C-Suite HotSeat

Only 17% of the global population speaks English, yet countless enterprises still expect their international clients to adapt to them. This week on the C-Suite Hotseat, Interprefy CEO Oddmund Braaten explains why forcing your customers to speak your language is a massive strategic failure. He unpacks the hidden dangers of adopting out-of-the-box AI solutions for enterprise communication, comparing language infrastructure to Starbucks’ custom-built coffee machines: if it fails, you lose money instantly. Chapters (00:00:08) - Introduction and Guest Welcome(00:01:30) - Odmund's Background and Path to CEO(00:03:04) - Transitioning from Board Member to CEO(00:05:11) - COVID-Era Growth and Scaling Challenges(00:07:45) - Balancing Speed and Quality of Service(00:08:39) - The Future of Interpretation and AI Parity(00:12:04) - Common Mistakes in Adopting AI Communication Tools(00:15:17) - Working with Professionals and Localization Nuance(00:16:21) - Advice for CEOs on Cross-Language Communication(00:19:45) - Evolving Customer Expectations at Interprefy(00:21:27) - Rapid Fire Questions(00:24:11) - Closing Thoughts and Farewell

For too long, the language industry has viewed Latin America simply as a low-cost region for Spanish translation. In this episode, Eddie Arrieta sits down with David Mego, founder and CEO of Bilingual, to discuss why that perception is changing and how he built a company that exports bilingual talent globally, scaling from a single compact computer on his mother's dining table to over 1500 seats across six countries. We explore how the boundaries between traditional language services and BPO are dissolving, why AI is both the biggest disruptor and the most overhyped trend in the industry, and why Latin America is primed to become the next major global services hub. Chapters (00:00:08) - The C Suite Hot Seat: Bilingual(00:01:43) - David Knows What He Does As CEO(00:03:01) - When I'm No. 1 in the company, does it matter(00:04:34) - Interpreters: What's Harder Now?(00:11:09) - Many misconceptions about Latin American Talent(00:14:09) - BPO Outbound: Latam Talent Perception(00:17:14) - Can Language Services Outsource to BPO?(00:20:03) - What Do Clients Want In Their Services?(00:20:30) - 4 Values of Bilingual Training(00:23:44) - What's The First Sign That A Company's Culture Is Breaking?(00:25:55) - In the Elevator With Entrepreneurs(00:26:22) - What's the hardest leadership decision you've had to make in the(00:27:21) - What's the Hardest No You've Had to Give as a(00:29:39) - What is one thing you wish your employees understood about being CEO?(00:31:04) - Language Services: Will AI Change the Industry?(00:35:46) - A Lesson from Learning Bilingual(00:38:22) - C Suite: Bilingual Media

Are you adopting AI just to keep up with the hype, or are you actually solving specific business problems? In this episode, Lina M. Tonk, Chief Marketing Officer at Smartling, discusses the evolving landscape of AI in the language industry. She breaks down the biggest misconceptions surrounding artificial intelligence, arguing that true success with AI and agentic models requires ruthless intentionality and a strict focus on ROI. Explore why leaders need to get their hands dirty with new technology, how continuous learning accelerates growth, and why defining clear business objectives is the only way to win in the AI era. Chapters (00:00:08) - The Hot Seat(00:01:16) - Interviewing in the Hot Suite(00:02:25) - CMO Network: What a CMO Does in Translation(00:09:33) - What do you think are the Overhyped Promises of AI(00:15:13) - SmartLink's culture and the localization conversation(00:23:51) - The Challenges of AI in LSPs(00:29:21) - Account Based Management(00:30:52) - What kind of problems would you solve if you weren't a C(00:31:50) - One AI Trend You Believe in, and One You Don't(00:33:28) - What's the Hardest Leadership Decision You Had to Make?(00:34:19) - What's the Hardest No You've Had to Say As a(00:35:22) - What Do You Regret About Your Decision?(00:36:30) - What Do CMOs Wish Their Customers Knew About Their Job(00:37:36) - Top Leadership Advice(00:38:41) - Never Ever Stop Learning(00:41:17) - Lena Lockwood

How does the CTO of one of the world's largest language service providers decide where to invest in AI? For Stéphane Cinguino, CTO at Acolad, the answer is simple: prioritize real client impact over industry buzzwords. He shares his unvarnished perspective on enterprise technology, automation, and leadership and discusses the "automation illusion" and why trusting your intuition, moving fast, and demanding strict measurement are mandatory for AI success. 

