Have you ever wondered how leading global brands effortlessly communicate with customers worldwide in their native languages? Today's episode peels back the curtain on this fascinating process as we sit down with Bryan Murphy, CEO of Smartling, the company at the forefront of AI-driven translation and localization technology.
Is the language barrier the last hurdle in your company's race to global expansion? Discover how Smartling's innovative LanguageAI platform is revolutionizing how businesses approach new markets, making translation hurdles a thing of the past. With clients like Canva and Pinterest under their belt, Smartling's impact on global communication strategies is undeniable. Bryan shares how his company leverages AI to enable seamless localization and scaling, helping brands reach millions of non-English speaking users with unprecedented efficiency.
Smartling, recognized as the leader in translation management systems by CSA Research and the top-rated system by users on G2, employs a data-driven approach to slash translation times and costs while maintaining the highest quality. This episode dives into the mechanics of Smartling's platform, which combines automation, neural machine translation, and generative AI to deliver human-quality translations at half the cost and time.
Bryan explains the intricate process of localizing content for different markets, from the importance of maintaining a brand's voice across languages to the challenges of translating for B2B versus B2C audiences. We'll explore how Smartling's AI advancements, including using generative AI models like GPT-3, enable the creation of fluent, culturally relevant content that resonates with a global audience.
Join us as we discuss the transformative power of AI in breaking down language barriers, facilitating global expansion, and cultivating a more connected world. Whether you're a business looking to scale globally or fascinated by the intersection of technology and language, this conversation with Bryan Murphy offers invaluable insights into the future of communication.
As we navigate the complexities of global expansion, we invite you to reflect on the role of AI in overcoming the challenges of entering new markets. How can your business leverage AI-driven translation to communicate and connect with a global audience?
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on the transformative impact of technology on global business strategies.
[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever wondered what it takes for a business to successfully cross language barriers
[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: and thrive in global markets? Well, in this episode today, we're going to be delving into
[00:00:11] [SPEAKER_00]: the transformative world of AI-driven translation and localization. Because joining me today is my
[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_00]: special guest, Brian Murphy, CEO of a company called Smartling, which is a company at the
[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: forefront of this revolution. And Smartling isn't just any translation service. I know there's a
[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: lot out there. This is an enterprise-class language AI platform, recognized as a leader
[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: in translation management systems. So today we're going to explore the challenges companies face
[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: when entering new markets, how AI can help leap over translation hurdles and so much more. Because
[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Brian's going to shed light on how Smartling's innovative approach has empowered global giants
[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: from Android to Pinterest and so many more, and help them connect with millions of non-English
[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: speaking users. Before we get today's guest on though, I need to give a quick shout out and
[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_00]: a thank you to the sponsors of Tech Talks Daily this month. They are Kiteworks, and in a digital
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[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: where you can explore the future of secure data management. But now it's time to get on with the
[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: show and invite today's guest on. So buckle up and hold on tight as I beam your ears all the
[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_00]: way to the US, where Brian's waiting to share his story. So a massive warm welcome to the show, Brian.
[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Can you tell everyone watching a little about who you are and what you do? Sure, appreciate it.
[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_01]: My name is Brian Murphy, and I'm the CEO of Smartling. And Smartling is a language AI company,
[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and we help companies like Apple, Tesla, Disney, IBM to create multilingual digital experiences
[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_01]: for their customers. And I've been building SaaS and e-commerce companies for over 20 years now in
[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01]: a variety of industries, fortunate enough to work with a handful of companies as an investor and
[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_01]: director. And my passion really is to create companies that change the status quo and deliver
[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: great outcomes for customers. Well, one of the things I say on every episode of this podcast
[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_00]: is technology works best when it brings people together. And I know this is something close to
[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: your heart too, and this isn't your first rodeo. And I'm curious, what are the main challenges that
[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: companies face when entering new markets, particularly with things like language
[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: barriers? And how are AI-driven translation solutions helping overcome some of these hurdles?
