Vasso: Thank you for joining Sandberg and the Localisation Stories initiative, Ev啪enie. It’s great to have you for this interview. You are the Localisation Manager at Interhome, and with that I’ll start our discussion and ask you how you got into the industry. If you can share one striking story from your early days, what would that be?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: My journey into the localisation industry actually began at Interhome in 2015, almost 10 years ago. Interhome is a company that is really multicultural and multilingual. I started working in the German customer service team, but there were many other teams 鈥� the English, the Spanish, the Italian 鈥� always depending on the language of the customers.

From the beginning, I was surrounded by so many languages every day. I was immersed into this international atmosphere, and I really loved it because you went for a stroll, for coffee, and you met with this person and that person, you talked about where they’re from, the cultures, and everything. So, I thought that was really interesting, and I was really immersed into this international atmosphere from the start.

Then I went away for a couple of years and I got some project coordination experience. That was outside of Interhome, and then I returned with a fresh perspective, so I was able to combine those skills 鈥� the knowledge of the colleagues and the international surroundings in my company with the coordination skills. I returned with new viewpoints, and even though it was the same company, it was a different angle, and I was really happy to be able to start something new in an area that I already knew.

Vasso: That is really interesting. And the fact that you had these different customer support teams depending on the language of your customers and the market that you were operating in made me think: did these teams interact with one another in the past, that is, did the German support team interact with the Italian support team and so on?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: We had to actually. There were many interactions. For example, at the weekends we were usually joined as one team 鈥� all the teams together 鈥� because not that many people work on weekends, but we still have the 24/7 hour support. At the weekends it was truly like a buzzing space full of all the languages; I could, for example, be speaking with a German customer in Italy and I was asking an Italian colleague to help me with the property key holder to try to figure the issue out. So, there was a lot of cooperation.

And on the other hand, when in Italy they had a German customer, they asked me to engage with them, and the same for Russian because I speak Russian too. It was like an interesting intermingling of all the languages and cultures.

Vasso: Exciting. So you were also taking up the role of a facilitator, if I may say.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: All of us there 鈥� all the teams.

Vasso: Customer support can be really challenging, but also really rewarding, when you are finally able to help the customers and figure it out. I think it provides a lot of rewarding feelings.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: It does.

Vasso: How did you make the shift from customer support to project coordination?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: When I started with the translation coordination, I was quite anxious about because at the time I was also caring for my firstborn. She was one year old at the time when I was offered to come back to the company. Being a new mom is already very challenging. But that was only the first challenge.

Vasso: I know it is. I can confirm that (haha).

贰惫啪别苍颈别: And then I had to take on another new professional role, those things combined at the same time, it felt exciting, but also really daunting. I was like, “How am I going to do this?” and I knew that my baby obviously would always come first. So, I had to give 100% to the baby because it’s top priority, obviously, but I’m also a perfectionist when it comes to my work, to my job and I didn’t want to give less than 100% there either. So, I was like, 100% here and 100% there, that doesn鈥檛 add up.

Vasso: It’s a matter of life and death (haha); it鈥檚 not like they can survive without us.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Exactly, you just have to keep them alive; that’s the top priority, of course. But I didn’t want to give less than 100% at work either, so it doesn’t add up, there are only 24 hours a day for everything and some sleep as well. I was a bit scared about that too, wondering how it is going to work. But I was determined to not give anything less than I could, so that the people at work wouldn’t notice, if it was possible at all, that I had some limitations in that matter.

But I have to say that my onboarding went exceptionally well because all of my team, my team workers, my colleagues, ensured a smooth onboarding and helped me when I had to be absent for some time. They helped me set all my priorities, and I had all the support and flexibility I needed, and I transitioned into the new role successfully. Now it’s been three years, so I know more or less what to expect, how to do everything. The summer is a challenge because both kids are at home, but the team has been really supportive. And I am really happy about that. And honestly, I wish that more companies would take on this approach and help working mothers transform or rejoin or reintegrate into the companies, because we can do everything, we just need a little bit of help sometimes.

Vasso: That is true what you’re saying, and I have been there as well. So now I have to ask: what support was that? Because that’s a matter that’s really close to my heart as well, and I do see a lot of companies pushing for stricter working hours and they are asking people to come back to the offices while it’s 100% certain that they can perform and do their job working from home or working from anywhere. So what programme or support did Interhome or your team provide to you back then to make you feel confident that you can make it? And I do agree with you that it takes a village to raise a child. So whatever support a new mother can get, it’s really, really valuable. And also not only to feel confident, but also not to burn out eventually, because trying to be responsible and professional and motherly in your different roles and meet them, it’s hard. So how did they enable that for you?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Maybe I’ll start by saying that I’m based in the Czech Republic where we have three years of maternity leave, and you can work while you’re on maternity leave, but it is expected here that you stay home for three years with a child. Which means less stress for the work because the employer is obligated to keep your job position for you for the three years. But also, the more time you are away from work, the less money you have.

