SlatorPod

In SlatorPod’s 100th episode, Andrew Bredenkamp , CEO of CLEAR Tech, joins the Pod to talk about the evolution of CLEAR Global , formerly known as Translators without Borders (TWB). Andrew recalls his path to joining CLEAR Global, with leadership roles at content governance platform Acrolinx and TWB, and why he stepped in to drive the tech piece of the puzzle with CLEAR Tech. He also defines how C...

In SlatorPod’s final episode for 2021, Florian and Esther are joined by Slator’s very own Andrew Smart to share the top industry highlights over the past year. Florian looks back on 2021, which saw approximately 60 M&A transactions and 25 funding rounds announced this year, with big moves such as TransPerfect acquiring Semantix . For 2022, Florian predicts additional competition as the likes o...

John Fennelly , CEO of Lionbridge , joins SlatorPod to talk about the Super Agency ’s journey  over the past 25 years since its founding by Rory Cowan . Fennelly recalls his path to joining Lionbridge in mid-2017 after leadership roles at Thomson Reuters and Hireright — and why he stressed the theme of simplification and relentless customer focus in his first years as Lionbridge CEO. He discusses...

Luis Miguel, CEO of Avantpage Translations , joins SlatorPod to talk about the LSP’s mission over the past 25 years of helping immigrants and other limited-English-proficient (LEP) populations. Luis walks us through his journey in the language industry, from immigrating from Mexico to founding and leading a California-based LSP. He introduces Avantpage’s leadership team and highlights the importan...

Rik Grant, Transcreation Partner at London-based Tag Collective Arts , joins SlatorPod to talk about all things transcreation as well as multi-language content creation. Rik discusses his route into the language industry; from working as a Lead Account Manager to entering the creative industry. He outlines the careful process behind recruiting transcreation talent and their varied copywriting, age...

Natalia Levitina and Karen Combe, Members of the GILT Leaders’ Forum ,  talk about GILT’s Globalization Strategy Playbook , arguably the industry’s most comprehensive, open-source guide to globalization, internalization, and localization yet. The co-authors recall the various stages of their career in the localization industry and their journey to becoming part of the GILT Leaders Forum. They refl...

Diego Cresceri , CEO of Creative Words , joins SlatorPod to talk about his journey in the language industry, from founding the language service provider (LSP) to becoming President of Elia . Diego recounts his beginnings as a Translator, Project Manager, and eventually branching off on his own to create Creative Words . He also shares the motivation behind the founding of Creative AI for multiling...

Véronique Özkaya , CEO of Argos Multilingual , joins SlatorPod to talk about the recent acquisition and integration of language service provider (LSP) Venga Global . Véronique Özkaya walks us through her extensive career in the language industry and taking up her new role as CEO at Argos amid the pandemic. She also shares insights into the acquisition of Venga merely three months after announcing...

In this week’s SlatorPod, we’re joined by Kenneth Heafield , Reader in Machine Translation (MT) at the University of Edinburgh. We originally connected with Kenneth on Twitter in a discussion about Slator’s coverage of a research paper on Carbon Emissions in MT . Kenneth talks about his experience going back and forth between academia and industry, reflecting on the pros and cons of working for Bi...

In this week’s episode, Florian and Esther discuss the language industry news of the week, with continued disruption to subtitling, caption and audio description on UK’s Channel 4, after water damage at Red Bee Media’s broadcast center ruined a large number of hard disks . In media localization news, Esther talks about Spain’s plans to invest EUR 1.6bn into the audiovisual sector from now through...

Andrzej Nedoma , Co-founder and CEO of XTRF , joins SlatorPod to discuss the journey of the translation management system (TMS). Andrzej begins with XTRF’s early days as a spin-off of family-owned LSP Lidolang and building the company with Co-founder, Dominik Radziszowski. He talks about the rationale behind pivoting from licenses to SaaS in 2014 and the funding decisions with Experior Venture Fun...

In this week’s SlatorPod, we’re joined by Anja Peschel, Managing Director of Peschel Communications , a Germany-based boutique languages service provider (LSP) that offers translation and interpreting. From the perspective of a practicing interpreter, Anja discusses her initial experience of providing consecutive interpreting via Zoom when the pandemic first prevented in-person meetings and confer...

