"2025 was a formative year for ReferOn as we scaled into a platform that challenges legacy platforms head-on"

Affiliate marketing continues to evolve rapidly, with 2025 introducing multiple new features and developments. ReferOn has been at the forefront of these efforts, setting the standards and answering increased demand for transparency and clarity.

To reflect on the past year and look ahead at what’s next, Yogonet spoke with Vlad Bondarenko, Head of Product at ReferOn, about the milestones that have shaped 2025, the industry trends influencing the industry, and how the platform is preparing for the future.

Looking back at 2025, how would you assess the year for ReferOn? What were some of the key milestones, achievements, or lessons learned over the past 12 months?

2025 was a formative year for us as we scaled into a platform that challenges legacy platforms head-on by providing affiliate managers and operators with the tools and features they actually need. Reflecting on the past 12 months, I can definitely say that it was a successful one as we conducted complex migrations seamlessly and expanded significantly, but I also acknowledge that we have much more to do.

Our growth is validation that there is a real demand for affiliate tech that prioritises transparency, clarity, and control over surface-level features that provide no inherent value. As such, one of the most important milestones of this year was mastering the foundations to provide speed, clean data, and flexible logic without sacrificing reliability.

From a product perspective, I learned that affiliates don’t need more dashboards and AI — they need structure. When talking to operators, we found that many challenges and frustrations weren’t technical but architectural. Messy reward logic, chaotic spreadsheets, fragmented data, and the hell of having too many tabs open. So, we focused on providing a platform that’s accessible, easy to understand, and empowering.

Which industry issues or trends do you feel shaped the gaming conversation in 2025? Are there specific technologies, player behaviors, or market developments that you think will define 2026?

The conversation in 2025 was defined by the most overused word in the industry: AI. Many platforms rushed to tack the “AI” label on a surface-level automation or chatbot without really innovating. In reality, most systems aren’t structurally ready for any significant intelligence — and that’s a problem for legacy platforms as they continue to get left behind. 

After spending hundreds of hours speaking with real operators, we found that there is a genuine opportunity for a platform that actually connects with its users. So, we developed Refie, our platform’s human layer that exists between dashboards, assisting with tasks and providing a warm connection. Eventually, it will pave the way for meaningful intelligence and advanced engagement features to transform how affiliate managers interact with their software.

We developed Refie in response to our prediction that platforms will need to evolve, engage, and connect rather than exist as a cold and industrial calculation machine.

What can we expect from ReferOn in 2026? What are the main opportunities and challenges you anticipate in the year ahead, both within your existing markets and in terms of expansion?

Refie will be at the core of our product developments. Currently, he serves as a helpful point of connection, where he can adjust reward logic, identify anomalies, and offer suggestions. Eventually, we’ll bolster the existing infrastructure to include various gamification and engagement features, making the platform experience more interactive. This will evolve affiliate management from a tedious and mundane activity into one that is at the centre of business operators, where whole departments can intertwine responsibilities and communication.

The end goal for 2026 will be to have Refie-powered intelligence on the platform, allowing managers to focus on important growth-centric actions rather than dealing with unnecessary spreadsheets, tabs, and dashboards.

ReferOn is advancing an AI strategy aimed at redefining the affiliate space, including workflows, process automation, and engagement. Can you tell us a bit more about how ReferOn will advance this strategy in 2026 and why AI is such a key asset?

We’ve been clear about this for a while. For us, AI isn’t about replacing human manpower — it’s about replacing the extremely tedious manual tasks that no one enjoys doing so that they can focus on actually impactful work. 2026 will be the year when we focus on enhancing our platform experience and embedding helpful intelligence: automating repetitiveness, supporting business-critical decisions, and reducing operational friction across payouts, tracking, and compliance.

AI is a key asset when it’s part of the infrastructure, not just a feature. It’s also best when it feels invisible and a natural part of the platform ecosystem that organically assists and empowers. We don’t expect ReferOn to become a futuristic do-it-all platform suddenly. We understand that convincing change is steady, and that every feature and patch we ship is a meaningful step towards true progress.

The ReferOn team will be attending iGB Affiliate 2026 in Barcelona from 20-21 January 2026 at Stand L58. Secure an exclusive 1-on-1 meeting with the team today.