The 30-Year Flop: Why Big Tech’s Localization Model Failed 4 Billion People. For three decades, tech giants have spent fortunes attempting to localize products for emerging markets in Asia and Africa—yet, adoption remains stubbornly low.

Senior localization expert Muhammad Ikram, drawing on 20 years in the industry, finally reveals the core reason: the entire foundation of the localization model was laid wrong from the start. Discover why this flawed approach was allowed to persist and what is needed now to fix this colossal oversight.

About Ikram: he is a seasoned localization industry veteran with 18+ years of experience driving linguistic innovation across global tech platforms. A native speaker of Urdu and Punjabi, he has played a pivotal role in some of the industry’s most significant localization milestones — from contributing to the localization of Windows 8 and Microsoft Office, to leading the Urdu localization of Android and other Google products.

About Nimdzi Live:There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live, or do you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

Still want more? Check out some other resources available from Nimdzi and MultiLingual Media below:

️ NIMDZI INSIGHTS: https://nimdzi.com
We are a team of over ~50 analysts, consultants, and educators delivering research-based advisory and consulting specialized in international business, globalization, social justice studies, M&A culturalization, localization, gaming and media localization.

THE LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY RADAR: https://www.nimdzi.com/language-technology-radar-report/
The Nimdzi Language Technology Radar maps hundreds of language technology solutions across key categories. It is a constantly updated database of products that brings visibility and transparency to the language technology market and helps with related decision-making.

THE NIMDZI 100 RANKING AND MARKET ANALYSIS: https://www.nimdzi.com/nimdzi-100/
The Nimdzi 100 is one of our flagship publications. It includes a ranking of the top 100 LSPs by revenue, a watchlist of large players that don’t disclose their revenues, and a detailed overview of the size and state of the language services industry. The Nimdzi 100 is widely considered an industry standard and is read by tens of thousands of people in the translation and localization space and beyond. LSPs, localization buyers, investors, savvy job seekers, and analysts will benefit from this free resource.

THE NIMDZI INTERPRETING INDEX: https://www.nimdzi.com/interpreting-index-top-interpreting-companies/
The Nimdzi Interpreting Index is an in-depth report on the state of the global interpreting market that analyzes trends, market forces, and includes a ranking of the top 35 interpreting LSPs by revenue.

Music used in this stream is licensed by Nimdzi Insights:
Wasted Education (Blue Topaz): Adobe Stock License ASLC-1212CEAC-21B4264EF6
Grifting in Vegas (Kit and the Calltones): Adobe Stock License ASLC-1212CF4A-72A527808F
Funky Mood: ASLC-12AFE84A-5ED0E7C577
Way out of sight: ASLC-12AFE8AA-7C4063CA04
Get Up and Get Up: ASLC-12AFE8F6-C367C2DA8E
Real Stuff: ASLC-12AFE922-DA2CAF25FF
Beauty Funky: ASLC-12AFE95F-A5D43CB15F
Spanish Rumba: ASLC-12AFE9EB-02CE1C7C30
May I Have This One: ASLC-12AFEA0C-58238F80C0
Zimbabwe Sunset: ASLC-12F3E80C-400E160240
Speaking of Africa: ASLC-12F3E9AE-91F3F49CAF


#localization #l10n #languages #translation #international #global #interpreting #dubbing #translators #languageindustry

Language Intelligence 2025: Exploring the Future of AI and Language Technology.

Vienna, November 17–19, 2025
https://lnkd.in/dadgVQ_m

Language Intelligence 2025 (LI2025) is a hands-on conference dedicated to demonstrating the value people and organizations can gain from applying the latest AI-driven language, content, and knowledge management technologies in specific application domains.

The event connects innovation and technology development with practical use cases and solution deployment, helping participants understand how Language Intelligence supports real business outcomes and digital transformation.

Key highlights:

Practical insights into Language Intelligence across industries.
Case studies with proven organizational benefits.
Direct connections between researchers, developers, and business leaders.

About Philippe: He is a digital catalyst and evangelist, dedicated to fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and collaboration across the global tech ecosystem. As a facilitator of digital networks and alliances, he connects organizations and thought leaders to accelerate progress in the digital age.

About Britta: She is the Chief Business Officer at Semantix and a member of TransPerfect’s executive leadership team, where she drives growth and innovation across the global language industry. With a background in Philosophy and the Science of Language, she brings a unique lens to solving complex business challenges and leading strategic transformation.

About Bruno: He is a global digital growth strategist who helps organizations of all sizes expand digitally and engage globally at scale. From the start, he has international customers in mind, driving innovation, transformation, and execution where it matters most for business growth. His threefold manifesto guides his work: Digital is global by nature, not by default. No great local experience exists without global excellence. The rest of the world is most of the world.

