In this episode, I speak with Elena Carpanese, a Localization Manager at DeepL, about her multilingual background, her path into the language technology industry and the future of language ai. Originally from Italy, Elena studied English, German, and Spanish in the UK and joined DeepL as one of its early employees, working on both translation quality evaluation and content localization.

Elena shares how DeepL has transformed over the past five years from a small, Cologne-based team into a global AI company. Her work involves leading a team of in-house linguists, managing localization across 13 languages, and consulting product teams to ensure the company's products reflect linguistic accuracy and provide an intuitive user experience across different markets. She also tells us how DeepL collaborate with a wide network of external linguists to maintain translation quality across all its languages supported (over 100).

Lastly she talks about agentic AI and its potential impact on language workflows, including early experiments her team has run - such as automated UX audits and terminology extraction - and how these tools can reduce repetitive tasks across industries like legal, healthcare and manufacturing.

Key Takeaways

1. Elena truly lives her languages: in her own words 'I always wanted to be able to speak a language so that I could experience the culture and the people through my own lens.'
2. Localization at DeepL is both linguistic and strategic: Elena and her team localize everything from UI to marketing copy but also advise product teams on terminology, user journeys, and language-specific UX decisions
3. DeepL supports over 100 languages with a focus on customer needs and data quality. They release new languages based on market demand and whether high-quality data exists to train reliable models
4. Agentic AI is opening new possibilities beyond translation such as auditing localized interfaces automatically, gathering terminology from large datasets, and automating repetitive tasks in industries like legal, manufacturing, and tech
5. DeepL's plans for the future include expanding products while keeping language at the core. Their four main pillars are: Translator, API, Voice, and Agents

About Elena Carpanese

Elena is a professional localisation manager at the AI-pioneer DeepL, having worked there for 5 years in both the Cologne and London offices.

1. Elena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-carpanese-b70574112/
2. DeepL's website: https://www.deepl.com/en
3. DeepL on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deepl/

About Sonia Kampshoff

Sonia is an experienced, multilingual digital marketing consultant focusing on Google Ads and advertising on social media. She works with small and medium-sized companies, agencies and charities across ecommerce and lead generation accounts, supporting them from strategy and planning all the way through optimisation and management.

Languages are integral to her identity and career, so much so that in September 2025 she created and hosts this podcast, telling stories of people who merge their language skills with the work they do - and inspiring many more to learn languages and build a career on these valuable soft skills.

Connect with Sonia

1. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workingwithlanguages
2. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniakampshoff/
3. Website: https://moreperfect.digital/
4. Email: [email protected]

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