ND Agency founder Neguin Farhangmehr named Affiliate’s Most Valuable Player at ThinkTank APAC 2026
ND Agency was proud to sponsor ThinkTank APAC 2026, a day of ideas, collaboration and celebration that became even more memorable when our founder, Neguin Farhangmehr, received the Affiliate’s Most Valuable Player award.
On 6 August 2026, more than 250 advertisers, publishers, platforms and agencies came together at Shangri-La Sydney for ThinkTank APAC 2026, hosted by Commission Factory and Awin Global.
As a proud event partner, ND Agency joined the APAC affiliate and performance marketing community for a day exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping discovery, why the industry must move beyond last-click attribution and how a more diverse partnership ecosystem can drive growth across the entire customer journey.
The day ended with an incredibly special moment for our team: ND Agency founder Neguin Farhangmehr was named Affiliate’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the ThinkTank APAC Network Awards.
A meaningful milestone
The Affiliate’s Most Valuable Player award recognises the standout individuals helping move affiliate and performance marketing forward across the APAC region.
For Neguin, the recognition comes after more than 17 years working in affiliate and performance marketing across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, the US and Southeast Asia.
During that time, she has helped build teams, launch and transform affiliate programs, champion stronger industry standards and contribute to the development of the channel in Australia. In 2025, she took the next step in that journey by launching ND Agency.
Since then, ND Agency has grown into a specialist affiliate and partnerships agency managing programs across multiple international markets, supported by a team that shares a commitment to thoughtful strategy, transparency and genuine partnership.
“Affiliate marketing is the industry I grew up in professionally, so receiving this recognition means more than I can properly express. Building ND Agency has been one of the proudest and most challenging chapters of my career. This award may have my name on it, but it also reflects the people who have trusted us, supported us and helped us build something we are incredibly proud of.”
Neguin Farhangmehr
Founder and Managing Director, ND Agency
Looking beyond the last click
One of the strongest messages to emerge from ThinkTank APAC was that affiliate marketing’s contribution cannot always be understood by looking only at the final interaction before a sale.
In the Beyond Last-Click session, Hitesh Gopal from NielsenIQ and David Toporzisek from Who Gives A Crap explored how marketing mix modelling can help businesses understand where demand was created, amplified and ultimately captured.
Last-click attribution can identify the partner present at the point of conversion, but it does not necessarily show which publisher introduced the customer to the brand, influenced their consideration or strengthened their intent earlier in the journey.
This distinction matters. Content publishers, creators and other discovery-led partners can influence future searches and conversions without receiving credit for the final sale. More sophisticated measurement can help brands understand incrementality, channel interactions and the wider effect of their partnerships, allowing budgets and commissions to be allocated more fairly.
For ND Agency, this reinforces a principle that already sits at the centre of our approach: affiliate programs should be assessed on the value partners create throughout the customer journey, not solely on their proximity to conversion.
AI is changing how consumers discover brands
The opening session, The New Era of Discovery, brought together BrightEdge’s Kylie Tabrett and Commission Factory CEO Zane McIntyre to examine how artificial intelligence is transforming search, commerce and affiliate marketing.
Consumers are increasingly using AI-powered platforms to research products, compare options and receive recommendations. As these experiences evolve, discovery may take place without a traditional search result or website click.
This creates both an opportunity and a measurement challenge for brands and publishers.
Visibility will increasingly mean being included in the answers and recommendations generated by AI platforms. Strong third-party authority, helpful content and positive brand sentiment will all contribute to whether a business earns a place on that shortlist.
At the same time, marketers may need to look beyond traffic volume and consider measures such as visibility, mentions, citations, conversion quality and share of recommendation.
The practical takeaway was clear: brands should understand how they currently appear in AI-generated results, ensure their content remains technically accessible and invest in useful, authoritative content that answers the questions customers are asking.
Partnership innovation in action
ThinkTank APAC also hosted the first APAC Partner Grand Final, challenging Linkby, Zyft, Future Publishing and Click Frenzy to respond to one advertiser brief with solutions covering different stages of the marketing funnel.
Congratulations to Linkby, which took home the inaugural trophy following the live audience vote.
The presentations demonstrated the diversity that now exists within the affiliate and partnerships channel. Publishers and technology partners can contribute to discovery, consideration, conversion and retention in very different ways, and the strongest programs are built by understanding where each model creates the greatest value.
What we are taking forward
The future of affiliate marketing is broader than any one publisher type, attribution model or point in the customer journey.
AI is changing how consumers discover brands. Content and creator partnerships are influencing demand before the click. Loyalty, comparison and technology partners are creating new ways for brands to reach customers. Measurement must now evolve alongside the channel.
Yet the most important part of ThinkTank APAC was still the people.
Events like this create space for advertisers, publishers, agencies and platforms to share ideas openly, learn from one another and celebrate the individuals and teams helping the industry progress.
We are incredibly proud that ND Agency could support the event as a sponsor, and even prouder to see Neguin’s contribution recognised with the Affiliate’s Most Valuable Player award.
Thank you to Commission Factory, Awin and the judging panel for the recognition. Congratulations to every winner and finalist, and to everyone who contributed to such an insightful and memorable day.
If you want to build an affiliate program that creates demand, supports discovery and delivers measurable, sustainable growth, get in touch with ND Agency.
About ND Agency
ND Agency is a performance-led affiliate and partnership marketing agency working with brands globally. We specialise in building intent-led affiliate strategies, partnering brands with high-quality publishers, and driving incremental, sustainable growth.
