Vladyslav Bondarenko, ReferOn: “Clean, complete, and understandable data is what builds trust”

The company’s Head of Product reflects on how ReferOn ensures transparency in affiliate marketing with clean data, real-time tracking, transparent payments, and compliance tools for regulated markets.

Exclusive interview.- In this conversation with Focus Gaming News held just before the start of SiGMA Central Europe in Rome, Vladyslav Bondarenko, head of product at ReferOn, explains how the company is setting new standards in transparency and compliance within affiliate marketing. From clean, auditable data to real-time tracking and transparent payments. He also discusses the platform’s evolution toward automation and AI, unveiling how ReferOn plans to redefine the affiliate experience in 2026 with features like its Fraud & Compliance Suite, Unified Affiliate Profile, and “Refie”, a new visual interface designed to humanize B2B technology.

How does ReferOn ensure transparency for partners?

The topic of transparency comes up at every conference: shaving, trust, and data accuracy. Everyone talks about it, but in the end, it all starts from one simple thing — data. Clean, complete, and understandable data is what builds trust. Everything else is secondary.

With ReferOn, we made sure that every number can explain itself. You can see how each deal is calculated, by brand, GEO, or tracker. Finance departments can see the same data as marketing. Affiliates see what they earn and why — no hidden logic, no different versions of truth.

The same goes for payments — they’re fully transparent within the program’s framework, from accruals to final payouts. Admins can access detailed breakdowns and history across brands and campaigns, while affiliates track what’s owed in real time.

Transparency also extends to performance tracking. With in-depth performance data and insights, you can understand how traffic behaves and what drives results — helping you distinguish meaningful activity from noise and make data-driven decisions.

What compliance tools are built into your platform for regulated markets?

In affiliate tech, “compliance” usually means three things: proving who’s allowed to do what, showing how money moved, and documenting what the traffic actually did. That’s exactly how we approach it. No buzzwords, just structure.

Regulatory fields and access: For markets like Greece, we’ve introduced mandatory fields such as a License Number during registration. Without it, you won’t be able to create an account. We’re also preparing a reward history log and a calendar view that instantly shows any change in conditions, such as who made it, when, and what it affected.

Financial layer: audit-ready by default: Our payment logic is fully centralised: accruals, invoices, statuses, and full breakdowns by brand or program — all the way down to the player level. This is what finance and audit teams actually rely on in regulated markets. Every payment method is protected with 2FA, and we keep detailed action logs to display only the facts.

Traffic and content: seeing what happens after the click: With Click-to-Player tracking, every click is tied to actual player behaviour: IP, device, GEO, registration, and deposit. It helps with attribution and with compliance checks without manual and tedious detective work.

Our view on KYC: KYC for affiliates is a sensitive topic. The industry isn’t fond of unnecessary barriers, and formal KYC is often the operator’s responsibility. That’s why we’re looking into KYC as a configurable module, activated only when the market or regulator requires it. In practice, part of this already works. For example, affiliates go through an approval process to add or receive a payment method and may need to upload certain documents. But again, we don’t enforce it on operators — we provide the mechanism. Each brand decides how strict to make it, especially if payouts are handled directly on their side.

What’s next (roadmap): Our first goal is simple: make data explainable, money traceable, and rules visible. Once we lay that foundation, everything else, from formal audits to partner trust, becomes much easier for both operators and affiliates. 

Next, we’ll layer on a Fraud & Compliance Suite with real-time anomaly detection, multi-account pattern tracking, conversion-rate deviation alerts, and integrations with external content-compliance tools. And finally, AI & Compliance add-ons, such as risk signals, cohort analysis, and predictive insights, will act as an intelligent layer on top of clean, structured data.

How do you see affiliate tech evolving in 2026?

I think affiliate tech is finally entering a stage of maturity.

For years, the industry was patching the same problems — outdated architecture, slow data, and endless manual work. Most platforms were built in the 2000s, then endlessly “upgraded” like Frankenstein systems, trying to hold modern AI on top of broken logic. I think 2026 will be less about adding features and more about getting the foundation right, like clean data structures, API-first design, and automation that actually reduces work instead of creating more of it.

