Most localization teams have the right tools. What they don't have is the connective tissue between them. The TMS doesn't talk to the CMS. The CMS doesn't sync with the code repository. Files get exported, renamed, emailed, reformatted, and re-uploaded - and somewhere along the way, someone overwrites last week's translations with an outdated file. The tools work individually; the problem is what happens in between.
This is the technical side of localization that often gets overlooked. It's not glamorous work, but it's the difference between a team that spends its time on actual localization quality and a team that spends half its week moving files from one system to another. Every manual step in a localization workflow is a point where things can go wrong, get delayed, or fall through the cracks entirely.
I build the integrations that eliminate these manual steps. That means working with APIs to connect your TMS to your repositories and content platforms, setting up webhooks and automation triggers so content flows where it needs to go, and making sure translated assets land back in the right place without someone having to shepherd them there. The specifics depend entirely on your stack - I've worked with Phrase, Lokalise, Crowdin, memoQ, and others, and the approach is always shaped by what you're already using.
What sets this apart from what a TMS vendor's support team can offer is scope and perspective. Vendors optimize for their own tool. I optimize for your workflow end to end, which usually involves multiple systems that need to work together smoothly. And because I approach this from an in-house angle, I design integrations that your team can understand, maintain, and adjust as your product evolves - not black-box automations that break the moment something changes.
Automation isn't about replacing people. It's about freeing your localization team from the mechanical work so they can focus on the things that actually require human judgment - terminology decisions, quality reviews, stakeholder communication. The less time spent on file logistics, the more time available for the work that makes localization good.