In Part 2 of his solocast series, Undertow Founder Nicola Calabrese gets practical about building a localization program that actually works as you grow. If you're still copy-pasting translations into your CMS or relying on scattered Google Docs, this one's for you.

Nicola breaks down the four pillars every scalable localization program needs:

🎯 Strategy: aligning localization with your business goals, prioritizing markets, and making smart budget decisions

👥 People: why AI doesn't replace the humans who make localization work, and the roles you need on your team

⚙️ Technology: the tech stack that saves your marketing team from hours of manual work, from translation management systems to automation and task management

📋 Processes: how documented workflows keep things running smoothly and make onboarding new languages (or new team members) way easier

He also walks through how to build a business case for investing in localization, including how to calculate the real cost of having your sales reps spend their time translating instead of selling. Spoiler: there's a lot of money left on the table.

One of the most useful parts of this episode is the minimum viable experience framework. When you enter a new market, you can't localize everything on day one. Nicola explains how to map the customer journey and pick the assets that matter most, from your top-performing Google Ads to the onboarding emails your new users will actually read.

You'll also hear about:

🔗 How translation management systems connect with your CMS, code repo, and help center to create a single source of truth

🤖 Where AI really adds value in localization workflows (hint: it's not just translation)

🧩 Emerging roles like AI workflow specialists and AI-aware linguists

📊 How to maintain quality as you scale, through content segmentation and keeping humans in the loop

The bottom line? AI is a copilot, but it still needs a captain. A scalable localization system is part people, part tools, part governance, with AI amplifying the whole thing, not replacing it.

Whether you're just getting started with localization or looking to level up your current setup, this episode gives you a clear framework to work with.

🎧 Missed Part 1? Go back and listen to "AI Is Changing Localization and Here's What Matters" for the full picture.

This is The Multilingual Content Podcast, powered by Undertow. We create and manage localization programs for B2B SaaS companies so they can grow globally.

How is AI reshaping international growth—and what does it mean for your marketing strategy?

In this episode, Nicola Calabrese talks with Joliene van Grieken, Co-founder of The Growth Syndicate, about the shift from traditional SEO to AI-driven search and how companies should adapt when expanding globally.

They explore why credibility is becoming more important than keywords, how to maintain an authentic brand voice in an AI-driven world, and what most companies get wrong when entering new markets.

✨ SEO vs AI search: what’s actually changing

✨ Why trust, mentions, and authority matter more than ever

✨ The biggest international expansion mistakes

✨ How to localize beyond translation

✨ What modern marketing teams should look like

If you’re scaling internationally, this episode will help you rethink your approach—and avoid costly mistakes.

🎧 Tune in now

In this episode of The Multilingual Content Podcast, Nicola Calabrese sits down with Anca Greve, Senior Director of Global Expansion at Salesforce, to explore how AI is transforming localization at scale.

They discuss how localization evolves from a reactive function to a strategic growth driver, how Salesforce builds scalable localization workflows, and how AI helps reduce friction across product, marketing, and engineering teams.

You’ll also learn how to think about global expansion, prioritize markets, and design localization programs that actually drive user adoption and revenue.

What you’ll learn:

🚀 How Salesforce scales localization across products like Slack and Trailhead

🤖 The role of AI in continuous localization workflows

⚖️ How to balance speed and quality in AI-driven localization

🌍 Common mistakes companies make when expanding globally

📊 How to measure the ROI of localization

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

01:30 Anca’s background & role at Salesforce

05:00 From reactive to scalable localization

10:30 AI in localization workflows

18:00 Managing quality with AI

24:00 Market prioritization: momentum vs potential

30:00 Metrics & measuring localization impact

36:30 Final advice for global expansion

In this special solo episode of The Multilingual Content Podcast, Undertow’s founder Nicola Calabrese takes the mic to talk about one of the biggest shifts happening in localization today: AI.

There’s a lot of noise around AI replacing localization teams. But what’s actually happening inside real localization programs? And what does AI truly change when companies expand globally?

In this first part of a two-episode series, Nicola explores how AI is transforming localization workflows, where it creates real value, and why strategy, orchestration, and human expertise are still essential for building effective localization programs.

Rather than replacing people, AI is acting as a multiplier—automating repetitive tasks, accelerating workflows, and allowing teams to focus on higher-value work that actually drives global growth.

In this episode, we discuss:

🔹 Why AI won’t replace localization teams and why human expertise is still critical

🔹 Where AI actually adds value inside localization workflows today

🔹 How AI helps automate repetitive tasks so teams can focus on strategic work

🔹 The evolving role of translators in AI-assisted localization programs

🔹 Why strategy and orchestration matter more than ever in global content operations

🔹 Unexpected AI use cases in localization, beyond machine translation

🔹 The growing talent gap in localization and why skilled linguists will become even more valuable

Nicola also shares insights from conversations with localization leaders at major tech companies about how AI is already being implemented inside large localization programs—and what smaller companies can learn from these approaches.

If you're building or scaling a localization program, this episode will help you understand where AI fits, where it doesn’t, and how to think about localization in an AI-driven world.

🎧 In Part 2, Nicola will go deeper into the practical side and explain how to design a scalable, AI-powered localization program, including workflows, processes, and governance.

🎙️ In this episode of The Multilingual Content Podcast, Nicola Calabrese sits down with Chiara Scaldaferro, Senior Localization Manager at GoStudent, to explore what it takes to build a modern and scalable localization program.

From streamlining workflows to experimenting with AI and custom GPTs, Chiara shares a behind-the-scenes look at how she transformed localization into a more efficient and data-driven function, even as a one-person team.

