Localization

Jun 17

Jun 17 Cultural Intelligence - the future of management!

This week I bring a special post. It is a summary of the presentation that Maria and I gave on the fascinating topic about culture intelligence.

And why is it a special post? Well…. this post is an eBook! there are so many things that I'm passionate about the world of cultural intelligence that everything I wanted to write did not fit in a single post, so I wrote an eBook 🙂

Here you have an eBook of what I consider to be the future of management ... the cultural intelligence.

Hope you like it! Please send me your comments so we can continue the discussions around this amazing world of the CQ!

Enjoy the journey!

Miguel

Jun 11

Jun 11 Thoughts about quality measurement via DQF + my summary of the first edition of the Games Global Forum!

Miguel Sepulveda

The first Game Global Forum is a reality! this week in my post I talk about the first edition of this cool event and also take the opportunity to reflect on how to measure and quantify quality from a new perspective. Have a great week everyone!

May 27

May 27 The puzzle of Globalization ... thoughts about my presentation in Kingfomarket, the amazing King annually event!

Miguel Sepulveda

This week we had our annual event at King, a new opportunity to explain

that translating, localizing and globalizing is not the same,
that content is more than words and
that a good globalization strategy can not be an afterthought.

May 20

May 20 In the Realm of Perfection

Miguel Sepulveda

Globalizers of the world, localizers of the world … we are magicians! we have content in one language totally indecipherable. And with some tricks we decipher it … but there’s a saying in our industry Garbage IN, garbage OUT … so let’s see how we can keep the garbage under control …

May 13

May 13 Continuos Localization is not Agile .... follow up of my master class in Barcelona Videogames incubator

Miguel Sepulveda

This week I had the pleasure of being invited to give a master class on Localization in the Barcelona videogame incubator.

It was a nice afternoon ... and in my post this week I talk about it, especially on the subject of why continuous localization and agile localization are 2 different disciplines.

May 6

May 6 When Is Good, Good Enough in the Translation Industry?

Miguel Sepulveda

Do we always need an extraordinary quality of translation? Or sometimes the Good Enough approach is precisely what we need, which is Good, enough ... in this post I reflect on how to approach good enough in our localization industry ... hope you find this useful!

Apr 29

Apr 29 Localization as part of Global Business Strategy –Decoding the air C-level Executives breath

Miguel Sepulveda

If we have 20 minutes to explain to a group of executives of our company the importance of Localization in the global results of the company… how do we approach this presentation?. A senior executive team probably does not care much about our glossary maintenance processes, XLIFF conversions or benefits of pseudolocalization. These executives breathe an air different from ours ... and finding a way to breathe “the same air” is vital to get Localization as an important step in the Global strategy of the company.

Apr 22

Apr 22 Thoughts about the complex G-localization triangle when creating video games for India...

Miguel Sepulveda

The Indian market with 1.3 billion inhabitants represents a unique opportunity for the video game market (and for the localization market in general!). It is a market with great potential ... but it is a complex market with 3 obstacles that deserves to be analyzed in order to better understand how a videogame can be profitable in this complex and fragmented market.

Apr 15

Apr 15 Quality in the Localization is not the value differentiator anymore!

Miguel Sepulveda

Can we still consider the quality of a translation as the only differentiating factor to have a good relationship with our LSP? I do not think so, today I want to talk about why the translation quality is not a differentiating factor anymore.

Apr 8

Apr 8 The impact of poor translation in the brand quality reputation ... in search of the Holy Grail of the Localization industry

Miguel Sepulveda

Is there any way to measure whether the good or poor quality of a translation has an impact on the perception we have about the quality of a company? Question with difficult answer, almost as difficult as finding the mythical Holy Grail 😃

Mar 25

Mar 25 "Experimentos con gaseosa" benefits of Localization in Playtesting phases when developing a videogame or app!

Miguel Sepulveda

When Localization teams and Dev Teams work together during the phase of game development good things happen ... join to my weekly post to know why!

Mar 18

Mar 18 The 7 dimensions for Localization Vendors on boarding

Miguel Sepulveda

Getting along with LSP is a long process but it has not to be necessary painful. Have a look to this post to get some ideas about how to on board vendors in any LOCALIZATION PROCESS.

Mar 11

Mar 11 Localizing a game for free? Really? Myth or reality?

Miguel Sepulveda

Developing a game from scratch as an indie developer is a titanic effort, a lot of hours and quite often not enough money to outsource very necessary tasks. One of those very necessary tasks to conquer the world with our game is ... LOCALIZATION! In my weekly post this week I share some thoughts on this idea ... Can we localize our game for free? Have a look at the following post and feel free to share your comments below!

Feb 25

Feb 25 And the Oscar goes to Internationalization!

Miguel Sepulveda

In the G-localization industry we have services that no one understands very well what they are ... but perhaps the most misunderstood service to all of them is ... Internationatilation! If you want to know more about this discipline, do not hesitate to read the post I prepared this week on my blog! Hopefully at the end of the article this service is a little more famous :)

Feb 18

Feb 18 Similar words but actually quite different services!

Miguel Sepulveda

Translation vs Transcreation which service do I really need? these 2 terms are used interchangeably but actually, these 2 services are quite different. Have a look to this post on my blog if you are unsure how these 2 translations disciplines differ frome each other .....

