XTM LIVEStream Agenda

Bob Willans XTM International

Bob is CEO of XTM International Ltd which he co-founded in 2002. He graduated from Cambridge University and has had a varied career, working in South America and as a successful entrepreneur in the IT industry. Building on his experience in the localization industry, he enjoys the varied challenges of growing the company and creating market-leading translation management software.

Renato Beninatto Nimdzi Insights

Chairman and Co-Founder of Nimdzi Insights, Renato brings decades of experience everywhere he goes. With extensive experience in international consulting, market research, sales and marketing, Renato provides the strategic direction that helps Nimdzi better serve clients worldwide. In addition to his work at Nimdzi, Renato is also the coauthor of The General Theory of the Translation Company, a co-owner of MultiLingual Media, an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and a frequent industry speaker.

Tucker Johnson Nimdzi Insights

As managing director and co-founder, Tucker takes Renato’s crazy ideas and puts them into action. Specialized in vendor side operations, global team management, large program outsourcing, and supply chain governance, Tucker is happy to share his operational experience with Nimdzi’s partners. Tucker is the host of the popular Nimdzi LIVE! videocast, a co-author of The General Theory of the Translation Company, and an adjunct professor / guest lecturer at university localization programs.

Yana Brown STARZ

Yana Brown is a localization project manager for STARZ, working on streaming app expansion to international markets. She is also leading initiatives in terminology management and localization process improvements. Previously, she worked at TransPerfect. Yana has a background in linguistics from a university in Russia and holds an MA in International Studies from East Carolina University.

Brock Hansen Wish

Brock Hansen is the Technical program manager at Wish, a global e-commerce marketplace. Brock is an experienced agile localization manager with proven success in creating, innovating, and optimizing localization processes. He is a certified localization project manager through the Localization Institute. He also holds degrees in economics and international business from ASU.

Grasi Hanke ASICS Running Apps

Grasi is the Localization Manager at ASICS Running Apps, leading product localization for Runkeeper and Race Roster. Originally from Brazil, she started in the localization industry over 10 years ago as a Spanish/Portuguese translator. She moved to Toronto 5 years ago and, before joining ASICS, worked for a start-up in the travel industry implementing the localization program from the ground-up.

David Jones XTM International

After a decade in the localization industry as a sales, marketing and operational manager, David Jones is more excited than ever by the developments in language technology that are fine-tuning the relationship between people and process. He looks forward to discussing that balance between automation and inspiration at XTM Livestream 2021 and in the years to come.

Dr. Germán Basterra Nestlé GLOBE

Germán Basterra has more than 15 years of experience in the localization industry. He has a Ph. D. in Sociolinguistics from the University of Marburg (Germany). He manages strategic design for translation services, and the integration between language technologies and content/authoring tools. He currently holds the position of Tech Lead Translation Services at Nestlé IT.

Alex Zekakis XTM International

Alex has been in the localization industry for almost ten years now and started off as a localization project manager on the vendor side, on which side he remained until recently. After a few years in the industry he moved onto different roles, initially leading production teams and then started focusing on delivering solutions. He currently holds the role of Director of Support Services at XTM International.

Michael Andrews Kontent by Kentico

Michael Andrews is Content Strategy Evangelist at Kontent by Kentico. Over the past two decades, he has advised organizations in half a dozen countries about content strategy and user experience in diverse industry sectors. His previous roles include working as a Senior Manager for Content Strategy for Publicis Sapient, one of the world’s largest digital agencies. Based in Washington DC, he’s a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as Lavacon, Taxonomy Bootcamp, and the Information Architecture Conference. Andrews has published two books on the role of metadata in content strategy. He holds an MSc, with distinction, in human-centered computing systems from Sussex University in England.

Paulina Makles XTRF

Educated in translation studies and with 10 years experience in localization, Paulina has moved through multiple roles related to project management and language management in multiple LSPs such as Welocalize, Lionbridge, Venga Global, and Summa Linguae. Paulina has joined XTRF as Head of Marketing in April 2020.

Konstantin Savenkov Intento, Inc.

Konstantin Savenkov is CEO of Intento, Inc. After earning a PhD in 2008, he led research and development efforts for online content services, then worked as CTO at Zvooq and as a chief operating officer at Bookmate. In 2016, he contributed his experience in artificial intelligence (AI), tech and operations to launch Intento, Inc., where they build tools to discover, evaluate and integrate best-of-breed MT and other cognitive AI services.

Dave Ruane XTM International

Dave Ruane works as Digital Content and Partnership Manager at XTM International. He has been in the localization industry since the mid-nineties. Current interests include continuous localization, content marketing, and simplification in localization. He regularly speaks at industry events, and is co-founder of the Process Innovation Challenge; a platform for show-casing innovation in localization.

Sara Basile XTM International

Sara Basile is the Product Manager at XTM International. She holds an MA in Technical Translation and Conference Interpreting and has been in the localization industry for almost 10 years as Project Manager, Linguist and Program Manager at global enterprises. After 3 years as XTM Administrator on client side, Sara joined XTM in 2020 as Product Manager. Since then she has worked very closely with all XTM teams and customers to make sure XTM keeps its competitive edge through a successful roadmap.

Rafał Jaworski XTM International

Rafał Jaworski, PhD, works as Linguistic AI Expert at XTM International. He is an academic lecturer and scientist specializing in natural language processing techniques. He develops robust AI algorithms for the needs of computer assisted translation. These include, among others, automatic lookup of linguistic resources and automatic post editing. At XTM International he leads a team of young and talented AI specialists who put his visions and ideas into practice.

John Weisgerber XTM International

John Weisgerber is a battle-scarred veteran of countless localization campaigns. For over 20 years he has earned first-hand experience in almost every possible role: freelance translator, localization project manager for both translation service providers and global enterprises such as HP, operations manager, and machine translation developer.

Yuka Kurihara Scaled Agile, Inc.

Yuka Kurihara is Director of Globalization Services at Scaled Agile, Inc. She has 20+ years of experience building corporate globalization strategies and leading localization technology and operations in enterprises of all sizes. Yuka has in-depth knowledge of localizing software, hardware, and e-commerce products as well as marketing, training, legal, and HR content in over 120 language pairs.

Fei Liu RS Components

Fei is the Localisation Manager at RS Components. She is passionate about localisation technologies, and is experienced in maximising the technological benefits in various business scenarios and driving them into tangible operational and commercial improvement. Fei enjoys working with people across cultures, and has an interest in languages and how they affect the way people think and behave.

Rocio Gray Crown Equipment Corporation

Rocio Gray is a Localization Manager with Crown’s Global Content Management group. She graduated Translation and Interpreting from Universidad Europea de Madrid. After almost a decade at Crown and multiple positions within the company, Rocio is currently working together with the Translation and Terminology Specialists and other departments at Crown to ensure that Crown localization needs are being met.

Rory Sampair XTM International

Rory Sampair, an XTM Xpert for XTM International, has over seven years’ experience in localization Project Management and Solutions Architecture coming from leading language service providers Sajan and AMPLEXOR. At XTM, Rory collaborates with clients throughout the onboarding process to formulate bespoke solutions for effectively attaining client goals and key performance indicators.

Billy Burnet XTM International

Billy Burnet leads the marketing team at XTM International, provider of the leading enterprise translation management system. Prior to joining XTM, Billy was the Sr. Director of Demand Generation at insightsoftware. He has 10+ years experience in B2B SaaS demand generation and marketing. Billy resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with his fiancé Kate, dog Cora, and cat Cheeto.