About Nimdzi Live: There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live, or do you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Anna Albinsson, a CEO whose global perspective is shaped by years of leading Marketing, Sales, and AI transformation.

, :

• A CEO’s view on how localization drives growth for globally minded companies.

• Insider outsider insights from someone who’s led within and beyond the localization industry.

• Lessons on discipline, stamina, and strategy drawn from Anna’s career as a professional table tennis player.

• A fresh lens on the work of localization professionals, why their role mirrors the intensity and balance of a triathlon.

• How leadership from outside the industry can reframe long-standing challenges in bold, energizing ways.

About Anna: is Gridly’s CEO. She is an experienced commercial leader with an impressive track record of numerous executive positions within Marketing, Sales and Operations, as well as CEO. One of her many achievements is leading Bisnode on their transformation journey to becoming an AI company, and through the sale and later merger with Dun&Bradstreet. As a leader, Anna focuses on innovation, productivity and sustainable results.

About Nimdzi Live: There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live, or do you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

Localization leaders know their work drives business impact, but their voices often go unheard.

Without the right narrative, localization is dismissed as a cost center instead of a strategic driver. Misunderstandings with procurement stall progress, AI adoption sparks fears about the field's future, and efforts to showcase ROI fall flat.

The result? Missed opportunities, underfunded initiatives, and teams that struggle to gain visibility in the organization.

That’s where storytelling changes everything. In this exclusive Nimdzi Live teaser, with special guest Wada'a Fahel, you will learn how storytelling can amplify your voice and get a sneak peek at the San Francisco workshop that’s set to transform the way localization leaders communicate.

About Wada'a: she is a localization and content tech strategist with 20 years of experience driving global growth for brands like Harley-Davidson, Zendesk, and Xerox. As the founder of LocVerse Consulting, Wada’a helps startups and enterprises reimagine localization as a strategic business enabler, building scalable content ecosystems, integrating AI, and equipping leaders with the storytelling skills to connect localization to growth and customer success.

About Nimdzi Live: There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live, or do you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

Every company wants to adopt AI, but IT and Legal departments are often the biggest roadblocks. So where do enterprises actually start? Translation and localization. In this episode of Nimdzi LIVE!, Tucker Johnson and Saul Leal explore why language is the low-risk, high-reward entry point for AI adoption. From multimedia localization to enterprise content strategies, we’ll dive into how language teams are becoming the gateway for AI, and what this means for the future of global business.

Discover how Addavox is revolutionizing video localization with its powerful AI engine suite. In this livestream, we explore how Addavox’s 12 AI models empower professional linguists to localize videos quickly from upload to final download, transforming what used to take days or weeks into just minutes or hours. Supporting 70 languages for authentic voice mimicry (38 more than ElevenLabs) Addavox enables one linguist or voice artist to produce a fully localized final video independently. Unlike other tools, Addavox’s AI works for the linguist, enhancing their expertise rather than replacing it. Join us to learn why Addavox is the future of AI-powered localization in the translation industry.

Our guest:
Tim Hunt is a seasoned executive, entrepreneur, and AI/ML engineer with over 35 years of experience in the localization and technology industries. He is the founder of Adivocs, an advanced AI-powered video localization platform designed to augment the work of professional linguists, voice artists, and media localization teams.

Tim’s career spans software engineering, strategic planning, international business, and AI/ML architecture, with a proven track record in driving productivity, innovation, and market expansion. He has extensive hands-on experience in deep learning and machine learning models—including CNNs, RNNs, GANs, and LSTMs, along with expertise in Python, TensorFlow, PyTorch, and other modern AI frameworks.
Passionate about bridging human creativity with cutting-edge technology, Tim has developed solutions that enable multilingual content creation across 130+ languages and realistic AI-driven voiceovers in 70+ languages. His leadership combines technical depth with business acumen, empowering companies to scale localization efficiently, ethically, and profitably.

When he’s not advancing Adivocs’ capabilities, Tim engages in market analysis, mentoring, and forging collaborations with studios and enterprises to reimagine the future of global media localization.

Join us for a live stream featuring Michael Souto from Gridly as we examine how game localization used to be done. Think manual workflows, minimal planning, and a fair share of developer skepticism.

We’ll explore how the industry has evolved over the years, what’s improved, and which challenges persist. Michael will also share insights into common mistakes that continue to crop up in modern game localization, along with practical tips to help teams avoid them.

We’ll also discuss why early planning and cross-team collaboration are essential to a successful localization process and how to better educate developers on localization best practices.