Gabriel Fairman is a technologist, linguist, philosopher, father of 3, amateur cook, and outdoor enthusiast. Gabriel is an optimist who believes in the power of human intellect and creativity despite evidence pointing the contrary again and again. He is the Founder and CEO of Bureau Works, an innovative translation management system, and is devoted to helping forge a future in which translators are still key high-value agents in multilingual content production through software. He received the 2023 Innovator of the Year award by winning the Process Innovation Challenge promoted by LocWorld. Host:Eddie Arrieta, CEO, MultiLingualEddie has a decade of experience in startups, comms, and growth. He's now focused on global expansion through AI, ML, and blockchain to create opportunities for all. Head to https://www.nimdzi.com/ for cutting-edge market research and consulting in the language industry. Visit https://multilingual.com to catch up with the latest news in the language industry. This show is made possible thanks to a collaboration between MulitLingual Media and Nimdzi Insights. Oscar Betancourt - Video Director and ProducerIsabel Romero-Ruiz - Communications & Marketing, Nimdzi InsightsAntonella Tiezzi - Design 00:00 Gabriel Fairman, CEO at Bureau Works01:00 What does your company do?01:10 What was your dream career as a child?01:22 How do you like to spend your free time?01:28 3 destinations you'd like to visit02:01 Best advice you've ever been given?02:25 Career path04:33 When did you realize you could do money out of this business?05:11 How has the industry changed?06:22 Secret sauce06:49 Advice for newcomers08:02 Key business challenge10:52 What makes you a great leader?12:49 Advice for entrepreneurs14:58 Music or silence?15:29 Where would you live?15:37 Movie recommendation15:49 Book recommendation15:56 Most productive time of day16:11 Most misunderstood part of your job16:54 Favorite drink

As Managing Director of Avantpage Life Sciences, Vera Hooijdonk is adept at juggling projects, time, and people. Vera manages all aspects of the translation process: assessing and distributing workloads, monitoring performance and productivity, managing training and support for team members, communicating client needs to the translation team, overseeing translation technology tools, ensuring that processes and procedures remain cost-effective throughout the life of a project and maintaining quality standards. As a problem solver and troubleshooter, Vera loves working with Avantpage’s clients, understanding their linguistic needs, and learning about new industries and technologies. Host:Eddie Arrieta, CEO, MultiLingualEddie has a decade of experience in startups, comms, and growth. He's now focused on global expansion through AI, ML, and blockchain to create opportunities for all. Head to https://www.nimdzi.com/ for cutting-edge market research and consulting in the language industry. Visit https://multilingual.com to catch up with the latest news in the language industry. This show is made possible thanks to a collaboration between MulitLingual Media and Nimdzi Insights. Oscar Betancourt - Video Director and ProducerIsabel Romero-Ruiz - Communications & Marketing, Nimdzi InsightsAntonella Tiezzi - Design 00:00 Vera Hooijdonk - Managing Director at Avantpage00:50 What does your company do?01:13 What is your role?01:31 How do you like to spend your free time?02:10 Career path04:11 How has the industry changed?06:13 Advice for newcomers07:58 Valuable business lesson10:04 How do you motivate your team?11:21 Key things to spend time on12:00 What does success mean to you?13:04 Would you rehire your current team?13:39 What makes you a great leader?14:52 Music or silence?15:01 Where would you live?15:24 Most productive time of day15:32 Most misunderstood part of your job15:47 Book recommendation16:12 Favorite drink16:37 Shoutout