But I had started actually working in this position already while still on leave, and they knew of course that I still had time to stay at home. They greatly facilitated my return and also we had a very friendly relationship from my previous tenure. This meant that I could talk about anything with them and tell them if I needed a flexible schedule. I ensured that all my work was completed, but I needed the flexibility to be able to do it at midnight or very early in the morning, and they supported that. So that was the first point.

Then anytime that I had to be absent for a longer time, like right now with my second baby, they were always helpful by finding someone who would take over the role for me for this particular amount of time. So these are the two biggest points of support I think I got 鈥� the friendly atmosphere, that you can talk about anything, and then that you can be supported for a limited amount of time.

Vasso: And I would say the trust 鈥� that’s another recurring issue that we see. And I’ve been talking much about how companies need to be the first ones to show trust to their teams and their employees, and in 99% of cases, employees would revert that trust back in double sometimes.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: That is true. That has a lot to do with what I said 鈥� with me staying home and doing it at flexible hours 鈥� because lots of times you will hear managers and companies go like “No, but you need to be online during this time. You have to clock in, clock out. And you can work from home only this and that day.鈥� But at Interhome they put this trust in me from the beginning. They in fact had more trust in me than I did in myself, because I was like, “How am I going to balance everything?” and they were like, “You can do this. We know how you work. We know how responsible you are. We know you can do this. And if you need anything, just talk to us.” that just took a lot of weight off me.

Vasso: That is a great experience for you to have, and I’m happy that there are companies like that around. Hopefully publishing this piece will also help more companies see how much they’re losing if they’re not trusting their employees.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: And if I can share a final thought on this, I believe that if an employee is disengaged, they won鈥檛 work no matter where they are, at home or in the office, or whether they have kids or not. At the end of the day, it’s always about, as you said, the trust and making sure that the employee likes what they do.

Vasso: Exactly. Totally agree with you. And that’s a topic I can go on forever about, but I will just go back to what we’re here for. starting out in the localisation department of Interhome. It鈥檚 already three years right?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Yes, three years. Now in August, it will be exactly three years.

Vasso: How has the localisation programme at Interhome changed since three years ago when you joined? If you compare the programme three years ago with the programme that you are currently running at Interhome for localisation, how is it different?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I had to build the whole process, everything about how localisation works. When I started, I had some real basics to build on, but I had to create everything myself, because the person that had been doing this quit before I started. So there was a transition period where another colleague took over, and the colleague that had been responsible before focused on the most important things that need to be done. But the person who took it on had other responsibilities as well, so they were handling localisation mainly as an add-on.

And that’s why they really wanted me to start the earliest possible. So, when I took on the role, I only could refer to the interim person, so it felt more like the telephone game or Chinese whispers (haha). In Czech this game is called “silent post”. So I took, of course, the programmes that we work with but the process I had to set up from the beginning. And my focus was initially to establish a clear and fast communication system that makes everything as organised and efficient as possible, and automate as much as possible.

I had to combine internal with the external language experts, to cover all the languages and maintain or rebuild high quality levels. So, a big part was to qualify and onboard good external collaborators. That was the case actually with Norwegian and Swedish. This was a challenge right at the beginning and it was a long run to implement that, but we made it.

And then my other focus area is to use smart tools alongside skilled people to work faster without losing the personal touch and keep the human element in it. So, I think now the process is much smoother and better suited for our ever-growing, as it always is, multicultural environment.

Vasso: It does sound like it was a challenging time for you to go through this setup. How long did it take you before you could say that now there is at least a more standardised approach to how you do things?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I think until I got out of the most raw material and raw processes, it was a couple of months. And then I’m still trying to develop the processes, to mature them, to make something even better 鈥� it’s never perfect, but I鈥檓 always trying to make it better than it is. But for the first part, it surely took months. I started in August, and this is the high season for us, but then when the high season ends, the real work starts for me because we’re starting with all the texts for the next season and other activities, for the mountain or the winter, for Christmas etc. So it was challenging because we got more content.

The first couple of months until, let’s say, October, I felt I was under water. And then I managed to get my head above the water, and instead of just surviving and pushing the deadlines so that I could do it in time, I started to think, “This we can do better. This can be optimised as well.” And I started to take control of the situation. I love being in control, and I hate it when I just run after all the deadlines and all the colleagues and just patch holes. So this is when I started to feel really like I could own it.

Vasso: And that was fast enough, I would say 鈥� two months taking up something completely new and something you haven’t done before and setting it up to a more standardised process while at the same time you were also managing daily localisation requests, right? So you were also doing that.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Yes, of course.

Vasso: Great job, if you ask me. So if you had to use three adjectives or three words to describe the localisation programmeme at Interhome now, what would these be?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: The adjectives would be dynamic, collaborative and stimulating. I was thinking a lot about the last word, but I think that’s a nice one. I can elaborate more on each one if you want.

