AI in iGaming: A New Opportunity for Brands - Interview with Anton Khomenok, Founder & CEO at X6 AGENCY

Anton Khomenok, Founder & CEO of X6 AGENCY, has been working in the iGaming industry since 2023. He specializes in media buying via Telegram Ads and social media sources. He runs his own network of social media traffic sources and hosts a YouTube channel — the #1 B2B media outlet in the CIS within the high-risk industry.

X6 AGENCY is a performance-driven media buying agency. It specializes in performance marketing, media buying, and building funnels and automating them through AI — helping businesses turn traffic into tangible profit

AI in iGaming: A New Opportunity for Brands

In this interview for LUCKLANDIA, Anton explains how AI in iGaming brings new opportunities for brands. What are the good sides of AI in iGaming and what are bad sides? What are challenges and risks when using AI in marketing? What's the next step for AI in iGaming? Find out all the answers in the interview. 

Q: Hello Anton, for the start, how do you see generative AI — bad for brands, or a good opportunity for brand authority?

Anton: It's an opportunity, but not for everyone. Generative AI removed the barrier to entry — now a small brand can produce as much content as a big one with a large budget. But that's exactly why the market is getting flooded with cookie-cutter AI content, and trust in it is dropping. The winners are those who use AI as an amplifier of their own expertise and voice, not as a replacement for substance. If there's a real point of view behind the content, AI builds authority. If it's generated for the sake of volume, it kills it.

Q: How does AI in iGaming increase revenue?

Anton: AI works across the entire funnel at once. At the top, it lowers acquisition cost through smart targeting and fast discovery of winning creatives. In the middle, it lifts conversion through offer personalization. Over the long haul, it retains the player by predicting churn and timing reactivations. So you're not just pouring in more traffic — you're squeezing more out of every user at every stage. In our case, the biggest gains come from retention and personalization, not the media buying itself.

Q: Challenges and risks of AI in iGaming?

Anton: First — regulation and responsible gambling. The same personalization tools that boost conversion can, if used irresponsibly, lean on problem players. Sensible operators understand this and put guardrails in place. Second — quality: uncontrolled AI content leads to hallucinations and reputational screw-ups, especially in support. Third — platform dependency: Meta or Telegram changes its policy, and part of your processes falls apart. And fourth — the illusion that AI will replace thinking. It amplifies a strong team and masks a weak one — right up until the first serious decision.

Q: What's the next step for AI in iGaming?

Anton: AI agents. Not just tools that help a human, but agents that run the whole process end to end: they assemble the creative, launch the test, reallocate budget, analyze the result. We're moving from "AI as assistant" to "AI as operator." On top of that — a fully personalized, real-time experience, especially inside Telegram Mini Apps, where you have a stable user ID and can build personalization for the long term.

Q: What should be the difference in link strategies between affiliates and operators?

Anton: They have different goals — and that drives different logic. The affiliate plays for volume and flexibility: smart links, diversification across offers and operators, geo-redirects, optimizing for EPC. Their job is to extract the maximum from traffic here and now and not depend on a single partner. The operator plays the long game: brand, direct relationships, and retention matter to them. They're better off with fewer but deeper partnerships, plus their own organic traffic that builds recognition rather than a one-off click. Roughly put: the affiliate optimizes the link for conversion, the operator for brand and LTV.

Q: What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2026?

Anton: The pairing of Telegram Mini Apps and AI agents. Telegram is turning into a full-blown ecosystem — ads, mini apps, and payments in one place — and agents make that experience personal and autonomous. For iGaming it's the perfect playground: a low barrier to entry for the user, stable identification, gamification, and AI tying it all together. I think in 2026 the main action will be right here.

LL: Anton, thank you for your time and the valuable insights into the use and future of AI in iGaming. We wish you success in the future!