Dareen, Founder of eArabization, a premier Arabic localization and translation company in the Middle East, brings over two decades of expertise to the forefront of the industry. With a steadfast commitment to excellence, I have cultivated eArabization into a trusted partner for businesses seeking to effectively communicate their message to Arabic-speaking audiences.My journey in localization and translation spans more than 20 years, during which I have honed my skills and deepened my understanding of linguistic nuances and cultural sensitivities. Armed with a Master's degree in Translation from the prestigious University of Leeds in England, I have garnered the knowledge and proficiency necessary to deliver top-tier solutions tailored to our clients' needs. Hosts:Eddie Arrieta, CEO, MultiLingualEddie has a decade of experience in startups, comms, and growth. He's now focused on global expansion through AI, ML, and blockchain to create opportunities for all. Laszlo Varga, Lead Researcher and Consultant, Nimdzi InsightsLaszlo has 10+ years in localization and excels in service delivery, solution development & strategy. Enjoys physics, randomness & a healthy lifestyle. Head to https://www.nimdzi.com/ for cutting-edge market research and consulting in the language industry. Visit https://multilingual.com to catch up with the latest news in the language industry. This show is made possible thanks to a collaboration between MulitLingual Media and Nimdzi Insights. Oscar Betancourt - Video Director and ProducerIsabel Romero-Ruiz - Communications & Marketing, Nimdzi InsightsAntonella Tiezzi - Design 00:00 Dareen Mukhaimer, eArabization00:59 What does your company do?01:13 What was your dream career as a child?01:54 How do you like to spend your free time?02:20 What inspired you to start your company?03:12 When did you realize you could do money out of this business?04:29 How big is your team?04:50 Key things to spend time on06:06 Biggest challenge07:41 Your biggest failure08:29 Valuable business lesson09:03 What does success mean to you?10:17 Secret sauce11:38 What makes you a great leader?12:54 Advice for entrepreneurs14:20 Music for working15:19 Where would you live?16:04 Movie recommendation16:29 Most productive time of day16:46 What's your favorite drink?17:07 Book recommendation

Jan Cizmar is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder/CEO of Tolgee Company. Since 2008, he has passionately developed web applications, gaining extensive experience in various technologies, languages, tools, and libraries. In March 2021, Jan founded Tolgee, an open-source localization platform for software companies. With his leadership, Tolgee aims to revolutionize the industry by delivering smart and simple software solutions. Jan firmly believes in the future of open source and has simplified software localization for developers with the Tolgee Localization Platform, making it accessible to everyone. Hosts:Eddie Arrieta, Head of Growth, MultiLingualEddie has a decade of experience in startups, comms, and growth. He's now focused on global expansion through AI, ML, and blockchain to create opportunities for all. Lazlo Varga, Senior Consultant and Researcher, Nimdzi InsightsLaszlo has 10+ years in localization and excels in service delivery, solution development & strategy. Enjoys physics, randomness & a healthy lifestyle. Head to https://www.nimdzi.com/ for cutting-edge market research and consulting in the language industry. Visit https://multilingual.com to catch up with the latest news in the language industry. This show is made possible thanks to a collaboration between MulitLingual Media and Nimdzi Insights. Oscar Betancourt - Video Director and ProducerIsabel Romero-Ruiz - Communications & Marketing, Nimdzi InsightsAntonella Tiezzi - Design 00:00 Jan Cizmar CEO of Toglee00:45 What does your company do?00:59 What was your dream career as a child?01:40 How do you like to spend your free time?02:33 3 destinations you'd like to visit03:24 What is the best advice you've ever been given?04:37 What inspired you to start your company?05:56 When did you realize you could make money out of this business?06:33 Biggest challenge07:04 Have you ever considered pivoting?07:36 What makes you a great leader?08:11 Who are your mentors?08:35 Secret sauce08:46 Valuable business lesson09:28 What is the most innovative thing you have done?10:19 What does success mean to you?10:40 Key things to spend time on11:06 How big is your team?11:09 Would you rehire your current team?11:15 Advice for entrepreneurs12:08 Music or silence?12:36 Music for working13:10 Where would you live?13:14 Movie recommendation13:23 Last business books you've read?13:36 Most productive time of day13:45 Misunderstood career14:13 What's your favorite drink?