Vasso: Yes, I’m interested in the last one especially, but I definitely want to hear how you would define the other two also.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Should I start with stimulating? Yes, I鈥檒l start with stimulating. So, while the tasks are many times really demanding, especially when there are a lot of them coming together, because we have requests for many languages, and many different departments that need translated content, it can be really demanding. So I could use 鈥榙emanding鈥� as one of these adjectives, but I didn’t want it to have negative connotation and I always try to find a positive side in everything.

The positive aspect of this is that you’re juggling multiple tasks, you’re not bored, and your brain is constantly alert. You’re creating the synapses, the connections. This was highly positive especially for me because I had already spent the entire year just changing nappies and talking “ba ba da da,” it was really nice to start something that really challenged my brain. So that’s when I thought, it was actually really stimulating for me.

Vasso: That is actually a great connection that you just made and how a lot of things can be simply a matter of perspective, right? Because I also felt the same way when I wasn’t working after I had my little one for a few months. Then when I returned back to the office, I pretty much found everything interesting. As you said, extremely stimulating, but I hadn’t thought of that before. But I was just so drawn into the work that the hours just went by and I didn’t realise. So thank you for also making me realise that as well, because I can understand how it feels.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: You’re not the only one. I think we both know what this means, to have two jobs, basically. Each stimulating in a different way.

Vasso: Yes, exactly. But it’s great to also put a word to describe that because I hadn’t thought of it like that before. Thank you for offering that perspective.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: You’re welcome. And then we can move on to the other two. So that was dynamic and collaborative. I think it’s quite obvious and I’ve mentioned that before, we have a constant flow of varied projects with different deadlines, different languages, different project managers. So it’s really dynamic, and one has to have a really dynamic approach to stay on top of all of that. And collaborative, also obviously working with many colleagues across departments, across countries to deliver the final project.

Vasso: Great. It sounds like you have done a great job setting up the programme and you are still on top of it and seeing how it can be optimised. And new challenges now have emerged, probably more global requests and AI in the picture and a lot of discussion around that. So I want to ask you: how does a day in your work life look like? I won’t go into the child part, as I know how that is, but let’s say it was one whole day in an office setting. How do you start your day? What do you do?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I understand your question but let me include the children part because a day of my work looks a little different from a typical nine-to-five, that most people will think of when you say office life.

Vasso: Definitely. Go ahead.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Sure, as I already said, I work from home most of the time, 99% of the time, and I’m managing not one but two munchkins, because since I started I had another baby. And I usually have to get the work done during the windows when my children are asleep or with another family member. That is most of the time my partner, of course, but he also has to work.

The first round of work involves usually anything that comes in the evening before and it gets handled in the morning. It might include new projects from project managers, the new tasks that they’re sending to me to be translated, or completed translations for the ongoing projects. These tasks are sent either by the night owls or by the early birds because they tend to tie up everything in the evening. I will circle back to this actually when we come to the evening.

So, in the morning I go through the emails that are sent from people that work really late or really early. Then I fit a couple more hours of focused work during the nap times, that is before and after lunch. And these are my core working hours, let’s say, and I tend to have video meetings just like this with colleagues or with anyone that I need to engage with. Or I also engage in instant messaging and emails in real time via chat or email. And this real-time interaction is really crucial for the projects because especially when we have something that is urgent and it can’t wait until the next day, this is the time window I have to use to do this work to keep the projects moving, because I receive the answer right away and I can move the project up to the point where it can wait until the next day or when it’s on the other side of the table.

Then the last bulk of my work takes place in the late afternoon when my partner gets home, or when he feeds the children, or after the children have gone to sleep, depending on how the day goes. And this is when I tie up any loose ends and I try to leave my desk as clear as possible for the following morning. As I said, this is the circle of life. And so I try to really leave everything clear, clear my head as well, and then rise and shine early in the morning the next day to go into it again.

But of course, this is just a typical example. My daily routine has to be really flexible and it depends on the current work demand and the number of urgent cases, the composition of projects, but also on the situation at home 鈥� how everything with the kids is or whether there’s a doctor’s appointment and so on. I’m really grateful for the freedom, for the work from home setup, because it allows me to manage my work schedule the way I need given the circumstances, at work and at home the given moment, and this way I can combine the family and the job most of the time really well.

Vasso: This resonates much and it brings back so many memories for me as well. And I know how valuable this is to be able to have this setup.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I think it’s really important that this gets talked about more because it’s mostly women that are affected when it comes to family and work. It’s mostly women that have to combine both. By talking we just normalise this and maybe there can be a shift to improve conditions for women.

Vasso: Exactly. And also show companies that it is important 鈥� and company owners and employers and managers 鈥� that it is important to show more trust and have more empathy for such scenarios.