About Michael: Michael spent over a decade as a game producer, working on multiple game titles including TimeSplitters 2 and the Commandos franchise, gaining first-hand experience of the challenges of game development, content creation, and publishing workflows. This time in game production gave him an insider’s understanding of how localization often becomes a bottleneck in development and how teams struggle to integrate it efficiently.

Recognizing these pain points, he transitioned into localization products and services with LocalizeDirect, where he helped studios streamline their localization processes and reduce the stress of managing multilingual content. He worked closely with game developers, publishers, and localization professionals, ensuring that localization services were designed to fit the needs of fast-moving game development cycles.

Later, as part of Gridly, Michael took his expertise a step further - focusing on localization efficiency through technology. Moving from a product and loc provider role (LocalizeDirect) to a solely product-focused role (Gridly), he has gained deep insights into how localization tools, automation, and AI-driven workflows can improve efficiency in game localization and beyond.

As a business development leader, Michael is constantly in touch with localization professionals across industries - not just in gaming, but also in SaaS, e-commerce, multimedia, and more. His role involves understanding clients’ pain points, challenges, and expectations, allowing him to see common struggles across industries and identify best practices that work universally.

About Nimdzi Live: There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live? Or you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

In this episode of Nimdzi Live, we dive into the world of cultural intelligence and next-generation localization with Jordan Koziol-Repia of Kiwa Digital, a pioneering force based in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Discover how Kiwa is blending Indigenous knowledge, digital storytelling, and voice technology to break language barriers and create inclusive, multilingual content across the globe. KIWA Digital is transforming the way stories are told and preserved.

At the core of KIWA’s innovation is VoiceQ, the gold standard in dubbing and localization software. Used by industry giants like Netflix, Disney, Amazon, DreamWorks, and major gaming and broadcast studios, VoiceQ is revolutionizing how content is dubbed, adapted, and synchronized across languages and cultures.

Tune in to explore:
- How cultural intelligence powers global content strategies.
- The rise of Indigenous storytelling in digital media.
- How VoiceQ is accelerating dubbing workflows with AI.
- Best practices for seamless multilingual localization.

About Jordan: Jordan’s journey from Wairoa to Auckland reflects his passion for Māori media, storytelling, and tech innovation. With nearly 15 years at KIWA Digital, he’s led dubbing projects for global giants via VoiceQ. Rooted in whanaungatanga and Tikanga Māori, Jordan uplifts others through culture-driven tech and creative excellence.

About Nimdzi Live: There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live? Or you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

VAMOS JUNTOS 2025 in Mexico City was a huge success. Let's hear from some of the panelists on what went down and what is planned for next year in VAMOS JUNTOS 2026 Buenos Aires.

About Charles: He is the founder and sole owner of Two, a leading talent, translation, and localization company with offices in Argentina, Peru, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Mexico.

About Kathy: Originally from New Zealand, he has lived in South America for 26 years and has spoken at industry events across the globe, including Berlin, London, New York, Riyadh, and Buenos Aires.

He serves on the boards of JUNTOS and AASL, holds a BA in Spanish from the University of Auckland (top of his class, 1997), and has completed postgraduate studies at Harvard and Universidad Austral.

About Nimdzi Live:
There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live? Or you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!

In this episode of Nimdzi Live, Alexander Murauski and Denis Zhilko discuss why using raw machine translation (MT) for localization can be a risky move.

They break down how different language models (LLMs) can produce translations that vary widely in quality. Relying on these imperfect translations can lead to serious problems and poor results, especially when delivering accurate and effective content.

Tune in to learn why it’s essential to carefully evaluate raw MT output before using it in your localization projects.

About Aleksander: is the CEO of Alconost, with over 18 years of experience helping companies tackle translation and localization challenges. A former web developer and product manager, he also creates software solutions like Nitro, a 24/7 translation service, and Pikaban, an ad creative generator. He’s passionate about UI/UX and video storytelling.

About Denis: is a problem solver who thrives on bringing order to chaos. He’s always open to meeting new people and gaining fresh perspectives.

About Alconost: is a localization partner that’s been helping companies of all sizes go global since 2004. From translation and cultural adaptation to multilingual content updates and engineering, they cover it all. With support for 120+ languages, Alconost combines linguistic expertise and technology to deliver flexible, scalable solutions that fit any budget.

About Nimdzi Live: There is a shadow industry driving the growth of ALL global brands: Localization. Let’s talk globalization, localization, translation, interpretation, language, and culture, with an emphasis on how it affects your business, whether you have a scrappy start-up or are working in a top global brand.

Would you like to be a guest on Nimdzi Live, or do you know somebody who should? Email [email protected] or reach out to [email protected] so we can coordinate!