction, and Bravo Savings Network developed AI tools to address industry time-sucks. The article is largely a promotional preview for the event, rather than a detailed analysis or breaking news.
Awin ThinkTank DACH 2026: AI, Trust, Partnerships
The Awin ThinkTank DACH 2026 took place at Motorwerk Berlin (event date: 21 May 2026) and gathered advertisers, publishers, agencies and technology partners to discuss how AI, changing search behaviour and new attribution models are reshaping affiliate marketing. Awin speakers argued the sector is moving from click/pixel tracking to an AI-driven commerce and multi-signal attribution infrastructure. Presentations highlighted large increases in AI-driven shopping traffic (Adobe Digital Insights: +1,151% year-on-year Oct 2024–Oct 2025), early DACH AI-traffic figures (0.25% of sales traffic; 0.17% of affiliate sales), and proposed measurement approaches including synthetic prompt measurement and CDN-level AI-crawl tracking. Awin also showcased prototype technologies (CDN integrations, a Publisher MasterTag) and creator metrics from an Awin Creator app. Speakers included Tim Lomborg and Gareth Powell (Awin) and futurist Tristan Horx. The event emphasised publisher trust, content quality and new influence-based monetisation opportunities in the AI era.
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