Charles Campbell joins SlatorPod to talk about the evolution of tbo. from a translation company to a diversified business, exploring challenges, strategies, and the impact of industry changes.

The President and Founder discusses the talent landscape, mentioning challenges such as layoffs, hiring fluctuations, and the impact of political changes in Argentina. He shares insights on the local economy, the government's actions, and the business outlook amidst these changes.

Charles emphasizes the importance of adaptability and flexibility in today's job market, particularly as AI integration reshapes traditional roles. He mentions the need for workers to be open to evolving job descriptions and not overly resistant to incorporating AI into their roles.

In discussing the changing role of project managers, Charles highlights the shift towards automation and the need for language service providers to embrace technology while maintaining a human touch.

While tbo. embraces technological advancements, Charles acknowledges he passed on opportunities such as data annotation, highlighting the challenges of aligning business strategies with emerging trends.

The podcast touches on the rebranding process undertaken by tbo. and establishing business units like tbotalent, tbodev, and tbolab. Charles highlights the importance of a meaningful, simplified brand name that aligns with the company's diverse service offerings.

Daniel Wilson, Founder and CEO of XRI Global, joins SlatorPod to talk about the company's focus on low-resource languages and its efforts to bring digital equality to communities lacking online language support.

With a background in linguistics and research on endangered languages in the Caucasus Mountains, Wilson's journey led him to establish XRI Global to address the challenge of building AI tools for languages with limited data availability.

The CEO highlights the importance of domain-specific data collection and the need to tailor solutions based on the specific needs of each community, ranging from humanitarian organizations to governments and religious groups.

The company's approach includes leveraging large language models and machine translation to provide conversational AI capabilities even for offline communities or areas where internet access is limited.

Wilson also touches on the legal and ethical considerations involved in data collection, emphasizing the importance of complying with data laws and obtaining proper consent.

Looking ahead, XRI Global plans to expand its language support to over 50 languages in 2024 and continues to explore advancements in on-device AI capabilities for broader accessibility.

Florian and Esther discuss the language industry news of the week, with SlatorCon London, scheduled for May 23rd, announcing the speaker lineup, including a Keynote presentation from Iris Orriss of Meta.

They then discuss how enterprises are becoming increasingly comfortable launching fully automated language AI features, labeling it the “normalization of language AI”.

The duo talk about the unprecedented merger of Swiss-based SuperText and Textshuttle, signaling a shift towards more integrated, technology-driven solutions.

Other M&A activity includes Deluxe's strategic investment in AppTek, TransPerfect's acquisition of TheSpeech, Diuna Group acquiring Yellow, and Cloudbreak Health’s sale.

Esther provides an update on financial results, with Straker anticipating a revenue decline while Keywords experienced growth in its top line but a decrease in its globalization division. Meanwhile, Appen faced a failed takeover bid after the bid was leaked, impacting the acquisition of the company.

The podcast also touches on Google Translate’s controversial decision to shelve its human feedback tool, Contribute, which allowed users to suggest translations for improvement. In other AI news, researchers from the Earth Species Project are exploring the possibility of translating animal communication using advanced AI models.

Florian wraps up the pod with the European Commission's recent tender award, TRAD23, which sparked concerns among individual translators regarding pricing and quality standards.