Join Jennifer Vela Valido, Ph.D., the Localization Quality Program Manager at Spotify, in conversation with María Roa at VistaTalks. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience in the localization industry. She has led innovative strategies in linguistic quality management, vendor operations, and academic research. Her expertise, combined with her passion for creating seamless, culturally relevant user experiences, has positioned her as a leading figure in the field. In this discussion, Jennifer shared her career journey, Spotify’s approach to localization, and the challenges of ensuring quality across 73+ languages.

00:00 - Introduction to Jennifer Vela Valido and her role at Spotify

01:37 - From Freelance Translation to Localization Leadership

04:16 - How Spotify Ensures High-Quality Localization Across 73+ Languages

06:49 - The Importance of Cultural Relevance and Localization Beyond Translation

08:47 - Key Challenges in Localization: Low-Resource Languages and Generational Differences

17:04 - The Role of Localization in Spotify’s User Experience and Global Reach

23:00 - The Impact of AI on Localization and Translation Quality Management

29:20 - Latest Research on AI vs. Neural Machine Translation

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