Simon Constable, Global Language Services SVP of Visual Data Media Services (VDMS), joins SlatorPod to talk about dubbing, subtitling, and the pandemic-induced transformation of media localization. Simon starts with his route into the media & entertainment and languages space, where his international experience spans 25 years. He delves into VDMS ’ localization services and the dynamics betwee...

Olga Beregovaya , AI Innovation VP of Welocalize , joins SlatorPod to talk about all things AI , natural language processing ( NLP ), machine learning ( ML ), and machine translation ( MT ) related. Olga begins with her journey into the language services and technology industry, where she currently leads AI innovation for Welocalize . She unpacks some of the broader applications of AI, ML, and NLP...

First up, Florian and Esther share key takeaways from SlatorCon Remote, which hosted 13 guest speakers and drew in over 300 attendees. Esther talks about the Video Localization panel, where Chris Reynolds, Tom Livne, and Fardad Zabetian explored the similarities and differences between speech and text outputs. Next, Florian follows up on the Content in the Age of AI panel, where Konstantin Savenko...

Rebecca Petras, Spokesperson for non-profit Red T , joins SlatorPod to bring awareness to their advocacy for the protection of translators and interpreters in high-risk settings. Rebecca shares details of her professional background in journalism and discusses how she began her journey in the language industry through the humanitarian sector. She talks about the current situation of interpreters i...

Slator’s very own Senior Research Analyst Anna Wyndham joins the Pod to give a sneak peek into the latest Slator Pro Guide: Language Operations . The 40-page guide is packed with data from public and proprietary sources, including 11 interviews with language service providers (LSPs) at different stages of growth across Europe, Asia, and North America. Anna unpacks the five key areas of the report...

In a guest-centered episode, Ivan Smolnikov , CEO and Founder of Smartcat , joins SlatorPod to talk about the company’s journey as a tech-powered SaaS platform. I van discusses his not-so-typical professional background and how he got into the language services and tech industry. Since 2016, he has been focused on building Smartcat into an accessible SaaS platform with a marketplace of suppliers....

Elizabeth Compton, CEO of LanguageLoop , and Claire Mullins, National Translations Manager at the Australian language service provider (LSP), join SlatorPod to talk about the company’s digital and organizational transformation. Elizabeth recalls the LSP’s early days from 1978, and the decision to rebrand to LanguageLoop . She touches on the role of the Victorian State Government as shareholder. Sh...

In this week’s solo episode, Florian and Esther discuss the language industry news of the week, kicking off with a sneak peek into the brand new Slator 2021 Video Localization Report. Months in the making, the report provides an innovative look at the high-growth medium of video. Florian shares news of TransPerfect’s best quarter ever (Q2 FY21), which saw the US-based Super Agency reel in an extra...

Marko Hozjan , CEO and Co-founder of translation startup TAIA , joins SlatorPod to talk about his company’s journey from launch to their recent series A. Marko discusses what brought him into the world of translation from a background that spans everything from economics and leadership, to language teaching and…sailing.  He talks about automation and machine translation and the need to remain focu...

Cecilia Maldonado, Director of Strategic Accounts at Latamways , joins SlatorPod to talk about the language industry landscape in Latin America and her term as President of Women in Localization . Cecilia recounts her path to joining the language industry and the many hats she wore over the past 20 years. She touches on the two-year process of merging SpeakLatam and Two Ways Translation Services ,...

Christophe Djaouani , President of newly launched Toppan Digital Language, joins SlatorPod to discuss the Japanese corporate giant’s plans to become a leader in translation for regulated industries. Christophe shares his career journey; from his days as project manager at RR Donnelley to how he worked his way up to Executive Vice President at SDL. He introduces the members of the Toppan Digital La...

Synthesia CEO and Co-founder Victor Riparbelli joins SlatorPod to discuss the company’s approach to operating and developing the world’s first and largest platform for video AI generation. Victor talks about Synthesia’s journey and the rapid progression of media technology. He unpacks the role of academia in the company, where PhDs and professors make up nearly 50% of staff. The CEO goes over the...

In this week’s SlatorPod, Florian and Esther discuss the language industry news of the week, with BLEND’s acquisition of GM Voices , a voice and audio localization provider known for producing the original Siri for Apple.  Following RWS’ appointment of a new CEO , Keywords Studios announced the retirement of CEO Andrew Day , with Jon Hauck (CFO) and Sonia Sedler (COO) stepping up as interim CEOs w...