[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's a great question. Most Series C and beyond companies, they get asked by the board
[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: to go global, right, to expand their markets, to drive growth. And going global is hard. It's
[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: so hard. So one of the things that we try to do is to take that pain point away from that part
[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: of the process. And it's really, I always start with the customer, right? So 87% of customers
[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: prefer content in their own language. And that's where it makes sense, doesn't it? Right? So if I
[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: was interested in a pair of German sneakers, I would be interested in learning about those sneakers,
[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: but I don't speak German. So I would prefer it if the content was in English. And as English speakers,
[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: sometimes we forget about that, because so much of the world does speak English.
[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_01]: If they don't speak English, they don't necessarily prefer to speak English. So
[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_01]: we know that studies would tell us 87% prefer content. Now, how do they do that, right?
[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: So traditionally for the past 30 years or so, the traditional way of translating content is
[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: time consuming, very manual and expensive. And it's a pain. I've been doing this for like
[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: building multilabel websites for like 20 years. Smartly, the Smartly language AI platform
[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_01]: addresses those pain points by providing a translation management platform that eliminates
[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: manual tasks by automating and managing translational workflows and integrating
[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: into your existing tech stack. And B reduces the cost of translation by up to 60% by using AI
[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and delivering extremely high quality translation. So global expansion is difficult in and of itself.
[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: We try and take away at least some of that pain.
[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, we're a few minutes into a tech podcast, we've already mentioned the AI word.
[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the things I try and do on these podcasts is you try and get people's thinking
[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: beyond the hype, beyond the buzzword status and talk about some of the problems that we're solving,
[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: some of the business value that it can help generate. So in your experience,
[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: how can companies effectively use AI driven translation tools for localization purposes?
[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And also, what are some of the key benefits of that approach in terms of scaling globally,
[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: going global, of course? When you're going global, right,
[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: you're looking to use and you're looking to be multilingual, to have multilingual digital
[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: experiences, right? You're going to want to use or you can use effectively AI driven translation,
[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_01]: really in 3D primary areas. Number one is your website, right? So you're going to start with
[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: your website, you want to have like your landing pages, your blogs, your help center
[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_01]: printed or in a local language, localized for the local language, right?
[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Number two, you're going to want to do your marketing communication. So your emails, etc.,
[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_01]: those you're going to want to have localized. And then the product itself, right? So if it's a
[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: software product, have it in the local language. That's probably the most one of the... I think
[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: our customers find that to be the most challenging or in depth because you're actually getting into
[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_01]: code. But we try and make that a little easier by exposing an API that's pretty easy to use.
[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think once again, you find yourself... You're going to hear me talking about digital
[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: footprint, right? And one of the things I've learned, whether it's B2B or B2C is the digital
[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: footprint matters, right? So you think about... If you think about your home country, right?
[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Your digital footprint is probably pretty big, right? The size of your website, the blogs,
[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_01]: the SEO articles, everything you've got. You have a very large presence online and that creates a
[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: great experience for your customers. And it also helps with getting new customers, particularly
[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: with SEO. When you go to, let's say you're now starting to expand to Japan or France or Germany,
[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: how big is your digital footprint there? I bet it's significantly smaller, which makes it harder
[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_01]: to create a great customer experience and to compete. So that's where traditionally it was
[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_01]: too expensive for companies to create equally large or significant digital footprints in their
[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_01]: target countries. That's the big advantage of language AI is that it takes that cost down to
[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_01]: the point where there's tremendous ROI. And that's how we help create a competitive advantage
[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and a digital moat for our customers. And before you came on the podcast today, I was doing a little
[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: research on you and I quickly learned this morning as we're with some pretty big brands from Canva to
[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Pinterest to name a few, and you've helped them reach non-English speaking users. So just to bring
[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: to life everything that we've just talked about here, can you share any insights into some of
[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: those collaborations and the ultimate impact of your services on their global reach?
[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure. I'd be happy to. Yeah. So Canva is a great company, great brand, and a great example of
[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_01]: going global first. And I'll explain what that means. So global expansion has been a key to
[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_01]: their rapid growth. I think they've got at least, I don't know, the last time I checked over 135
[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: million users in 190 countries. Over half of their users are non-English speakers.
