We spoke to Irina Pisanko, Chief Product Officer at Alpha Affiliates, a seasoned professional in the
dynamic world of iGaming, Irina has carved a niche for herself as a leader and strategic thinker.
Bringing her extensive product development knowledge and expertise to online casinos and
operator businesses, she focuses on regulatory compliance, providing an engaging and user-friendly
gaming environment, and maintaining an understanding of evolving player behaviour and market
trends, as well as promoting collaboration between the various product teams she leads.
In this exclusive interview, Irina shares her insights on the power of mobile to reinvigorate an
industry, the importance of events for growing your network, and ensuring an unwavering
commitment to regulatory excellence.
What’s been one of your favourite tech innovations in the last year?
While the hardware has been around since the 1970s, the continued innovation in the mobile space
year-on-year never ceases to amaze me. I’m continually impressed by mobile’s ability to enhance an
industry, attract new audiences, and ultimately build thriving communities.
For example, in the iGaming industry, we have seen a seismic shift in users from desktop devices to
mobile with 58% of online casino players accessing games via mobile devices. This started during the
pandemic when most of the industry opened its online casinos to retain player bases. An unexpected
bonus came when mobile adoption helped to expand those player communities several times over –
and we’ve seen that continue with a need for diversification and adaptability in a dynamic market
during the past year.
Innovation across many touchpoints of the gaming experience has encouraged this player behaviour
shift. You can see this clearly in mobile payments, for example, with the proliferation of
cryptocurrencies as almost every online casino now allows deposits from various crypto sources and,
in some cases, the currencies themselves are being used within games. Opening up an industry via a
new platform also brought opportunities to communicate with players on the importance and
integrity of regulation, and communities who value responsible and fair gaming are now
commonplace, pushing the industry to uphold those standards to continue its growth.
What is one trend you foresee will change up the tech world in the next year?
Events. A prioritisation of in-person attendance of events that is. 2024 is a year of international
expansion and global networking for many tech businesses, and events are key in this.
With the economy shifting, tech businesses are setting ambitious growth goals bringing innovation
and healthy competition to the market. Events are a great place to expand your network, launch
new products, build brand awareness, and much more. At Alpha Affiliates, we’ve prioritised
participation in events like iGB, SBC, and SiGMA throughout the year. These are helping us access
new markets and opportunities. For example, we’ll be attending SiGMA Brazil next to tap into the
Latin American growth market. Countries across Asia also provide exciting opportunities thanks to
the region’s focus on regulating the industry. While the proliferation of mobile use across Africa
speaks for itself. I firmly believe that part of investing in those markets and building a successful
product suite means being on the ground, and events are a great way to kick-start this investment
into global growth.
What is a dream brand you would like to work with, and why?
I’m incredibly lucky to work with many amazing brands already. Some standout ones are 1RED, Loki,
Spinch and OnLuck. That’s down to their competitive edge, as well as their continual innovation and
focus on being user-friendly. Being and remaining dynamic in the iGaming industry is challenging,
those brands are leading examples.
If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it be?
Regulations are important across all areas of technology, but in the iGaming world, they must be the
foundation of all businesses. There are many elements to consider given the increasing amount of
local regulations, however, I’m particularly keen to see even more focus on regulations.
Not only does the creation and enforcement of regulations help industries thrive and push
innovation forward, but it also creates jobs. Those span legal firms to payment companies, and for
iGaming the operators need specialists from various fields including marketing, development, and
traffic management to all work together to ensure compliance. In addition, for global businesses,
local language support creates a significant number of jobs for low-skilled professionals.
More broadly, given we bridge the gap between iGaming and affiliate marketing, I’m keen we
continue to see the ‘de-mything’ of the affiliate industry. It is, and will continue to be, a strategic and
powerful marketing function that helps businesses connect with communities and grow.
And finally, if you could invent any piece of technology, what would it be?
I’ve been impressed with how artificial intelligence (AI) has entered various areas of business. In my
experience within iGaming it’s invaluable when creating banners, enhancing analytics, and,
importantly, helping us to predict user behaviour. Being able to analyse previous behaviour patterns
gives us incredibly valuable insight – for example, enabling us to predict whether a user will become
a VIP by their third day following registration. Ultimately, advancements in AI are helping us to
better communicate and offer a more personalised experience to users. This is game-changing.
The convergence of tech and brands 