We touched upon how you want to improve, you’re constantly in a dynamic state with the programme and trying to also use smart tools. AI and LLMs are big discussion points nowadays, especially in the localisation industry. I had an interesting discussion the other day with another localisation manager who said that in the US, people and companies think that the language problem has been solved. And this is not the case. She’s seeing a gap between how people who don’t have any experience or close relationship to language, with the advent of ChatGPT and similar LLMs, suddenly think that language is a problem solved in every circumstance, for everyone, for all languages, whereas people like us who are working with languages every day and in multicultural, multilingual settings, we have objections to that. And we still see how this is useful, potentially LLM contribution and how we can work with that, but definitely the language problem has not been solved. What’s your take on that?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I studied linguistics. I actually have a major in English and in German here at Charles University. And ever since I started my studies, everyone was saying, “What you’re studying doesn’t make any sense because already with Google Translation, we won’t need people like you. Machine translation will evolve and nobody will need translators or people working in these types of industry anymore.”

And it’s been 10 years actually. And look, we’re still needed.

Vasso: We’ve proven them wrong.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: We have proven that wrong and we’re still continuing to do that. And of course, machine translation and the large language models, everything has been evolving. It’s normal in a developed society that everything evolves and keeps progressing, and I think it’s a great thing. And actually the use of the AI and the LLMs for translation purposes for our firm is definitely an asset. A company like ours, multicultural as we are, there are many application scenarios for us, but they are finite. You already said that you cannot just take it and just use it without any further elaboration.

There still needs to be a human, at least at the end of the process, to proofread, to guide the tone, the tone of voice, the wording. For example, in our case, according to the company’s needs, there are still errors even with the machines. If you use ChatGPT, you can even prompt it remember a guideline forever, but it鈥檚 unpredictable what it will actually do. We still have a long way to go.

Maybe someday we will really be replaced. But then I would take it just as an evolution, just as any other case, as for example, the people that used to connect the telephone calls with the first lines when you would called an organization.

Vasso: The phone operators.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: With the onset of automatic dialing, they lost their jobs, and of course people protested, but there was an evolution. You can’t just keep the people doing the job that doesn’t make any sense for them to do. It’s better to use their strengths for something else, for them to evolve as well.

Just to conclude, I’m not really afraid that everyone in the industry will lose their jobs. I just think that with the onset and with the AI that gets progressively better and better, we need to see how we can use it to our benefit, how we can make it do the tedious job, and how we can use our forces to do something else. And if it’s something creative, then it’s better. Because I really like the AI doing the tedious tasks, but the creative ones I am not such a fan of.

When it comes to AI performing the translation task and a professional to reviewing the output, I think it’s great. In our case, when we use AI to translate content, and then we feed it the reviewed output, it鈥檚 a training cycle, and we are working on improving that output. This makes it progressively easier for a human to review and finalise the texts, thus freeing up more time to do other tasks, as I said. And in my opinion, this is where the true purpose of these technologies lies; to assist humans, make their work easier and free up more time for other tasks.

Vasso: Great points, Ev啪enie. How do you use LLMs internally? I mean, have you integrated them to a specific platform that you use? Do you use them separately? Have you evaluated different LLMs and then concluded using just one? Or are you using different LLMs for different purposes, perhaps?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: We mostly use AI to initially translate content which then becomes the basis for our colleagues to edit it and make it more Interhome-like.

Vasso: But you have also set up prompting and specific prompting for specific tasks, that doesn’t sound amateurish. I think you’re doing more than many teams and many companies are doing.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Maybe, probably. We’re actually in the middle of centralising everything, or we’re trying to look into how we can make it better. But for now, it’s basically more along the lines of we need this language and then the team takes care of this language. There are different approaches, but the designated teams are not 100% dedicated to the translations, so it’s a side job.

The goal for the upcoming season would be definitely to centralise it more and as such support these colleagues better. But for now, every team has their own set process on how they handle language requests, and then they send it to me as a translations coordinator, and I send it to the project manager.

Vasso: I see. I think we can wrap this up here but there is one thing that I want to ask you, and maybe it is something that we have already touched upon, but since you did study linguistics and then you have worked with language in one capacity and then in another capacity, you have engaged with a lot of people who are working with language and in the localisation industry. What is it that you really, really love about it?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I like this question. I like when it’s more about the feelings and less about the procedures and the tasks. 韦hank you for that. What I really love about the localisation industry is the people. You’re right about the fact that we’ve already mentioned it but I鈥檒l keep mentioning how I love working and interacting with people. So in my case, with colleagues from different places where we’re all coming together to create a final product that is same but different, localised for the different markets and target audiences.

And you learn a lot in the process about the languages, about the various customs, pieces of culture, everything that makes up the whole concept of localisation, because it’s not just language and words that need to be transformed to another language. The industry is dynamic. It’s ever-changing. It always offers new opportunities to learn, to grow, to improve. It’s also this evolution that keeps me on my toes. And as you mentioned already, it’s really rewarding and exciting when you see the final product. So these would be the two parts of what I love.