[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_01]: They'd never have been able to add that many users as quickly and effectively without localized
[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_01]: content. But one of the things that they did and what they're particularly good at is incorporating
[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_01]: localization into the design process early, right? So thinking about that ahead of time,
[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: as opposed to coming back after the fact and trying to retrofit content in a localized way.
[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_01]: So as a result, they were able to create great experiences, localized experiences right out
[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_01]: of the chute, and to accelerate development velocity and deliver great localized customer
[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: experiences at scale. So I think that what they did right was thinking about localization,
[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_01]: translational localization early on in the design process.
[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Miller Incredibly cool what you're doing here. And if we were to look under the hood
[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: for a moment, especially on behalf of everybody listening, business leaders from various industries,
[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: what are some of the latest advancements in Smartling's language AI platform that make it
[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_00]: a little bit different, unique, stand out in this often crowded market of translation management
[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: systems?
[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I tell you what, this last year has been... I can't believe it's been a year. A little bit,
[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_01]: a year since OpenAI came out, right? And it actually hit the scene. And
[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_01]: actually one of the reasons going back, I've been with Smartling, I'm in my third year now.
[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But one of the reasons why we invested in Smartling in the first place was Smartling
[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_01]: was one of the early leaders of technology and translation localization. They had a native SaaS,
[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_01]: a multi-tenant experience, which was rare in this space and had really great capabilities
[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: at machine learning and neural machine translation. So my thinking on this was that
[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: eventually software eats the world and this software would eat the... Provide such a
[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_01]: great value, would eat the $50 billion translation localization services business, which is largely...
[00:10:30] [SPEAKER_01]: What you think about it? It's a services, professional services businesses with translators,
[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: et cetera. But we thought Smartling would do well there.
[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: What we didn't anticipate was the advent of GenAI and its impact. And last February when that hit,
[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: that was the key to our unlock. We saw that as solving some fundamental problems that were really
[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_01]: difficult for us to solve in terms of taking neural machine translation, which was pretty
[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: good and getting better, but had some problems with it, particularly around fluency and error.
[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Fluency and errors. GenAI combined with that was once again, was the unlock.
[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So what we're able to do is combining our automation, our translation automation
[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_01]: capabilities, our multi-engine neural machine translation capabilities combined with machine
[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_01]: learning. And then with GenAI, we are now able to deliver human quality translation. So in other
[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_01]: words, the quality of translation that's on parity with traditional human linguists at half
[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: the cost and in half the time. And that's just V1. So we've been doing that at scale now for the past
[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: few months. And I see that... And we'll talk more about cloud store or just data storage and things,
[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_01]: but I see that radically accelerating. And by pairing this AI, this GenAI capability with those
[00:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: tools and with expert translators, we're able to eliminate a significant amount of time consuming
[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_01]: work that they would be doing that we're not particularly value add and allow them to be
[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_01]: significantly more productive. So that's what we're really excited about. That's where we are
[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_01]: right now. So this revolution of AI powered translation, AI powered human translation
[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_01]: is for sure the thing that is rapidly accelerating and transforming this $50 billion industry.
[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Richard Pinchott And I'm curious, when you're working with AI
[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_00]: translation, how do you get that balance between speed and translation and get that necessity of
[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_00]: maintaining high quality culturally relevant content? Because I would imagine we've all read
[00:12:47] [SPEAKER_00]: about the hallucinations and things. And if you hurry something out and it's not checked properly,
[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_00]: it can cause more harm than good. So how do you get that balance right? Is it a tricky
[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_00]: to achieve that balance?
[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Jay It is. And that's where machine learning
[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: really comes into play. What we do is... So there's three types of translation modes that
[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: today, basically. There's AI powered neural machine translation, which is available in milliseconds.
