Mulumba Lwatula is an entrepreneur, business consultant & technologist based in Zambia. He is Acting Deputy Head of Investments (Mining, Manufacturing & Agribusiness) at IDC, a state-owned enterprise whose mandate is to spearhead the Zambian Government's commercial investments agenda and strengthen Zambia's industrial base & job creation. Mulumba also co-hosts Scale Up Africa, a podcast on building resilient African entrepreneurs & businesses, and is co-founder at Soqo, a data...

Tobias Reiter is the Co-Founder & CEO at VIEBEG Technologies, a Silicon-Valley based Health Tech company that operates mainly in Central & East Africa. VIEBEG offers high-quality medical & dental supplies as well as equipment through its comprehensive online marketplace and procurement software. Originally from Austria, Tobias has been based in Rwanda since 2018, and he is on a mission to help achieve sustainable development in Africa by investing and participating in the African...

Simon Kemp is the CEO at Kepios, a digital marketing consultancy that helps brands make sense of the future. He’s also the Chief Analyst at DataReportal, an online library of free reports that explores current digital behaviours around the world. In this interview, Simon dives into his new 2021 Global Digital reports and focuses on some surprising new trends, incl. the popularity of image recognition tools, the shift towards social search, and the preference for educational content over...

Jason Mander is CRO at GWI, the leading consumer research firm for the global marketing industry. Since 2009, GWI has been delivering game-changing insights to just about every major agency, media organization & global brand. Based in London, Jason leads GWI's Research & Insight depts, and oversees the firm's flagship study on the digital lives & lifestyles of consumers across 45+ countries. He also directs GWI’s thought leadership program on topics that matter to today’s...

Anna Golubeva has been working in various international communication & localization roles at IKEA for 15+ years. Currently, she's leading the digital translation capabilities program at Inter IKEA Systems, the worldwide IKEA franchisor. Anna enjoys the opportunities & challenges of working with languages for IKEA's globally successful brand. Her focus is on multi-language initiatives to connect language topics with Inter IKEA Group's business agenda, and enable the brand to reach...

Stella Paris is the Head of Language Services at Translators Without Borders (TWB), the world’s leading non-profit translation organization. In 2020, TWB has played a key role in the Translation Initiative for COVID-19. Bringing together translators, technologists, researchers, academic institutions, and LSPs, the aim of this initiative is to use language technology to make life-saving COVID-19 information available in as many languages as possible, with a view to bringing the global pandemic...

Matteo Ceurvels is a Regional Analyst for Latin America & Spain at eMarketer, a leading NYC-based market research firm, which recently merged with Insider Intelligence, the market-research division of Business Insider. In this interview, Matteo shares some of the latest data around e-commerce adoption in LATAM, and he talks about the most popular e-commerce platforms and payment methods in the region. He also looks at regional consumer trends that will become increasingly important in...

Gabriel Karandyšovský is the Managing Editor at Nimdzi Insights LLC, which is a market research and international consulting company that focuses on the language services industry. In this interview, Gabriel dives into some of the main takeaways from one of Nimdzi’s most talked-about reports of 2020, "Project Underwear: A Study of Online Buyer Behaviour and How Language Affects User Choice". He explains what the “Underwear Effect” is, and why it matters to your international content &...

Finn Murphy is the Principal at Frontline Ventures, a VC firm with offices in Dublin, Ireland & London, U.K. Frontline has positioned itself as the venture firm for globally-ambitious startups on both sides of the Atlantic. Its main focus is on B2B SaaS companies with international growth goals. In this interview, Finn talks about his criteria for evaluating a startup’s international growth potential, and he shares some of the key takeaways from Frontline’s 2020 Global Ambition Report.

Hilary Normanha is the Localization Program Manager at ASICS Digital, a leading creator of mobile running apps. Originally founded as Runkeeper in 2008, it was acquired by ASICS in 2016 as part of the group’s plan to drive global expansion and improve the Direct-to-Consumer experience. It now has 50+ million users across 180 countries, and is available in 12 different languages. In her role, Hilary manages the localization program for the company's fitness apps, incl. Runkeeper, ASICS Studio...

Adam Asnes is the CEO at Lingoport, a recognized leader in internationalization & localization. Through its consulting services & software, Lingoport helps software companies globalize their products so that they work well in every target language & locale. In this episode, Adam talks about how software companies can implement truly continuous internationalization (i18n), localization & QA of their products. Tune in for some important i18n best practices, and for Adam's...

Nicole Barile is the Head of NB Intercultural, a company dedicated to intercultural communication training. With 15+ years’ experience helping clients work effectively across cultures, she trains global-minded leaders & organizations around the world. Besides her work at NB Intercultural, she's a Lecturer & Workshop Facilitator at Northwestern Univ.’s Kellogg School of Management. She's also a speaker & writer on global leadership, cultural competence, doing business across...