Vasso: Great points. I feel the same way too. That’s probably why an AI could never replace that. We always like working with people, engaging with people. It’s not the same engaging with an avatar or an agent. I think it’s one aspect of our industry that is really, really powerful and it’s a pattern that keeps coming up in discussions, how the people are the heart of our industry.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: That is true.

Vasso: If you had a mentee at this point, someone who was in the industry or was interested in the industry and reached out to you for advice, what is one piece of advice that you really would make a point of giving to them? What do you say is the most important thing that they should keep in mind?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: I will share one piece of advice which might be a bit controversial, but for me it’s a vital part. That piece of advice would be to have fun with it. And I literally mean it. This job can be really stimulating (haha) so it鈥檚 important that we stay positive. It can also be so rewarding when you approach it with your heart. When you really pour your heart into it and you have fun with it. Of course you have to stay alert. You have to keep in mind all the small details you need to watch out for. Having fun does not mean taking it light-heartedly by no means. You just have to have the right mindset so that you go with it and everything else just comes along. It can be learned, but having fun and being positive about it is something that I think cannot be learned. You just have to feel it.

Vasso: That’s a great piece of advice. That’s a great piece of advice indeed. And I think my final question here is, do you have a big or bold goal? It can be either personal or professional, family, whatever. For the next two or three years, do you have something where you really have set your mind to achieve?

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Many come to mind, but there is one, I don’t know if it’s big or bold, but I would really like to establish a truly centralised and streamlined working process to make sure that our work is really effective, that we have time to dedicate to anything else that we need to, again working on improving the output and making the process more effective. It might involve the support of AI, or the invaluable assistance from our partners such as yourself, who have already proven to be reliable even when we have the most last-minute projects. So my goal would be to make collaboration smoother and the outcomes even stronger, and this is the progress I would like to achieve in the next years.

Vasso: It does sound like big and bold, especially with everything that’s changing, so I wish you the best of luck with that.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Thank you. And maybe the most important part I forgot to mention is to keep it human in the process. There’s a really fine line when you’re balancing content localisation on a professional level but also, especially for B2C content, aiming to instigate that particular feeling, and this is really culturally loaded.

Vasso: That’s true. Especially in the B2C business, this is one more challenge, to achieve this level in localisation that would trigger this effect. B2C is very, very different compared to B2B for some content types. Well, thank you very much for this very interesting discussion. I heard a lot and you gave me a lot to think about as well. And your two little munchkins and your partner, they have a lot of things to be proud of for their mom and partner.

贰惫啪别苍颈别: Thank you very much for this opportunity as well. I enjoyed it a lot.

Vasso: Thank you again for joining us for this interview. How did you initially land in the localisation industry? Sometimes I meet people who landed in our industry out of the blue, and other times it鈥檚 people who have been in it forever.

Maria: Thank you for the invitation. I鈥檓 definitely not in the industry by accident. I wanted to become a translator, and that鈥檚 how I got here. I did a BA in English Studies and then started a Master鈥檚 in translation. As part of the Master鈥檚, there was an internship at a translation agency. It was supposed to be mainly translation work, but they offered me a job as a project manager, so officially, that鈥檚 how I was initiated in project management. I鈥檝e done a lot of things since then, but it was an intentional journey. I expected to do more translation work鈥擨 still do a bit鈥攂ut at some point, I realised I鈥檓 good at project management and I enjoy working with people in different roles. That鈥檚 how I got here, basically.

Vasso: A nice, planned journey. It does seem like project management comes into a lot of localisation professionals鈥� lives after they start as translators, right?

Maria: Yes, I think so. I completed my PhD in localisation last year and I tell my students that you can鈥檛 do just one thing nowadays, especially with how fast the industry is changing. Not everyone is meant for this kind of focus on process or communication, but if you have that ability, it鈥檚 definitely an asset. Even if you don鈥檛 move into other roles and just stay as a freelance translator, it鈥檚 helpful. When I worked as a translator, I found that my first job as a project manager helped me understand the other side, the communication barriers between stakeholders. Understanding other roles is always valuable, even if you don鈥檛 pursue a career in that direction.

Vasso: You raise a good point鈥攚e鈥檙e all part of an ecosystem, and being more aware of the needs and challenges of different roles helps us be more helpful and valuable.

Maria: Definitely. It makes us more adequate too, because sometimes, if you don鈥檛 put yourself in the other person鈥檚 shoes, you don鈥檛 know why they do what they do in a particular situation.

Vasso: Great. Now you鈥檙e the Localisation Manager at Ferryhopper. How would you identify Ferryhopper in terms of size?

