Thoughts from Heike Leinhäuser
It was a pleasure to catch up with those of you who participated in our April 18 DonnersTALK, which focused on AI. As you’ll see in this Leinhäuser Buzz, it was another successful event that sparked productive discussions among attendees.
I’m delighted that these DonnersTALKs offer opportunities for us all to learn more about important topics facing our businesses and to network as we share helpful insights with each other. We’re currently planning our next DonnersTALK, which will be held in October. This time, we’ll be looking at sustainability and financial reporting through the lens of the latest regulations connected to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
How AI is affecting and will continue to affect all aspects of the linguistic profession continues to be at the forefront of my mind. I recently posted on LinkedIn about the European Language Industry Survey (ELIS) 2024 findings, which noted that “some form of MT or AI will be used in more than half of all professional translations” by next year. These findings served as another confirmation that Leinhäuser Language Services has been on the right track, embracing new AI technologies to boost our productivity as we keep pace with evolving client requirements. At Leinhäuser, we’ve viewed AI as a “team member” for a number of years; I’m glad that this perspective is gaining ground among industry peers all over Europe.
That’s something I’ve also observed in my role as president of the European Union Association of Translation Companies (EUATC). I recently spoke with partner groups about the ELIS survey at our recent Translating Europe Workshop, and all participants agreed that we must continue to foster adaptability and agility within our organizations so we can best leverage AI’s potential as we mitigate its disruptive potential. As I noted in the first two Buzz updates, there continues to be a need for professionally trained translators and experienced linguists and communicators, and language industry leaders need to collaborate with academic institutions to ensure students are prepared to join our evolving industry. I plan to work with EUATC to support internships for language students across the EU so we can best equip and inspire the future generations of linguists.
While AI does challenge the status quo, it also generates many more opportunities for dynamic changes that will benefit localization work and the industry and its clients. People with high-level language skills will continue to steer effective multilingual communication, and their expertise and style will continue to define the profession that makes that communication happen.
Wishing you all a productive and invigorating start to the summer, and looking forward to what the second half of the year brings!
Heike Leinhäuser
Reporting for 2023/24: 70+ reports translated
The first quarter is pretty far in the rearview at this point, and the 2023/24 annual reporting season has been wrapped up for a while as well. Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to assess and start planning for the next marathon.
Most listed companies publish their annual reports in the early spring, and during this past reporting season, we were once again able to demonstrate our expertise in financial translations – this time for more than 40 clients. We translated and proofread more than 70 reports, including more than 20 sustainability reports – a staggering 1.6 million words. Tack that onto the countless hours spent on managing the projects and implementing last-minute change requests in time for publication, and you can see why we’re so invested in this area of the localization world.
The coming annual report season won’t be any less exciting, either. We expect the reports to increase not only in volume, but also in complexity. The main reason for this is the EU Directive on sustainability reporting that came into force in January 2023, known as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). It’s therefore more crucial than ever that we work closely with our customers to ensure even smoother coordination among all stakeholders involved. This is the only way to seamlessly integrate our linguistic expertise and experience into the overall process.
Our sustainability team works hand-in-hand with our in-house financial communications experts to skillfully support our customers in disclosing their sustainability efforts in line with the latest requirements. Not to mention working in tandem to overcome the linguistic challenges this process entails. Check out our blog for more insights into the topic of sustainability. And for anyone looking to delve a little deeper into our AR processes, our financial communications team has provided us a glimpse behind the scenes, answering the age-old question: How does a fully collaborative approach ensure a smooth process dictated by tight deadlines? In our blog post, “The language of numbers,” you can read more about our tightly organized and interlocking processes during crunch time for annual reports.
Recap: DonnersTALK #2 on AI
On April 18, our event space was again filled with clients, close partners and many of our far-flung team members for the follow-up session to our AI DonnersTALK. So much had happened in the half-year since we first met that there was plenty to discuss and assess about the rapidly evolving AI landscape and its implications for work as communicators and linguists, along with our businesses.
Once again, our guest speaker and AI specialist Jörg Müller expertly led us through the developments that are shaping the current AI landscape for companies and linguists alike. After in-depth updates on legislation like the EU AI act and new insights into controversial topics like bias and copyright in data mining, we had the opportunity to share real-life experience and questions with an enthusiastic group of customers, partners and colleagues.
It became clear that although the playing field and tools continue to morph at breakneck speed, we can remain confident in our general mindset and approach: AI is a valuable team member, but our business is human.
Most importantly, the community we’re building at these events will be a source of strength in navigating the future of an AI-friendly language services industry.
After the success of these two events, we’re excited to announce that we’re branching out topic-wise for the next DonnersTalk and will be highlighting the field of sustainability reporting. Keep an eye out for your invitation to the October 2024 DonnersTalk!
Quick Deep Dives
If you weren’t able to participate in our first two DonnersTALKs on AI, you can browse the following blogs to quickly get up to speed on our AI stance and how we’re making sure we’re leveraging it to the greatest advantage for your communications and translations.
Adapting Marketing Texts – Why AI Still Needs a Human Touch
Artificial Intelligence, Data Protection and Information Security
AI Won’t Make Human Translators, Editors, and Writers Obsolete