For this episode, guest host Neil Sheth turns the tables on Kathrin Bussmann and puts her in the “hot seat”. Neil is CEO at Bubbl, a digital marketing & SEO agency, and was featured on ep. #198. Catch Kathrin as she talks about the intersection of global business, content marketing and localization strategy, and why she thinks of them as pillars for today’s successful brands. Plus, find out who's taking a new role as Head of Content Localization at Bubbl to help clients build their brands...

Sharon Cohen is VP Fairmont Brand at Accor, one of the largest hospitality companies in the world, with 30 brands, 80 partnerships and 5,000 hotels in 110 countries. Established in 1907, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has evolved to become an iconic global brand, while staying true to its core positioning across cultures, geographies, and mergers. Find out how this venerable hospitality brand has been able to adapt to changing consumer trends, keep its branding relevant, and respond to current...

James Ellis is a recognized expert in Employer Branding. His two new books are "The Employer Brand Handbook" and "Talent Chooses You: Hire Better with Employer Branding”. He is also a frequent keynote speaker and podcaster on the topic. In this interview, James explains the basic concept of Employer Brand, how it’s directly connected to the brand building overall, why companies need to get clear on their Employer Value Proposition, and why that EVP needs to be part of any global branding...

Julio Leal is the Head of Localization at Ciena, a global leader in telecom networking systems, services & software. Founded in 1992 & headquartered in Maryland, U.S., Ciena has 65+ offices around the globe and ca. 6500 employees in 35+ countries. It has been described as the “world's biggest player in optical connectivity”. Tune into this milestone episode to find out how Ciena went from being a U.S.-centric company to the global enterprise it is today, and how localization has...

Kristy Sakai is the CEO at Supertext USA, a creative translation & copywriting agency. Originally founded in 2005, Supertext has offices in Zurich, Berlin & Los Angeles, and works with global brands, multinationals & marketing agencies to creatively adapt their campaigns for international markets. Together with her team & a network of 1500+ selected copywriters, translators & editors, Kristy helps companies expand their international reach by creating copy that is a...

Neil Sheth is the Founder & CEO at Bubbl, a digital marketing & SEO agency that helps companies build their brands on a global scale. With offices in London and Colorado, Bubbl works with clients from a vast range of industries, cultures and languages to create buzz around their brands. Neil's focus is on evocative, enticing storytelling, combined with digital PR, and International SEO. In this interview, he explains how ISEO super-charges your international content and builds your...

Suraya Yahaya is the Founder & CEO at Khazana, Inc., a management consulting firm that helps companies grow and scale internationally. Originally from Malaysia, she's been based in the U.S. since 2000. With over 20 years of experience in global business, she now helps SMEs streamline organizational performance and achieve revenue and growth goals. Catch her insights into how today's SMEs can go global by building strong relationships, investing in local communities, and developing their...

Marie Betts-Johnson is the Founder of the International Protocol Institute of California. Since 1989, the IPIC has developed & delivered hundreds of customized training programs for multinational corporations & entities, incl. the UN, NATO, IBM, Gucci Timepieces, Johnson & Johnson, and Deloitte & Touche. It now has offices in Dubai, and partners with the Levenbert Academy to deliver international protocol & cross-cultural programs for corporate & government officials,...

James Banville has over 25 years of experience in international business development, marketing and sales. He has led international sales teams at some of the world’s best-known CPG brands. In 2019, he took on the role of General Manager, International, at The Honest Company, founded by American actress & businesswoman, Jessica Alba. Catch James's valuable insights on how today's CPG companies are approaching international expansion and building great global brands in a rapidly evolving...

John Pabon has been named as one of the world's top 100 voices on modern China. He's the Head of Fulcrum Strategic Advisors, Asia’s only risk management firm that addresses the most critical areas of change, incl. shifts in geopolitics, sustainability issues, and strategic communications. He’s also the Resident Sustainability Expert at The Silk Initiative, a Shanghai-based brand consultancy. His new book is called “Sustainability for the Rest of Us: Your No-Bullsh*t, Five-Point Plan for...

Dr. Ajay K. Jha is the Founder of InnoP, a global incubator & accelerator based in Colorado. He works helps startups in the Agri-Tech, Nutrition, Biotech, Healthcare, Energy & Big Data sectors to go global. Originally from India, Ajay has 20+ years of global business experience. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies, and helped U.S. as well as Indian companies enter the global market. He now mentors startups by helping them raise capital, build strategies for global trade &...

Markus Kramer is a Managing Partner at Brand Affairs, an independent PR & Communications agency based in Zurich. He's a brand strategist with a deep knowledge of global marketing and media & reputation management across multiple sectors, incl. luxury, automotive, financial services & government institutions. He also teaches Brand Management at the Faculty of Management Sciences of the Cass Business School in London, and he’s the author of "The Guiding Purpose Strategy: A...

Kyle Hegarty is Managing Director at TSL Marketing, a global B2B marketing agency based in the U.S. He has lived in Singapore since 2006. His new book is called "The Accidental Business Nomad: A Survival Guide for Working Across a Shrinking Planet”. Kyle argues that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing globalization to accelerate, and that we need cross-cultural skills now more than ever, as we face entirely new challenges of doing business digitally, at an unprecedented rate, with cultures...