Maria: I think we are more like a scale-up and we have moved forward from the start-up phase. We鈥檙e not a corporation or a huge company, but we are definitely growing and moving into new markets.

Vasso: If you had to describe the localisation programme at Ferryhopper with three words, which would they be? And could you give us a bit of context?

Maria: Hmm, that鈥檚 a hard question, but I鈥檒l say: diverse, flexible, and dynamic. And I feel that this is what we should all be striving for. 鈥淒iverse鈥� isn鈥檛 just about the diversity localisation brings to a product, but also about the types of projects and people we work with. Our work at Ferryhopper is interdisciplinary and depends a lot on each specific project or team鈥擯roduct, Customer Service, and so on. By 鈥渇lexible,鈥� I mean there鈥檚 a different solution for everything, so it has to be customised. We can鈥檛 keep doing what we did five years ago; each language or project might need a new strategy. And 鈥渄ynamic鈥� because everything is always changing鈥攊n the industry and the company. As we grow and add more languages, things keep evolving and each year we set new goals and come up with new plans for localisation. There鈥檚 always something new to explore, within my role, too. That鈥檚 probably one of the main things I like about this job.

Vasso: I totally agree. I鈥檒l keep your point about the industry changing for later in our discussion, but staying with Ferryhopper for now, how is Ferryhopper鈥檚 localisation programme different compared to when it started? Did you join at the very beginning?

Maria: I didn鈥檛 join right at the very beginning. But I joined to build the localisation strategy. We already had different languages when I joined, but things were more ad hoc. Over the years, we had to establish processes and a team.

Now it鈥檚 much more complex compared to the beginning when we just covered the main localisation languages (outside of English and Greek)鈥擥erman, Spanish, Italian, French. At the start, we onboarded freelance language managers for these languages, and created style guides for Ferryhopper, translated and localised the website, app, all documentation, and started localising the blog, which is our main organic channel. We鈥檝e learnt a lot since then, and now the setup is much more diversified.

There are languages for which we don鈥檛 have language managers and for which we don鈥檛 translate organic content. For the ones we do, it鈥檚 much more focused鈥攚e do market research, SEO research, and we know what works better now. For bigger audiences, we have people who are full owners of the language鈥攖hey do everything, including translation. Their role isn鈥檛 just to check translations or be a 鈥渉uman in the loop.鈥� For smaller markets, we might rely more on LSPs. The decision is based mainly on our audience and the number of people using our products in each market. That鈥檚 the main difference: we鈥檝e grown, and along with the company, our localisation approach has evolved. For some languages, we just provide coverage in our products and communications, turning to a local translation agency as needed. It鈥檚 a sort of two-tier approach, but more nuanced than that.

Vasso: Do you have any specific metrics or experiences showing how localisation has impacted Ferryhopper鈥檚 market presence, positively or negatively?

Maria: Everyone wants to see proof, and every client wants to know if they need to localise. In tourism, it鈥檚 not really a choice鈥攜ou have to localise. The bigger question is how you鈥檒l do it: will you focus on quality localisation, or just push your content into as many languages as possible? I can鈥檛 share precise numbers, but for some languages, after launch, bookings in that nationality doubled in the next year. Still, it鈥檚 hard to say how objective that is because tourism is a very specific industry. Regardless of nationality, our users trust us, we have good ratings, and they know they can use our service in their own language if it鈥檚 supported. We try to be as local as possible. So far, it鈥檚 working: people trust us, and I think that鈥檚 enough to go on.

Vasso: It鈥檚 hard to make that connection, since business results are so cross-functional and some business results can be claimed by different departments, like localisation but also marketing.

Maria: Yes, definitely. Officially, we鈥檙e under the Marketing Team, but we work with every other team,too. You can鈥檛 isolate results鈥攍ocalisation is part of everything. In this industry, localisation is a must, and you can鈥檛 do it in a rudimentary way, just using machine translation and expanding as fast as possible. We鈥檝e seen that what we鈥檙e doing works, and people are using our products in the new languages we launch. There鈥檚 an interesting thing: when we launch a language, especially one that鈥檚 not major in Europe, people tend to use English at first, even if their language is available. But over time, with trust, the percentage grows, and more people use our service in their own language. As a Bulgarian speaker, I can confirm that myself鈥攊t does make a difference. But it takes time for people to trust the product in their own language, especially if they are used to doing things in English because that鈥檚 what was always available to them. As time goes on and they see the quality, more users will shift to using the product in their native language. That鈥檚 what we鈥檝e observed.

Vasso: That鈥檚 a really interesting insight. It does take time because I think most products also launch with English despite their home market and despite the launch market. They may have support for one or two languages, but they do launch with English mostly until they get everything together to start localising. Also users seem to have that expectation of using apps in English, but when we do find out that we have a well-localised version, then we switch. Do you have any idea of how much time it takes for your users to adopt their localised version?

