The localization industry has been through disruption before. Simon Hodgkins, CMO of Vistatec, joins Robin Ayoub to break down where AI actually works in global content operations, what responsible AI looks like in regulated industries, and why the future of business is localization. Straight talk from one of the industry's most experienced voices.
In this episode of the Localization Fireside Chat, Robin Ayoub sits down with Simon Hodgkins, Chief Marketing Officer of Vistatec, one of the world's most recognized global content solutions providers, headquartered in Dublin and serving iconic brands worldwide for nearly 30 years.
Before Vistatec, Simon was a director at BT Group across multiple geographies, helped build Europe's fastest growing broadband company, and led cloud and marketing operations globally at Sage PLC. He joined Vistatec in 2014 and has since built an entire ecosystem around globalization including the Think Global Forum, Think Global Award, Vista Talk, VTQ Magazine, and the Global AI Brief.
In this conversation, Robin and Simon unpack the telecom disruption parallel and what it teaches us about AI hitting localization right now, why you cannot simply add AI to your offering and call it a strategy, what responsible AI looks like in regulated industries like life sciences and government, the brand risk of getting localization wrong, the difference between public and private AI models, and why the future of business is localization.
Simon's closing advice to language professionals navigating AI is direct: put your business glasses on. Think about what you would want if you owned the company you work in today. That reframe alone changes everything.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qJtYUEwiPqU
Connect with Simon Hodgkins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonhodgkins/ Vistatec: https://www.vistatec.com/
Connect with Robin Ayoub on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinayoub/ Robin Ayoub Blog: https://www.robinayoub.blog N49Networks: https://www.n49networks.com
Book a 30-minute virtual coffee with Robin: https://calendly.com/robin-ayoub/30min Book a podcast recording: https://calendly.com/robin-ayoub/localization-fireside-chat-podcast-recording