Insights from the ‘State of the Nation’ Event
Vistatec CMO Simon Hodgkins hosted an insightful panel event, bringing together two of the industry’s thought leaders for a frank and honest conversation about where the localization sector stands today and where it is heading.
Joining Simon were Alex Zekakis, Chief Operating Officer at XTM International, and Arle Lommel, VP of Research at CSA Research. Together, the three speakers brought years of combined industry experience to a discussion that pulled no punches.
The Market is in Flux, and the Numbers Prove It
CSA Research data shared during the webinar showed that while nominal industry revenue has been broadly flat since 2019, inflation-adjusted figures tell a harder story.
The sector is down roughly 17% from its 2019 peak, and around two-thirds of language service providers are still below their 2023 revenue levels. The driver is structural, not cyclical.
Demand for pure transactional translation has been cut nearly in half since 2018, while interpreting, multimedia, language technology, and value-add services have grown. The word-count model is eroding, and companies that have not diversified are feeling it most.
Latent Demand Is the Opportunity
Despite the turbulence, Arle Lommel was emphatic that genuine optimism is warranted. There is enormous untapped demand for multilingual content that was previously too slow, too expensive, or too complex to produce. AI is lowering those barriers, creating a significant growth opportunity for companies that position themselves to capture it.
Providers offering translation and localization as part of a broader value proposition, rather than as a commodity, are best placed to benefit.
Shadow AI Is Creating a Quality Crisis
One of the session’s points was the rise of what Alex Zekakis called “shadow AI” inside enterprises.
As content management platforms and productivity tools embed one-click translation features, non-specialist users are generating multilingual content without any understanding of the risks involved. The result, as Alex put it bluntly, is “a lot of slop.”
Experienced localization teams are losing visibility and control, and the long-term reputational and legal exposure for brands is real. This is where structured multilingual quality management and well-designed AI governance frameworks deliver measurable protection.
Human Expertise Remains the Differentiator
All three panelists agreed that AI is a tool, and tools need talented people operating them. The companies thriving right now are those treating AI as an accelerant for human expertise, not a replacement for it.
Arle noted that in 10 years, language professionals will be doing work of vastly higher value, with greater efficiency and control, focusing their skills where they matter most. Human-centered language AI is not a compromise. It is the competitive standard.
Governance and Trust Are Now Commercial Advantages
Simon framed governance as a competitive differentiator rather than a compliance burden. At scale and speed, the ability to fail is just as real as the ability to succeed. Organizations that build in proper human oversight, clear accountability, and quality verification at every stage protect their brands and build buyer confidence.
Quality evaluations of AI and well-designed AI adaptive workflows are not nice extras. They are the infrastructure that makes AI-powered localization trustworthy.
Articulating Value Is Now an Industry Imperative
A recurring theme throughout the panel was the localization sector’s historical difficulty in communicating its value. When enterprise buyers compare a fully managed localization program to the apparent zero cost of an LLM, the sector starts the conversation from a weak position.
The panelists were united in arguing that providers must shift their narrative from words to outcomes. Managed services built around measurable business outcomes, supported by clear reporting and ROI visibility, are how the industry reclaims that ground.
The Bottom Line
The sector is under real pressure, but the fundamentals are sound. The need for multilingual content is growing, not shrinking. The companies that will lead the next decade are those combining AI-powered efficiency with deep human expertise, strong governance, and a clear story about the value they deliver.
Want to talk through what this means for your localization strategy? Speak with a Vistatec expert today.
To see how Vistatec helps global organizations manage this shift, explore our client case studies.