Feb 4

Feb 4 Defining a linguistic quality and review process - no more subjective changes

Miguel Sepulveda

"This translation sounds weird" feedback is a typical comment we receive when someone uses localized software If we are not sure about how good or bad our quality is, or if we want to go to challenge back our "localization-haters" ... setting up a review process might be a good starting point....

Jan 28

Jan 28 7 skills to start as a Translator, (uncle style ...)

Miguel Sepulveda

If someone wants to start carving out a future in the complex world of translation, where should we start? What skills should we polish to start working to in the industry? Check out my post where I share some ideas to start a career as a translator...

Jan 14

Jan 14 If I knew then .... 6 certifications ideas for 2018

Miguel Sepulveda

January is the month of the years' resolution, so maybe some of you set a goal to get a certification or studies related to Localization? If that’s the case, please keep reading as I prepared a summary of different courses, certifications and training material that you might find interesting.

Jan 7

Jan 7 My conversation with Kathrin Bussmann about Localization in the videogames industry

Miguel Sepulveda

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be in Kathrin show, we talked about the in and outs of the videogames industry. If you are curious to know about what we talked you can find the interview here.

Dec 9

Dec 9 Paradox of choice, so many Jeans ... and so many Language Service Providers!

Miguel Sepulveda

Choosing ... when we are presented multiple options is quite challenging! Not only for trivial decisions (choosing a new pair of Jeans) but also for more important businesses! (which's my right partner for Localization) Check my new post and download an infographic with some questions I crafted about how to overcome this paradox of choice!

Jan 16, 2026

Stop explaining Localization. Start explaining the impact.

Localization professionals often focus on translation quality and best practices, but decision-makers care about customer impact and revenue. If we frame localization as a cost, it risks being deprioritized. Instead, we must highlight its value driving engagement, trust, and business growth.

Jan 10, 2026

When one executive Localization stakeholder pushes to replace the TMS with LLMs ...

At a New Year’s Eve dinner with my family, I saw a familiar situation play out: someone speaking with strong confidence about something they only partly understood. In Spain, we call this el efecto cuñado. What I didn’t realize for a long time is that this behavior has a name in psychology too. It’s the Dunning–Kruger effect, and it shows up just as often in localization and AI conversations as it does at Christmas dinner tables.

Dec 13, 2025

Upskilling the Localization team for the next 5 years

This feels like a pivotal moment. Localization teams are being asked to support more markets, move faster, use AI responsibly, and show impact, not just output. Expectations are higher than ever, but many teams are still trained mainly for execution. We are strong at delivering localization work, yet we often struggle to move from output to outcome and to clearly explain the impact of what we do.

Dec 6, 2025

The real challenge in AI adoption in Localization isn’t the tech, it’s the pressure to pretend it’s already working

AI isn’t just changing tools, it’s changing expectations

Three years into working with AI in localization, I’ve seen the pressure build: automate faster, scale more, do it now.

But the real challenge isn’t the tech itself. It’s the gap between hype and reality , and what happens when teams are expected to act like everything’s already working.

In this post, I break down five common challenges that keep showing up, and what we can actually do about them.

Nov 29, 2025

Why Localization is one of the best alignment engines in a company

Words have the power to shape perceptions and influence actions, which is why reframing is such a powerful tool. In localization, we can reframe our role from simply translating to driving alignment across the company. By ensuring content is consistent, culturally relevant, and strategically aligned with business goals, localization professionals play a key role in helping businesses grow globally. This post explores how we create that alignment and why our work is much more than just translation.

Nov 19, 2025

What Localization metrics improve with a single-vendor model?

Choosing between a single-vendor or multi-vendor localization model is not only about price. The real difference shows up in the day-to-day metrics: turnaround time, quality stability, cost control, and how much coordination your teams need to do. In this post, I walk through the core metrics that tend to improve with a single-vendor setup, and how they can help you understand which model fits your localization strategy right now

Nov 10, 2025

Localization governance models that withstand change

Even when localization teams aren’t directly affected by a company reorg, everything around them can change fast sponsors move, teams merge, budgets shift.

That’s when weak governance shows its cracks.

This post explores how strong localization governance keeps programs stable, visible, and credible no matter how often the org chart moves.

Nov 8, 2025

Who’s buying Localization? Meet the 5 Personas you’ll work with (and what they need to hear)

Over the years, I’ve noticed that localization buyers, like the emotions in Inside Out, are often driven by one dominant need. Some are in survival mode, juggling too much. Others are just getting started and need guidance. Some care about speed, others about cost, and some are laser-focused on how things feel in-market.

Oct 31, 2025

The hidden price tag of Global Content: why per-word rates don’t tell the full story

Most localization discussions stop at per-word rates. However, what appears inexpensive on paper can often turn into costly delays, rework, and frustrated teams.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) provides a more comprehensive view, one that encompasses engineering fixes, QA cycles, support tickets, and brand impact.

When procurement and leadership focus only on price, localization becomes a cost center. When they consider TCO, it becomes a key driver of quality and efficiency. And this post explains how to approach that

Oct 25, 2025

Vendor switching costs in Localization, what really happens when you change providers

Many teams treat localization vendors as interchangeable compare rates, sign the contract, move on. But every switch comes with invisible costs: lost context, quality dips, and team fatigue. In this latest post, I unpack what really happens behind a vendor change ( and how to prepare for it like a continuity project, not a quick fix)