[00:13:20] [SPEAKER_01]: But obviously you don't have time to have a human review of that. And use cases of that are typically
[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: customer service, you might imagine. So I'm on a chat with a customer and I'm Polish and the
[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: customer's Japanese. And I'm using machine translation essentially to allow us to
[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_01]: communicate. And that's super powerful. But it doesn't have... We've got quality control
[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: dimensions in place there, but it doesn't have a human review. So it has the potential to be
[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_01]: accurate, but not great in terms of fluency, et cetera.
[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_01]: The next step up from that is AI powered human translation, which delivers the highest level
[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_01]: quality and takes about a day to turn around. That's about the speed of which... And then
[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: there's traditional human translation or transcreation, and that takes about
[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_01]: two days to turn around at a minimum. So that gives you a sense of the balance.
[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So we can achieve very, very high quality in milliseconds. But if you need that extra little
[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: step that you would use for a landing page or some website copy or marketing communications,
[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: then it's about a day. And that's still about half the time of traditional human translation.
[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think for the large part, most businesses know what they need to do. They need
[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_00]: what they want to do, what they want to achieve, what goals they want to unlock,
[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_00]: all that stuff. But nowhere to start, that often gets quite intimidating, daunting and overwhelming.
[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So in your experience, are there any differences in how B2B and B2C brands should approach AI
[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_00]: driven translation and localization? And are you able to provide maybe one example for each just to
[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_00]: help anyone listening understand how it would work in their world?
[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. It's interesting. I've been fortunate enough to do both B2B and B2C. And so in my time
[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: as an executive at eBay, I was able to do both at the same time. I used to joke in the morning,
[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I would wear my B2B hat and I was going out and trying to bring on sellers. And in the afternoon,
[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I was wearing my B2C hat and building functionality for consumers looking to buy on eBay.
[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: So that was really great experience in learning how to talk to both types of customers.
[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And I would say that the commonality is really around brand voice, right? So
[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_01]: brand voice is really important whether you're B2B or B2C. And so for example, B2B companies
[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_01]: tend to have a little bit more of a professional or serious tone to their brand voice where
[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_01]: B2C companies might have a little bit more friendly or playful sort of brand voice.
[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But regardless of whether your brand voice is playful or serious, consistency is really
[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: important, right? So most companies have brand guidelines, et cetera. And you get specific
[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: nomenclature. How do you name your products? How do you call? How do you refer to things, right?
[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: All that's relatively simple. If you're thinking about it in one language in English, it's like,
[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_01]: okay, I came up with this phrase and I just need to think about it that way.
[00:16:23] [SPEAKER_01]: But if you're going back to the example of Canva working in 190 countries,
[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_01]: it gets incredibly complex to localize all of that, that A, that tonality, those brand
[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_01]: guidelines, that specific nomenclature. It becomes almost a little bit overwhelming.
[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's particularly a problem for traditional translation, right? Has a tough time doing this
[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_01]: because you can imagine once again having to train a global network of dozens or hundreds
[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_01]: of translators on your company's specific brand voice, right? That's tough to do.
[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_01]: So one of the really cool things that we're doing with Language AI is training and customize
[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_01]: the AI to produce your company's specific and consistent brand voice, which enables companies
[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_01]: to communicate in a consistent brand voice no matter what region or language they're localizing
[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_01]: to. So you can imagine like we have a concept called translation memory, where once we've
[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: translated it once, it locks it in, it doesn't change anymore. We have glossary, we have style
[00:17:23] [SPEAKER_01]: guide, et cetera. And all these things are baked in so that the AI is actually quite good at
[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_01]: producing very, very... In fact, I would argue better than a network of 100 independent linguists
[00:17:37] [SPEAKER_01]: around the world, but is very, very good at creating consistent brand voice. So I would say
[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_01]: that whether you're B2B or B2C, I think that brand voice in my opinion and consistency
[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_01]: of delivering that in the localized way is really important. And Language AI is really one of the
[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_00]: best tools I've seen in a long time to do that. And as someone right in the heart of this space,
[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_00]: as we continue forward down this path, how do you see AI technology evolving in the field of
[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_00]: translation and localization? And any impact you think this might have on global business strategies
[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: as we continue to move forward? Anything that excites you as we progress down this path?