Heather is the mastermind behind Language I/O’s core technology, which eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming neural machine translation engine training by dynamically selecting the NMT engine that will best translate a given piece of content and imposing company-specific terminology onto any of the many NMT engines integrated into the Language I/O cloud solution.Prior to co-founding Language I/O, Heather was well-known for globalizing code for Fortune 500s. She was also the senior director of Product Management and Globalization for eCollege, which was acquired by Pearson Education during her tenure. While at Pearson/eCollege, Heather and her team built a next-generation, online college education platform, which was launched globally.Heather holds a Master of Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder College of Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of Washington in Seattle. She has lived in various parts of the United States and Mexico and speaks English and Spanish. Hosts:Eddie Arrieta, Head of Growth, MultiLingualEddie has a decade of experience in startups, comms, and growth. He's now focused on global expansion through AI, ML, and blockchain to create opportunities for all. Laszlo Varga, Senior Consultant and Researcher, Nimdzi InsightsLaszlo has 10+ years in localization and excels in service delivery, solution development & strategy. Enjoys physics, randomness & a healthy lifestyle. Head to https://www.nimdzi.com/ for cutting-edge market research and consulting in the language industry. Visit https://multilingual.com to catch up with the latest news in the language industry. This show is made possible thanks to a collaboration between MulitLingual Media and Nimdzi Insights. Oscar Betancourt - Video Director and ProducerIsabel Romero-Ruiz - Communications & Marketing, Nimdzi InsightsAntonella Tiezzi - Design 00:00 Heather Shoemaker Founder&CEO Language IO00:46 What does your company do?01:02 What was your dream career as a child?01:13 How do you like to spend your free time?01:46 3 destinations you'd like to visit02:50 Best advice you've ever been given?03:12 What inspired you to start your company?05:48 Biggest challenge06:35 Your biggest failure07:56 Secret sauce08:41 Have you ever considered pivoting?09:19 What does success mean to you?10:22 How big is your team?11:06 How do you motivate your team?12:35 Would you rehire your current team?12:56 What makes you a great leader?14:05 Advice for entrepreneurs15:57 Music for working16:09 Where would you live?16:15 Favorite foreign word16:29 Last business books you've read?16:47 Most productive time of day17:01 What's your favorite drink?

Hosts:Eddie Arrieta, Head of Growth, MultiLingualEddie has a decade of experience in startups, comms, and growth. He's now focused on global expansion through AI, ML, and blockchain to create opportunities for all. Laszlo Varga, Senior Consultant and Researcher, Nimdzi InsightsLaszlo has 10+ years in localization, and excels in service delivery, solution development & strategy. Enjoys physics, randomness & a healthy lifestyle. Head to https://www.nimdzi.com/ for cutting-edge market research and consulting in the language industry. Visit https://multilingual.com to catch up with the latest news of the language industry. This show is made possible thanks to a collaboration between MulitLingual Media and Nimdzi Insights. Oscar Betancourt - Video Director and ProducerIsabel Romero-Ruiz - Communications & Marketing, Nimdzi InsightsAntonella Tiezzi - Design 00:00 Grainne Maycock CRO at Acolad00:46 What does your company do?01:07 What was your dream career as a child?02:04 How do you like to spend your free time?02:59 3 destinations you'd like to visit04:17 Best advice you've ever been given?05:04 What brought you to the Revenue track?06:55 Biggest challenge09:18 How do you motivate your team?11:06 Secret sauce13:25 Would you rehire your current team?15:13 Key business challenge17:14 Advice for entrepreneurs17:59 How often do you get angry?18:43 One time when you felt discriminated19:13 Most uncomfortable conversation?20:10 Misunderstood career