Future-Proofing the Localization Industry: Insights from Kajetan Malinowski

In a recent interview with Lion People Global, Kajetan Malinowski, senior consultant in the localization industry and AI space, shared valuable insights on how companies in the language services industry can adapt to technological changes and position themselves for future success. With his expertise lying at the intersection of technology, language, and business, Malinowski offers a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing localization service providers today.

AI’s Emerging Role in Localization: Beyond Machine Translation

The localization industry stands at the cusp of a technological revolution, with artificial intelligence (AI) poised to transform every aspect of the field. This shift is reminiscent of the early days of the internet, with companies still grappling to understand the full implications of AI for their operations and client offerings.

“We’re only in the early stages of understanding AI’s full potential. Much like the internet in the ’90s, many companies are still figuring out what AI means for their industry, clients, and services.”

The potential of AI extends far beyond mere machine translation. It has the power to revolutionize entire workflows, enhance customer experiences, and enable innovative service offerings. Companies like Translated, Bureau Works, LILT and SmartCAT have effectively repositioned themselves as AI localization platforms by adding or extending AI capabilities to automate quality assurance, translation, translator allocation and more.

Strategic Choices: Embrace AI or Specialize

As the industry evolves, localization companies face a critical choice: embrace AI wholeheartedly or specialize in high-value niches. Those who choose to embrace AI can automate workflows, leverage AI for contextual translations, and explore new AI-enabled services. This approach can significantly reduce costs while boosting efficiency.

Alternatively, companies can focus on specialized areas where human expertise remains crucial, such as healthcare interpretation or legal translations. However, even these niches may eventually face disruption from advancing AI technologies, so doing so should include a viable path to gradual inclusion of AI services. Industry leaders like Summa Linguae and Welocalize exemplify this forward-thinking mindset, having successfully reoriented their core offerings from traditional localization to AI-driven solutions. By adopting a full-spectrum approach that harmonizes human expertise with AI advancements, businesses can unlock growth opportunities and drive global success in an increasingly competitive market.

Becoming a Strategic Partner: The Shift from Vendor to Advisor

The rise of AI presents an opportunity for localization companies to redefine their role in the content creation process. By leveraging AI to analyze client content and provide strategic insights, localization providers can position themselves as invaluable partners in the global customer experience journey.

“By leveraging AI to analyze customer content, localization providers can identify potential issues early and offer strategic solutions. This elevates their role, transforming them from service providers to trusted advisors involved throughout the content creation process.”

This shift from translation vendor to strategic advisor allows localization companies to offer greater value and become involved earlier in the content lifecycle. Furthermore as many client organizations have fixed budget challenges, offering a variable budget option to get things done is currently a lot more attractive.  

Maintaining the Integrity of Language Assets in the Age of AI

Despite the growing prevalence of AI tools, the quality and management of language assets remain critical. Glossaries, style guides, and even AI prompts are becoming increasingly important in ensuring consistent, high-quality output across various AI use cases.

“Quality is more important now than ever before, especially as AI becomes more integrated into the process. Strong language assets like glossaries and style guides will be critical in ensuring consistent and high-quality output.”

Localization companies are uniquely positioned to help clients build and manage these crucial language assets, further cementing their role as essential partners in the AI-driven content ecosystem.

Positioning for Growth: The Role of Technology and Innovation in M&A

For companies looking to attract potential buyers or position themselves for growth, three key areas emerge as critical: a strong client portfolio, unique talent (especially in specialized niches), and innovative technology offerings. On the technology front, established localization companies adopting AI technologies can become immediately more valuable on the market and smaller companies have the opportunity to innovate quickly with more agile AI adoption, developing valuable new services or tools that can offer significant appeal in the M&A landscape. For certain, as businesses continue to prioritize localization, those equipped with advanced AI capabilities will undoubtedly lead the way. Lionbridge, a long-time leader in the industry, has injected AI across its offerings and introduced new disruptive products like Aurora, an AI orchestration platform, and Smart Content, an AI content insight for content and localization strategists which is a great examples how localization companies can use AI deliver more value and become strategic partners in end-to-end content lifecycles.

The Evolving Workforce: Skills for the Future of Localization

As AI continues to transform the industry, the demand for roles within sales, solutions, and content strategy will continue to grow. These professionals must merge technical knowledge with business skills to convey the benefits of AI-driven localization to clients effectively. Traditional roles such as project management, linguistics, and engineering will continue to evolve, with an increased focus on AI systems and cultural consulting. While AI streamlines many tasks, the need for human oversight in quality assurance and creative adaptation remains essential to ensure cultural nuances and brand voice are accurately captured. The growth in content volume underscores the pressing need for localization professionals to offer strategic input, aligning global communication strategies with both business objectives and local market needs.

“We’ll see more roles focused on sales, solutions, and content strategy, merging technical expertise with business acumen. Even traditional roles like project management and linguistics will evolve, requiring professionals to understand AI systems and work alongside them.”

Thriving in the AI-Driven Localization Industry

The localization industry stands at a crossroads, facing both significant disruption and unprecedented opportunities for growth and innovation. Success in this new landscape will require a willingness to embrace change, invest in new technologies, and reimagine the role of localization service providers in the global content ecosystem.

Whether through aggressive AI adoption or specialization in high-value, human-centered services, the future of localization lies in harnessing the power of AI to provide greater value to clients. As the industry evolves, those who can balance technological innovation with human expertise will be best positioned to thrive in the rapidly changing world of localization.