Here is what you will learn:

✨ How to restructure localization programs for speed and efficiency

🔗 How integrations between Figma, TMS, and Slack can remove manual work

🤖 What Chiara learned from building custom GPTs for SEO content

⚖️ How to balance AI automation with human linguistic expertise

📊 How to position localization as a strategic business partner

🌍 Practical tips for scaling multilingual content across markets

Chiara also shares honest lessons from testing AI in production environments, managing stakeholder expectations, and prioritizing high-impact work when resources are limited.

If you are a localization manager, content leader, or B2B SaaS operator looking to make your global content operations smarter and more scalable, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

👉 Tune in to learn how to build localization programs that do not just translate. They drive business impact.

Let’s dive in 🚀

Expanding into a new market is never just about business. It’s about culture, trust, timing, and finding the right ecosystem to grow in 🌍

In this episode of The Multilingual Content Podcast, our Founder Nicola Calabrese sits down with Maria Andros, Senior Advisor at Helsinki Partners and Program Manager of the 90 Day Finn program, to explore what it really takes for international tech companies to enter Finland and scale across the Nordics.

Together, they discuss what makes Finland such a compelling destination for global growth stage companies and why Helsinki has become a strategic gateway to the European market.

💡 What the 90 Day Finn program is and who it’s designed for

🚀 How growth stage SaaS and tech companies can reduce friction when entering a new market

🤝 The role of trust, transparency, and direct communication in Finnish business culture

🌱 How founders can think beyond short term market entry and focus on long term growth

🧭 Why cultural immersion is just as important as business strategy when expanding internationally

Whether you’re a founder, CEO, or growth leader planning your next international move, this conversation offers practical insights and real world advice straight from the heart of the Finnish tech ecosystem.

📩 Want to learn more about the 90 Day Finn program or expanding into Finland?

🌐 90dayfinn.com

🏢 Helsinki Partners on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/helsinkipartners

👤 Maria Andros

Senior Advisor, Investment Promotion

Program Manager, 90 Day Finn

Helsinki Partners

📧 [email protected]

🔗 LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariaandros/

🎧 Tune in to learn how to approach international expansion with clarity, intention, and a long-term mindset.

How do you build products that work not just in theory, but in the real world? In this episode, Nicola sits down with Merel van der Lei, CEO at Wyzetalk, to unpack the complex relationship between buyers, admins, and end users in B2B SaaS.

They discuss how different personas influence product decisions, why frontline users are often overlooked, and what happens when the people buying a product aren’t the ones using it every day. The conversation explores how these dynamics affect adoption, safety, engagement, and long-term success — and why product teams need to think beyond features and roadmaps.

Drawing clear parallels with localization and global expansion, this episode highlights why understanding user context, workflows, and real-world constraints is essential for building products that scale across teams, markets, and cultures.

🎯 A must-listen for founders, product leaders, and localization professionals looking to build solutions people actually want to use.

🤖 AI is changing how people search — and how brands get discovered.

In this episode of The Multilingual Content Podcast, host Nicola Calabrese talks with Alex Casals, Founder of Tacmind, about what happens when AI starts answering questions instead of search engines showing links.

They dive into how AI-powered search is reshaping SEO, why visibility now depends on being mentioned in AI-generated answers, and what this means for global marketing, multilingual content, and international growth 🌍. From content strategy to discoverability across languages and regions, this episode is packed with practical insights for teams scaling globally.

If you’re a marketer, founder, or content leader wondering how to stay visible in an AI-first world, this one’s for you 🎧

🔗 Learn more:

🌐 https://www.undertowlanguages.com

🌐 https://www.tacmind.com

In this solo episode, Nicola Calabrese opens up about what’s really happening at the intersection of AI, localization, and multilingual content 🌍🤖 If you’ve been wondering how AI is reshaping translation workflows, speeding up content production, or changing the role of linguists, Nicola breaks it all down in a way that’s practical, honest, and easy to follow.

He walks through how teams are using AI for pre-translation ⚡️, automated quality checks 🔍, terminology extraction 🧩, multilingual dubbing 🎙️, and even content creation across markets ✍️. But he also talks about the real bumps in the road—like hallucinations, quality control, and the growing gap between client expectations and what AI can actually deliver today 😅.

Nicola doesn’t shy away from the human side either. He chats about how the linguist role is evolving toward quality leadership, cultural consulting, and maintaining the reference materials that AI relies on 👥📚. And if you’re thinking about introducing AI into your own localization workflow, he shares clear, actionable advice: start small, keep humans in the loop, build strong foundations, and focus on the business outcomes that matter 🚀.

Whether you're a founder, localization manager, content lead, or just AI-curious, this episode gives you a high-level overview of where multilingual content operations are headed and how to prepare for the hybrid future of humans and AI working together🤝✨.

Expanding your SaaS product into Europe? 🌍 In this episode of The Multilingual Content Podcast, Nicola Calabrese sits down with Filippo Irdi, a specialist in European market expansion for B2B SaaS, to unpack what really determines success when entering new markets. From cultural nuances and communication styles to trust-building and localization strategy, Filippo reveals why translation alone won’t unlock international growth.

You’ll learn the top mistakes SaaS companies make when expanding globally, how to prioritize the right markets with limited resources, and how to balance hyper-localized marketing with a consistent global brand. Filippo also shares how AI and modern translation technologies are reshaping team workflows and the future of international go-to-market strategies. 🤖✨

Whether you're a founder scaling beyond your home market or a marketer navigating multilingual content, this episode delivers practical, actionable advice — including Filippo’s three essential tips for founders and marketers entering Europe. 🚀