Affiliate tech expansion at QiH Group redefines partner strategy
QiH Group isn’t just hiring. It’s building. Behind the headline numbers eight engineers already recruited, seven more on the way, and a new CMO from LiveScore Media lies something deeper: a company reshaping how affiliate powerhouses grow, innovate, and stay compliant. That transformation is being driven by a bold affiliate tech expansion designed to bring speed, control, and accountability in-house.
At the centre of it is a move many affiliates discuss but few execute fully: a complete shift to in-house technology. And with that, a clear bet is that, in the long run, control beats convenience.
In an exclusive interview with SiGMA News, Sachin Saxena, Chief Technology Officer of QiH Group, shared how the company is building a tech-first, partner-led affiliate model and why the road to sustainable growth begins from within.
What affiliate tech expansion looks like at QiH Group
When joined QiH Group as its first-ever Chief Technology Officer in September 2024, his remit was clear: to stop outsourcing and start building.
“For us, the driver was growth,” he explained. “We’d had strong relationships with our outsourced partners, but our ambitions demanded more speed, tighter integration, and greater flexibility. That meant going in-house.”
QiH Group first targeted its core development stack, shifting both web applications and data engineering away from external partners. Within months, QiH hired eight engineers and built daily deployment capabilities, a significant shift from the previous two-week sprint cycle.
“We can now release product updates daily,” Saxena said. “That shorter cycle improves UX, lets us test and learn faster, and ultimately delivers better, more relevant users to our partners.”
While growth was the primary motivation, compliance played a supporting role. “Compliance wasn’t the driver, but it absolutely shaped how we approached the transition. We wanted quality, traceability, and trust. Our partners rely on it.”
Building speed, trust, and innovation through in-house control
Shifting to internal tech wasn’t just about cutting turnaround times. It was about agility and credibility. As trust becomes a defining factor for partnerships in Europe’s digital economy, new research shows public confidence in institutions has reached its highest level in nearly two decades
Saxena pointed out that QiH’s internal teams can now adapt more quickly to partner feedback, regional regulations, and marketing shifts.
If you want to match the right user to the right partner, especially when every partner has slightly different goals, you need that speed. And that means having your engineers sitting next to your product, marketing, and commercial teams.
From a compliance perspective, the move has been supported by a full-stack data governance upgrade, including close collaboration with Google to build PII policies and GDPR-aligned infrastructure.
“We’re a data-led organisation. So, having daily governance and platform-wide security practices isn’t optional. It’s embedded,” he added.
It’s this quiet, deliberate reinforcement of trust technical, regulatory, and cultural that underpins QiH’s affiliate tech expansion.
Solving the recruitment riddle
Attracting top tech talent in iGaming isn’t easy. It’s still an industry that outsiders view with caution. But Saxena says the key is experience, not just technical, but human.
We focus hard on the candidates journey. That means clarity about the process, honest conversations about expectations, and quick feedback. We want candidates walking away thinking: that was respectful, that was professional.
QiH operates a hybrid model, with in-office sessions on Tuesday to Thursday and remote sessions on Monday and Friday. However, Saxena is clear that physical collaboration is essential. This view is reflected across the industry as forward-looking affiliates and suppliers reshape workplace models for long-term innovation, as seen in a SiGMA News exclusive about Logifutures’ cultural reinvention.
“Software engineering is a team sport. The whiteboard, the desk-side chat, the spontaneous problem-solving, it’s how we move fast.”
The company’s people-first culture is evident in more than just interview prep. QiH Group flies new hires to its annual conference, shares team goals on a weekly basis, and maps out career progression through structured frameworks.
“We’ve got team members who started 10 years ago and are now in leadership roles,” he said. “That kind of trajectory attracts ambitious people who care about growth.”
From engineering to engagement
The affiliate tech expansion at QiH isn’t just about backend velocity. It’s also about front-end precision.
The appointment of James McCarthy, former Managing Director of LiveScore Media, as QiH’s new Chief Marketing Officer, underscores this intent. He joins a marketing team set to grow from 17 to 27, bringing experience from Betfair and Betway into a department already primed for multi-geo expansion.
Saxena says the alignment between tech and marketing will be foundational: “We’ve got platform initiatives where marketing data, user segmentation, and campaign testing are central. Real-time performance is everything.”
He noted that dynamic campaign deployment, A/B testing on affiliate sites, and retention tools are all part of the current tech roadmap. “James and I are already working closely. As he digs deeper, I expect that integration to get even tighter.”
Why affiliate tech expansion is about futureproofing, not just growth
. Deliver more players. Deliver them smarter and deliver them compliantly. But Saxena is measured when it comes to what success looks like.
Its not about vanity metrics. Its about being the most trusted and valued partner in the iGaming affiliate space. If we can build fast, stay safe, and match the right user to the right operator, weve done our job.
The road ahead includes continued hiring, platform evolution, and regionally adaptive compliance frameworks. QiH is working with global partners, from Google to local regulators, to embed best practices across every layer of the organisation.
Asked if other affiliates will follow suit, Saxena is cautiously optimistic: “Tech drives value. And in this industry, value comes from being able to adapt without cutting corners. If you want control, you need the team in place to manage it. That’s what we’ve built.”
