This year has brought with it some of the most significant changes — and challenges — the industry has ever seen. The culprit? Top of the list is the maturation of AI, which has resulted in sweeping shifts to shopper and search behaviour, traffic and revenue declines and technological overhauls.
PI LIVE Europe - Festival of Partnerships arrives as publishers, brands, networks, affiliate managers, and everyone in between search for answers. At the event, touching on everything from the end of the funnel and the data divide to the power of community and the attribution conundrum, we’ll be asking the tough questions, analysing the solutions and providing toolkits the industry can take away.
Is the end nigh? One expert argues it’s already here.
Dr Lauren Ingram will be saying out loud what we’ve all been whispering: the marketing funnel is over. Ingram will investigate what happens when a 25-year-old model of how growth happens dies.
This is a no-holds-barred keynote that won’t shy away from the challenge this poses and will invite the industry to ask itself what growth means. We’ll be waiting at the doors post-session to ask delegates their stance on this issue, so don’t be shy; come say hello and get your voice heard.
And as this structural shift takes hold, we’ll also be asking whether affiliate being held back by the old ways of working. Expect a deep dive into operational silos, the rise of consolidated marketing teams and insight into how a connected approach is the ticket to ride.
Alongside the funnel’s collapse and the costs of siloed working, we’re asking what’s really going on with data and how to keep up in a rapidly changing landscape.
Plus, there’s a whole truck load of workshops equipping industry players across the ecosystem with the tools they need to overcome MMM disruptions, diagnose sophisticated fraud, protect traffic and plug the tracking leak.
What’s in the winners’ arsenal?
But we’re not just getting to grips with challenges; we’ll also be looking at the industry’s winners and asking: what are they doing right?
We’re looking at you, Health and Beauty.
According to the APMA’s State of the Affiliate Nation, in the UK, investment in this category was up 20% year-on-year in 2025, while revenue rose 48% YoY. How did they do it? We’re giving you a replicable playbook to implement and level up.
In tandem, we’ll be taking a look at another player gaining serious momentum: retail media. The ecosystem has ballooned into the fastest-growing digital marketing channel in recent years, and in the first six months of 2026, it rose 32% year-on-year to £2bn in the UK. We’re bringing in the expert to map out how this happened, with insider tips on how affiliate can replicate its success and effectively secure budget as competition heats up.
And as the commerce enters the age of agents, we’re bringing Google Strategist Heiko Hotz on stage to walk through how companies prepare for the agentic era and stay visible and valuable in a machine-mediated environment.
Plus, we’re bringing together the biggest network players to hash out where they think the industry is heading and what needs to happen next to capitalise on the opportunity ahead.
They shape the partnership infrastructure, reporting capabilities and how you prove impact. What are they planning? Sit in on this session to find out.
The secret sauce - but it’s not a quick fix
As the rules of the game change and influence fragments, we’ll also be taking a close look at the new centres of trust: community and content. Closed User Groups, community and editorial platforms — we’re looking at the new imperatives for building and connecting with audiences.
We’ll be looking at what earns credibility; what building real trust looks like; the different models for success and how editorial influence travels across different platforms.
This is just a taster of what we’ve got in store for you; find the full agenda here.
The Hello Partner editorial team will be on the ground for the duration of this groundbreaking event. We’ll be asking the important questions and mining your hot takes.
Our boots are on the ground and we want to know what problems you're facing, the solutions you're betting on and where you think this is all heading.
