Florian’s presentation also examined the practical application of new market designations, namely Language Solutions Integrators (LSIs) and Language Technology Platforms (LTPs), to accurately reflect business as is conducted today, the critical role of data-for-AI, and the rapid evolution of localization engineering.
Slator’s Head of Research Anna Wyndham expanded on the data-for-AI topic, sharing with attendees key findings from Slator’s comprehensive Data-for-AI Market Report.
Anna mentioned how data-for-AI is rapidly becoming a foundational layer of the AI economy, estimated to grow from a present USD ~9bn to USD 21bn as the industry shifts from simple labeling to higher value/higher stakes per data point and becomes far more expertise-intensive.
This demand creates a natural adjacency for LSIs, who are leveraging that expertise in multilingual workflows and expert-in-the-loop oversight to shape the real-world performance of large language models (LLMs) beyond basic annotation. Buyers include frontier labs, AI product builders, and enterprises prioritizing reliable deployment.
Thomas Gheysen Da Silva, Head of Content Localization at Decathlon, followed Anna’s summary with a presentation that delved into his company’s international scaling strategy. He argues that while localization is a fundamental enabler for global growth, its value is often misunderstood because it is primarily measured by efficiency metrics like cost, time, and quality.
He suggested that focusing solely on these narrow benchmarks causes businesses to lose sight of the bigger picture: the necessity of speaking a customer’s language to effectively address their needs. At Decathlon, he leverages AI and high-level automation to dismantle traditional workflow bottlenecks, allowing human experts to pivot from manual tasks to high-value creative strategies.
Slator Data-for-AI Market Report
This 160-page Slator Report provides a comprehensive view of the emerging global market for Data-for-AI with analysis of datasets, buyer demand, supplier dynamics, and data production.
Privacy, Quality, and AI
Slator’s Head of Consulting, Alex Edwards, moderated the first panel of the day, speaking with experts Olena Azanova, Localization Team Lead at Ajax Systems and Andy Andersen, Growth Product Manager at International and Brave, about localizing privacy-first products.
Azanova and Andersen addressed how enterprises have to increasingly navigate the high-stakes intersection of generative AI and localization, where the drive for automation and speed must be reconciled with stringent regulatory and privacy demands.
Azanova highlighted the complexity of a multi-stakeholder environment and the need for alignment before localization even begins, and Andersen explained how privacy is not a fixed concept but a sliding scale, requiring adaptations at the individual and regulatory levels worldwide.
Boostlingo’s Bryan Forrester, Co-Founder and CEO, and Brian D’Agostino, Co-Founder and CPO, presented on the topic of quality standards for interpreting, describing how AI is transforming subjective impressions on interpreting quality into objective, data-driven metrics.
Forrester explained that the lack of visibility over actual quality impacts 82% of interpreting customers, and that it is time to move toward standardized, repeatable, and real-time quality scoring.
D’Agostino introduced the company’s Boostlingo Assure tool, an AI-powered quality layer for interpreting that evaluates conversations based on a series of standardized benchmarks.
“You need to be able to benchmark AI interpreting sessions against human interpreting sessions… At a front desk appointment, maybe the AI interpreter performs really well. But at the point of care where the patient’s talking to the doctor about cancer, maybe human interpreting has higher quality scores. It’s all about enabling quality at scale… Something that used to not be scalable is now scalable for the first time.”— Bryan Forrester, Co-Founder and CEO, Boostlingo
Slator’s Research and Community Specialist, Silvia Terribile, moderated a panel with language AI startup innovators James Bolger, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at SimplyAI, Sam Adekunle, CEO at BimpeAI, and Michael Sujith, Founder & CEO at Wec.ai.
The presenters told a story of AI companies moving beyond novelty and establishing competitive moats through proprietary technology, true product differentiation, and a focus on reliability and real-world performance. Enterprise demand is maturing, and the language AI sector’s leading players will scale as they emphasize a balance between cutting-edge capability and high-quality execution.
Monica Lakhwani, Language Access & Community Impact Manager at the Office for Immigrant Affairs in Louisville, Kentucky, US, introduced the audience to the complexities of translation and AI in public services, remarking on how something perceived to be a helpful tool can also be the root of risk.
She commented that a lot of her office’s work falls under equity, a factor that is taken into consideration when making decisions about effective language access program implementation.
The final panel was moderated by Slator’s Anna Wyndham and focused on multiple key aspects of scaling media localization, including systems, partners, and quality. Pablo Lloreda, Manager of Localization and Accessibility at Roku, and media localization expert Mathieu Fenart discussed how leveraging lean internal teams supported by expansive and highly specialized partner ecosystems lends itself to smooth management of high-volume dubbing, subtitling, and accessibility requirements.
“New tools change constantly, they pop up constantly… The localization industry was doing really well without them. So now what ends up happening is that we have to adapt, adjust, or reinvent pipelines… We are now forced to spend a lot of time in our days focusing on what’s new and what’s coming instead of doing the work that we were already doing.” — Pablo Lloreda, Manager of Localization and Accessibility at Roku
Esther came back to deliver the closing remarks and invite the audience to her hometown of London in May for what is sure to be one of the most well-attended SlatorCon in-person events, with a truly impressive speaker lineup.
To learn more about other interesting industry gatherings organized or hosted by Slator, please visit the Events page frequently.