[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Jay Yeah, I do. So today, companies are rational, right? And as a result, they ration
[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_01]: translation due to its cost and its effort, right? It's expensive. 18, 20 cents a word,
[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_01]: which is sort of like the rack rate out there and the amount of manual effort, all that kind of
[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_01]: stuff. A lot of people, it takes a lot of dollars. So they ration translation. Like we used to
[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: ration data storage, right? Remember when we used to think about, okay, I got to delete a whole bunch
[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: of files because I'm about to go over my limit. It's going to cost me more, right? So as we talk
[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: a little bit about earlier, in my experience, digital footprint matters, right? So having that
[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: large digital footprint and customer experience in France, in Germany, in Japan is a competitive
[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_01]: advantage if you can be in the past before to do it, right? So the larger your digital footprint is,
[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_01]: the better your growth flywheel spins. And so what's happening, I think what
[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_01]: is happening and will happen more is that companies that are able to maximize their
[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: global digital footprint efficiently will win. And our mission is to help them do that.
[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: So as we bring down the cost of translation with AI, like we're doing, it's going to make it
[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_01]: more and more ubiquitous the same way that today, like when was the last time you went in and
[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_01]: deleted a bunch of files because you're running low on storage? The cost has come down so much,
[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_01]: you just don't even think about it. It's become ubiquitous. It's a service. And I think that's
[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the mission that we're on with translational localization.
[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_00]: And I suspect there'll be many people listening all around the world and setting off a few light
[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: bulb moments here, and maybe people will be going into the office talking to their LIT director about
[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_00]: what they should be doing. What advice would you give to a business leader looking to expand
[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: into new linguistically diverse markets and how should they integrate AI driven translation into
[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: their strategy? I would imagine to begin with the problem and then build out, but
[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_00]: can you expand on that just to help anyone listening?
[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a number of different globalization strategies. Like there's probably five or six
[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_01]: different ways to globalize a company, right? And a lot of that depends on the stage and growth
[00:20:41] [SPEAKER_01]: that you're in, what your goals are and what sort of resources you have available. So there's a
[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_01]: number of those. We actually have a number of examples of that on our website. Folks are
[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_01]: interested in going and taking a look. But the one thing that you do need to get right as a
[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_01]: company and as a senior executive is that you need to hire a team that has a global mindset,
[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01]: right? This is really important because it all does come down to people and strategy. So hiring
[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_01]: a team that understands how to go global and has a global mindset is critically important.
[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Number two is making sure that you thoroughly understand your target market, right? So
[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_01]: you've been around the world. If you've done business in multiple places around the country,
[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_01]: it's a light bulb. It's an epiphany. You're in the world. All of a sudden you start to learn
[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_01]: how to do these things and how different they are and how the same they are, et cetera.
[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_01]: But thoroughly understanding your target market is critically important. So for example,
[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Japan is usually a great target, Germany, et cetera, right? Germans and Japanese are very,
[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_01]: very different in the way they approach business and think about things and talk about things and
[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_01]: what matters to them. And so it's very important for you to understand what those things are.
[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So as you produce content and experiences, it matches those needs. So hiring people to
[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_01]: understand that and thoroughly understanding your target market are the two most important things.
[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And then thirdly, as you begin to execute whatever strategy you pick, I would start
[00:22:13] [SPEAKER_01]: localizing your translation, working your way up the stack and expanding as you get success.
[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And so typically that would start with, hey, listen, we're getting customers in Germany. We
[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_01]: think there's a good market there. How do we do this? Well, one of the first things you want to do
[00:22:30] [SPEAKER_01]: is localize your landing pages, right? So the handful of pages where people are going to go.
[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Then you start localizing your marketing communications, right? So emails, Google ads,
[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_01]: right? You don't want to have an English Google ad in Japan. That's not going to make any sense,
[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_01]: right? So you have to make sure it's in Japanese and speaks their language. So it speaks to them
[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: in a way that they'll understand, will resonate. So marketing communications.