Maria: I’m not sure to be honest, because we haven’t been around for that long, but it definitely increases with each year. I think we’ve seen it for Polish, we’d had Polish for like 3 years before we saw an uptake in usage. But now the majority of users who are Polish nationals use Polish as a language. Again, I might be over-generalising here, but these are some baseline estimates.

Vasso: And it would be interesting if at some point we could connect that shift, users adopting their localised version, with new subscriptions or new growth in that market. I think that would be an interesting figure to monitor.

Maria: It should be. I’m not sure if it is something that’s applicable everywhere, like for example in our industry, but for certain products, it will definitely make a difference.

Vasso: Going back to what you mentioned previously about the industry changing鈥攈onestly, pretty much all industries are changing a lot in these past one or two years. There鈥檚 so much hype right now around AI, LLMs, and all the related buzzwords: GenAI, language-specific LLMs, agentic AI, and so on. There are just so many terms floating around. You see hype everywhere, and everyone is trying to figure out how to use these technologies. What鈥檚 your overall take on all of this?

Maria: Yes, it鈥檚 all the buzz words! It鈥檚 definitely a huge topic, as you said. Everyone is trying to figure things out, and I think the main thing is that AI is clearly here to stay. Whether we personally like it or not, or whatever our preferences might be, every industry鈥攏ot just localisation鈥攊s looking for the best ways to use it.

What鈥檚 really important, in my opinion, is to approach all of this analytically and critically. I鈥檝e noticed that, in most cases, people are quite chaotic about it: 鈥淥h, AI can do everything, so let鈥檚 make it do everything for us.鈥� But that鈥檚 not a good approach. For example, we know that neural machine translation and similar tools have been around for a while, and they have real added value in localisation. Still, it鈥檚 more about finding ways to build on that, and it will take time. People are experimenting but aren鈥檛 always sure what to apply where.

The bigger issue for me, especially in localisation, is that there are a lot of stakeholders involved, and communication is not always clear. Not everyone fully understands what can be done, what鈥檚 possible with a particular type of GenAI, or what a language-specific LLM really is. I believe it鈥檚 essential for us to inform and educate ourselves and others, try new things, and test them thoroughly. We need to be more data- and results-driven and keep all stakeholders鈥攃lients included鈥攊nformed.

I鈥檝e even seen this in Ferryhopper. Sometimes, other teams say, 鈥淥h, we already did this with ChatGPT,鈥� and I have to ask, 鈥淲hy?鈥� At least let鈥檚 see how we can improve it, write a better prompt, or try something new. Sometimes people think, 鈥淚t鈥檚 just translation鈥� or 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the next generation of this technology鈥攐f course it can do it!鈥� That mindset is limiting. So, educating people is going to be one of our most important roles in the next few years.

Vasso: How do you feel when other teams (not from localisation) come to you and say they already did something鈥攋ust because the tools were available and they could do it? To me, that鈥檚 one of the biggest changes LLMs bring, they give everyone the sense of control, the feeling that, 鈥淚 can do this myself.鈥� Sometimes, just because we do it ourselves, we think it鈥檚 good enough, or we鈥檙e willing to compromise. But if we give it to an expert, our expectations for quality shoot up鈥攚hich is another discussion, since quality is very subjective. How do you feel about that?

Maria: Honestly, I think it makes sense from their point of view. It鈥檚 not like people say, 鈥淚 did this with ChatGPT and it鈥檚 perfect.鈥� Usually, they use it when something is not very high-priority, or they need a quick result. It鈥檚 not for content with high visibility to customers; it鈥檚 more about needing something now rather than needing it done in the best possible way.

So, I don鈥檛 get the sense that people believe they can do it better than the Localisation Team. It鈥檚 more about prioritisation, which I actually understand. But this is where the real discussion starts鈥攁bout when it鈥檚 enough to just 鈥渉ave something quickly鈥� and when quality becomes important. That鈥檚 the balance we need to talk about more as these technologies become part of our everyday work.

There might be problems that non-linguists simply won鈥檛 notice because they don鈥檛 have that kind of perspective. They might be Product Team members, engineers, etc. So it really comes down to communication鈥攊dentifying these cases, trying to improve them, and educating people.

For example, I recently saw a prompt used for translation that was something like 鈥渢ranslate without any changes.鈥� Obviously, the intention was to prevent ChatGPT from altering information鈥攂ecause we know it hallucinates or makes things up. The prompt was written by engineers, I think, who tried to ensure the AI wouldn鈥檛 introduce changes. But from my localisation perspective, that prompt effectively says, 鈥淒on鈥檛 change the syntax; don鈥檛 change the words; just translate them directly.鈥� This shows the importance of linguistic sensitivity. You do need someone with a professional perspective to guide how to practically use GenAI every day.

