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On September 5, 2024, over 150 language industry and technology leaders converged in Silicon Valley at the Hotel Nia in Menlo Park.
The event had a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, fostering both networking and reconnecting among attendees. Delegates from over a dozen countries and four continents highlighted the value of these in-person Slator events alongside virtual ones. The expo hall also saw active engagement.
Esther Bond, Slator Head of Advisory, welcomed attendees to the event, providing an overview of the day’s presentations and panels, and inviting delegates to connect with one another.
Slator Managing Director, Florian Faes, began the sessions by sharing key data points of Slator’s most recent research on the state of the industry, practical applications of large language models (LLMs) in localization workflows, and a set of predictions for the next couple of years.
RWS took on the first presentation slot, with Vasagi Kothandapani and Mark Lawyer speaking about service diversification into AI solutions, and content as currency for digital transformation, business innovation, customer experience, corporate growth, global engagement, and market evolution.
The first panel presentation of the day, moderated by Esther Bond, centered around investing.
Andrew Doane from K1 Investment Management and Aditya Govil from VSS Capital Partners discussed the impact of AI in the language technology sector, particularly in the healthcare and B2B SaaS domains. They also touched on the role of private equity in the language tech space, and the strategic considerations surrounding investments and acquisitions.
Helena Batt, who oversees localization operations for the TED Conferences, took the podium next to provide unique insights on the organization’s implementation of AI dubbing for TED Talks. Among the technical challenges encountered, Batt mentioned preserving vocal characteristics and emotional nuance, and achieving seamless lip sync.
Hedging on Technology
The language AI stack panel was moderated by Anna Wyndham, Slator Head of Research. Phrase’s Georg Ell and Uber’s Hameed Afssari shared their perspectives on AI as a tech stack, addressing the practical applications of LLMs in various aspects of localization, including MT, workflow optimization, and linguistic asset management.
A second technology panel, moderated by Florian Faes, delved into the particulars of interpreting, with Oddmund Braaten from Interprefy, Fardad Zabetian from KUDO, and Jeremy Woan from CyraCom International each offering interesting insights on the ways in which automation is altering the interpreting services landscape.
An additional panel discussion, moderated by Alex Edwards, Slator Senior Research Analyst, featured perspectives on localization systems integration, global 24/7 services, and enterprise program management from Pavel Soukenik from Acolad, Nitin Singhal from SnapLogic, and Agustín Da Fieno Delucchi from Microsoft.
Another afternoon session was a thought-provoking presentation brought by Silvio Picinini from eBay Localization, who walked the audience through a scenario where AI as a new technology is either applied to existing localization processes or processes are reimagined, with the potential consequences for either approach.
Florian Faes delivered the closing remarks, inviting the audience to continue the conversation at SlatorCon Remote in November 2024, or in person again in 2025, at SlatorCon London (for details coming soon, check the Slator’s Events page).
Stay tuned for more comprehensive follow-up coverage.
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