Affiliate platforms will move closer to what fintech has already achieved — real-time, modular, and explainable, s2s-postback-ready! That means fewer “control panels,” more ecosystems where data, payments, and users are connected through a single logic.

I also think we’ll see a clear distinction in the market. Legacy systems will stay as reporting tools, while newer ones, like ReferOn, will evolve into infrastructure layers for entire affiliate operations. Of course, this won’t happen overnight, but this is the direction!

And, of course, AI will play a big part — but only where it’s built on structure. AI won’t fix bad data or messy rules. It will become a useful co-pilot once the system itself is clean enough to think logically. That’s where the industry is heading: from tools that track affiliates to systems that understand them.

“Legacy systems will stay as reporting tools, while newer ones, like ReferOn, will evolve into infrastructure layers for entire affiliate operations.”

Vladyslav Bondarenko, head of product at ReferOn.

Are you integrating AI or automation as a working feature?

For us, AI isn’t a headline. It’s already a part of how we build and work.

I use it every day: to write interactive prototypes, generate documentation, or test logic through real conversations with AI instruments. It helps speed up product thinking, not replace it.

Inside ReferOn, we see AI as the next layer of automation, something that connects data, context, and actions. That’s where the idea of the AI Junior Affiliate Manager came from. Having an assistant that can help with small (but constant) tasks: creating tracking links, validating invoices, alerting managers when metrics shift, or even drafting partner communications.

While it’s still in development, it represents a clear direction for us to turn repetitive operations into things that “just happen” in the background.

But before developing full-on, complex AI agents, we decided to start with something a bit simpler — Refie. He’s not an AI agent yet. He’s a visual and emotional layer we’re adding to the platform to make it feel more human. For too long, B2B software has been too serious and faceless, so Refie brings warmth and personality.

Over time, we want him to grow alongside the product and its users, eventually becoming the emotional anchor and “face” of the future AI assistant. For now, he’s just the start — a marker of where we believe the whole B2B experience should go next. Our goal isn’t to make AI more human; it’s to make B2B tools less robotic.

So yes, AI is a big part of our work, but not as a product we sell. It’s the mindset behind how we design, automate, and humanise the whole ReferOn experience.

“For us, AI isn’t a headline. It’s already a part of how we build and work.”

Vladyslav Bondarenko, head of product at ReferOn.

Are you planning new features for 2026 based on market trends?

We follow market trends, but we don’t chase them.

In affiliate tech, trends change fast, but real challenges don’t. Scalability, clarity, and control are still the core problems to solve, and that’s where we’re focusing our roadmap for 2026.

We’re evolving ReferOn into a connected ecosystem where brands, affiliates, payments, and data live under one consolidated logic. The main areas are already defined:

• Unified Affiliate Profile & SSO: one login across brands and programs, making the experience seamless for affiliates.
• Offerwall: a single space to discover and activate offers instantly, without manual setup.
• Gamification: features to re-engage mid-tier affiliates and keep activity steady.
• Fraud & Compliance Suite: real-time quality control and transparency for regulated markets.
• Embedded AI Layer: powering smarter automation, not replacing people.
• Fully Automated Payout Flow: connecting financial logic, audit trails, and payment gateways so payouts happen faster and more transparently.
• Ongoing Security Enhancements: continuously improving the platform’s protection layer with stronger authentication, granular permissions, and better governance tools — bringing reliability into every part of affiliate management.

We’re building all this around one goal: to make affiliate management scalable without growing the team ten times bigger. Everything else can evolve naturally if we get the structure right — clean data, consistent rules, and a human UX.

So, yes, 2026 will bring plenty of new features that actually fix what’s still slowing people down.

What role does SiGMA play in expanding your affiliate network?

SiGMA is like a reality check, giving us a few days of pure and direct feedback. You go there with ideas and leave with an extensive to-do list. But that’s how the network grows — through honest talks, not business cards.

This year, at SiGMA Central Europe in Rome (Booth 5044), attendees will have the chance to explore ReferOn’s latest innovations, meet the team, and experience Refie, the platform’s new living interface making its first public debut.

Those wishing to see how ReferOn performs in real time can book a one-on-one meeting with the team during the event.