Vasso: Yes, you鈥檙e right. Moving beyond linguistic expertise and education, with more self-service approaches becoming common, do you see risks that this might create gaps or impact business practices? As an in-house localisation team, you have workflows鈥攜ou collect and store content, keep translation memories or databases to maintain consistency across markets, languages, and content types. With the DIY approach enabled by LLMs, do you see risks or gaps developing in your processes or even in the overall brand image?

Maria: I think it definitely depends on the company and how communication about localisation happens within it. In our case, I don鈥檛 think it will create huge gaps because many people are responsible for different content types, they are aware of style guidelines and potential risks, and even if someone decides to use machine translation quickly for something, there is usually a language manager to check it afterwards.

That doesn鈥檛 happen often, but when it does, at least for cases where we don鈥檛 have the capacity to fully control everything, the output will be 鈥済ood enough鈥� for its purpose and we鈥檒l improve it if we get time. I鈥檓 not sure if this applies to all companies. I鈥檓 not saying that we鈥檙e completely different or that nothing will change, but at least for now, we鈥檙e trying to make informed decisions. Of course we use AI and machine translation鈥攚e just try to use them in a sensible, controlled way.

Vasso: Good points. So, to wrap this up: what is it that you love about the industry? You consciously chose to become a language professional鈥攚hat do you love about it?

Maria: Some of the things I mentioned earlier stand out for me. It’s the diversity of people and teams that I get to work with. There鈥檚 always something new to learn, whether it鈥檚 about software product creation, marketing, or market research. Of course, it depends on the person, but for me, it鈥檚 extremely rewarding to have something new to learn. So, the diversity and all the different types of people you meet and collaborate with鈥攖hat鈥檚 what I really value.

Vasso: And what is one piece of advice you would give to peers in the localisation industry?

Maria: I usually give my students this advice: don鈥檛 be afraid to try new things, and don鈥檛 be worried about the state of the industry. There鈥檚 always something new happening, and there are always people saying we鈥檙e doomed. Anyone who wants to work in localisation needs to stay curious and open. Be proactive and explore how you can make use of what鈥檚 happening and apply it to your work. That鈥檚 the most important thing. And I don鈥檛 mean just in terms of automation and technology, though that鈥檚 big right now, but also in communication. If you鈥檙e open when communicating with project managers, other translators, reviewers, or software developers鈥攁s often as possible鈥攜ou鈥檒l learn the most that way. The industry is dynamic, so flexibility and willingness to learn are really valuable.

Vasso: That can apply to almost any industry! I completely agree. Today鈥檚 professional environment is so different from what it was twenty or thirty years ago. People used to start in a company and retire there.

Maria: Absolutely. And now, with remote work鈥攕omething we already take for granted鈥攚e feel that comfort of our own time and space, wherever we choose to work from. But communication is still the most important aspect in any job. Even if you imagine yourself as a translator sitting at home all day, communication is still crucial. I consciously go out to work from a place other than my home. I may choose a friend to work with, or go to a place I like鈥攊t helps. Of course, it depends on what works for you, and how you feel about your alone time, but I think having a little bit of everything is the best mix.

Vasso: I think we鈥檙e a flexible crowd. Most people you need to communicate with in this industry are aware of different expectations and communication practices.

Maria: For sure. I see this a lot in localisation. Compared to other professions, localisation professionals are less set in their ways, probably because we have to work with so many different people. Over time, you learn and adapt.

Vasso: One final question: do you have a big, bold goal you want to achieve in the next two or three years? It can be either professional or personal.

Maria: Honestly, based on my experience so far, both professionally and personally, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a great idea to put deadlines on big goals鈥攅specially the really big ones. As I mentioned, I finished my PhD last year, so now I鈥檓 trying to go with the flow, see where things take me, and have that attitude. Right now, not only is the industry changing, but so is the whole world鈥攖he sociopolitical climate included. I won鈥檛 even get into that topic! I think we should focus more on our well-being and our communities. That鈥檚 the kind of goal I have now鈥攏ot a specific big thing, but more of an ongoing attitude to find balance in life and focus on community.

Vasso: I like that goal. I think it becomes very important after some years of professional experience, and we shouldn鈥檛 postpone it. When you鈥檙e younger, you want to push for more, get more pleasure and adrenaline from accomplishing things, and moving quickly. But after a while, you stop feeling like you constantly have to prove yourself.

Maria: I think everyone should do that, no matter where they are in their career. It鈥檚 tricky though鈥攚hen you have that passion, it鈥檚 tough to slow down. I still find myself thinking, 鈥淭his is the next thing I should try.鈥� But you start finding a balance, prioritising, and deciding what鈥檚 truly valuable and worth your time.

Vasso: Yes, and you start enjoying other things too. Perfect. I鈥檒l leave us with that. Thank you, Maria. Your insights have been so helpful, and I鈥檓 sure readers will appreciate the advice and the honest perspective on what localisation looks like in a growing company.

Maria: Thank you! It was a pleasure to chat and share my experience.