[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Number three is most companies as they begin to expand, they've already got customers using
[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_01]: the product there. So you want to make sure that your help center is localized and that's more
[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_01]: content there. And then lastly, or maybe before Lee or whatever, depending on how you like to do
[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_01]: things, localizing your product. And a lot of people kind of save this for last because once
[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_01]: you start getting into the actual software product itself, that can be a little bit more challenging
[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_01]: depending on how you've written your particular applications.
[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_01]: But that's typically sort of like, you know, the stack of things that need to be done. And that
[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_01]: for each one of those, there's a cost effective solution to translating and localizing that using
[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_01]: artificial intelligence.
[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Matt Incredibly cool. I love everything that you're doing here and how you're leveraging
[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_00]: technology to bring people together. But before I let you go, I've got to ask you to leave everyone
[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_00]: listening with one final gift, one final piece of wisdom. I always ask my guests to leave everyone
[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00]: listening with either a book for our Amazon wishlist that they'd recommend that they check
[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: out or a song, Guilty Pleasures are allowed that we can add to our Spotify playlist. All I ask is
[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_00]: which would you like to leave us with and why?
[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Jay Listen, I'm a big fan of any book by Walter
[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Isaacson. You know, I just think him, I just find him to be the most insightful and interesting
[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_01]: person. You know, based on his experience talking with so many interesting people. And I just
[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_01]: finished up with his biography on Leonardo da Vinci, which I thought was so amazing and
[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_01]: remarkable that I recommended it. You know, it's really interesting when you read a book like that
[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_01]: in context with like a biography on Steve Jobs or, you know, Elon Musk or whoever, right? It's
[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_01]: just like so interesting to watch several hundred years later the similarities that exist with
[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_00]: really truly great innovators.
[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Matt What a great choice. I'll get that added
[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_00]: straight to our Amazon wishlist. And for anyone listening, wanting to find out more information
[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_00]: about Smartling, maybe carry on the conversation we started today or just ask you or your team a
[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_00]: question. Where would you like to point everyone?
[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Jay I would say just come visit us at
[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_01]: smartling.com. We've got a great resource center that's got a whole bunch of how-to's and case
[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: studies, white papers. And that's really one of the best places to come and get a bunch of
[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_01]: information on a level as it issue.
[00:25:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Matt Well, we covered so much in 30 minutes
[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_00]: today from the challenges of entering new markets, how AI can help leap over some of those
[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_00]: translation hurdles and also how companies can leverage AI driven translation for localization
[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: scaling up around the world. But I love how you brought it to life with some of those big use
[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_00]: cases and how you've helped juggernauts from Canva to Pinterest and so many other reach millions of
[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_00]: non-English speaking users. Love what you're doing here with technology. We just a big thank you for
[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_00]: shining a light on it today and sharing your story. Thank you.
[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Jay Thanks, Neil. It was a real pleasure
[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_00]: to talk with you today.
[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Neil So as we wrap up today's discussion
[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_00]: with Brian Murphy, I think it's clear that the landscape of global business is rapidly evolving.
[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_00]: The key takeaway, leveraging AI driven translation for localization is not just about breaking down
[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_00]: language barriers. It's about connecting cultures. It's about expanding global footprints. And I
[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_00]: think Smartling's success in helping brands from Canva to Pinterest reach a diverse global audience
[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_00]: is testament to the power of innovative technology. I always say technology works best when it brings
[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_00]: people together and I love how Brian's doing here and creating a more interconnected world.
[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_00]: So thank you to Brian for joining us today, sharing his expertise. But this conversation
[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_00]: has left me pondering, how will AI continue to transform the way businesses communicate
[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and operate globally? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one. It's a question
[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_00]: far bigger than myself and this humble podcast. So let me know,
[00:26:46] [SPEAKER_00]: techblogwriteroutlook.com, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, just at Neil C Hughes. Let me know
[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_00]: your thoughts. But that's it for today. So one last reminder, stay curious, embrace the power
[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_00]: of technology. And until next time, let's keep bridging worlds with technology and innovation.
[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_00]: See you all tomorrow.

