PerformanceIN Live is already halfway through having opened its doors this morning at the Old Billingsgate.

With over 2,500 attendees arriving for the two-day event to celebrate all forms of measurable marketing, we’ve brought you some of the day’s top highlights and sessions on the latest platforms and industry trends.

Here’s a round-up of just some of the action on day one:

Data and how you use it

A wide range of speakers and companies brought a variety of topics to life at the Old Billingsgate. Tom Manning, head of strategy at Forward3D touched on the importance of data for businesses and how it is the “approach you take” rather than the amount of data you have which holds more value to marketers. Also, with the impending GDPR regulation and the use of cookies diminishing, Tom advised marketers to understand their position on data and accept its “imperfect nature”.

Is Artificial Intelligence taking over?

One of the biggest talking points at PI Live has been the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on performance marketing, so a packed out Keynote for the Webgains’ presentation on the subject matter was to no surprise. Richard Dennys, CEO at Webgains, talked on using machine learning and natural language to reach customers more efficiently while sharing light on their new AI programme IBM Watson in collaboration with the digital tech company – in itself completing campaigns in real time.

Meanwhile, Karolin Nikonz, executive partner and IBM and Duncan Anderson, CEO at humanise.AI elaborated on the human side of the process and that while AI uses existing data to make the decisions and conversations: it’s down to the “people to make exceptional decisions from unexpected events.”

Following a busy rush we managed to catch a few moments of the successful global growth of digital performance marketing company Impact Radius, with co-founder Todd Crawford emphasising the importance of understanding global affiliates and having the “competitive advantage” in order to target those kind of markets.

Influencers are the big winners

Day one played host to the co-located Influencer Marketing Show, an influencer-exclusive event focused on the integration of ROI with the channel.

Owen Hancock, head of strategy and Gill Makepeace, publisher development director at CJ Affiliates rounded off the subject of influencers with a look at how stories can help to influence purchases and add an extra layer of credibility.

A key theme through was the impact and value of influencers against micro-influencers. Watch our interview with Olivia Allan, Queen at agency Social Circle, for an expert view into the fast-changing industry how it can help brands become more “authentic” with the customer.

This interview, and others – including Monotote on the advent of automation, TradeTracker.com tackling the move away from last click and NMPi on getting programmatic back on track – are available to watch in full over on our Facebook page.

Day one was certainly eventful with the second course looking even bigger, geared for talks on building performance, attribution and mobile strategy on the agenda. Make sure you’re following the PerformanceIN Facebook, Twitter and #IPMA17 for round-the-clock updates.