The 6 translation transformations global businesses can’t afford to miss

What happens when the volume of content that global businesses must manage grows exponentially, but the processes they rely on to translate it can’t scale?

It sounds like the start of a joke. In reality, it’s anything but. The exploding volume of translation requirements is in the process of overwhelming global organizations and their legacy translation workflows. And this isn’t just a problem for Localization teams; translation affects every function, every aspect of operations and every strategic priority. It’s one of the biggest operating challenges for enterprise in 2026, and it can only be solved by embracing the full potential of AI for scaling translation.

How translation volumes overwhelmed global business

Measured by data volume reported by Statista, the amount of content has grown by approximately 50% since 2023. With AI lowering barriers to content production, this rate of growth is set to accelerate rapidly over the next 12 months. Add in the multiplying array of customer touchpoints and contact center engagements, plus the multilingual virtual meetings that global operations depend on, and the demand for translation is reaching breaking point.

DeepL’s recent survey of global business leaders reveals that 68% of organizations are still relying on outdated manual processes to meet this demand. Of these, around half (35% of all businesses) use no translation automation whatsoever. The remaining 33% depend on legacy translation systems. So while their translations may be machine-assisted, their use of AI is confined within processes that depend on humans to orchestrate them, review translations, make extensive post-editing changes, apply scattered style guides and ensure quality and compliance. 

The result? AI may assist, but it can’t actually solve the problem. Translation processes that could be completed in minutes extend into weeks, with unpredictable delays and rising costs. They delay go-to-market plans, compromise product launches, undermine brand consistency and erode productivity. Before long, operations stutter to a halt.

The growing damage from outdated translation processes

For DeepL’s new report on transforming translation in the age of AI, we talk to customers from a range of global organizations. All can testify to the drag effect of outdated translation processes — and the surge in productivity and effectiveness that comes from addressing it.

Jodi Sweed, VP Strategy and Development at global hospitality business Aramark is one of those customers. She explains how the struggles involved in multilingual meetings meant 60-minute video calls regularly becoming 90-minute calls, with valuable ideas often missed. 

DeAnn Mitchell, Project Manager for the research institute Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, warns about the difficulties of onboarding international colleagues, the confusion that comes from scattered style guides, and the fact that poor-quality translations undermine the brand and reputation of any organization.

“The impact of language friction is definitely underestimated,” adds Harry Witzthum, Chief of Digital Transformation and AI for the wide-reaching non-profit social services organization, Caritas. “We found that it was just not possible to deliver ideas or innovation quickly, because you always had these kinds of processes in the background that really ground innovation down.”

Unlocking the true, transformative potential of AI for translation

These organizations can attest to the damage done by outdated translation workflows. They can also share compelling stories of the value created when you trust AI to transform those processes. AI delivers the instant, high-quality translations that transform multilingual virtual meetings and enable real-time collaboration and customer support across languages. Giving AI the role of orchestrating the translation process from start to finish, rather than simply translating text, changes the game when it comes to balancing speed, scale and quality.

In DeepL’s report, DeepL’s Director of Localization Morana Perić shares the detailed story of how her team transformed translation workflows for the DeepL Help Center. Morana was able to turn a major bottleneck for the organization into a near-frictionless experience. “We created a whole new workflow that basically took us from taking weeks to translate, review and publish the content, to being able to push it live within minutes,” she says. “It delivered a 98% reduction in the time and effort required.”

In Borderless business: transforming translation in the age of AI, we reveal the six key shifts involved in unlocking AI’s full potential for translation management. Doing so helps global businesses sidestep a crisis that threatens to derail their operations.

The report also details the outsized impact this transformation has in elevating all areas of business operations:

Transformation 1: instant, high-quality translations — everywhere

Instant, high-quality AI translations mean that Localization and editing teams no longer have to choose between speed, scale and quality. They reduce the requirement for human review, and enable translations to be embedded across meetings and customer interactions.

Transformation 2: customized translations that are right for each business

Advanced features, such as the AI control layer available through DeepL Customization Hub, ensure consistent tone, style and brand voice for all AI translations. This eliminates the need for repetitive post-editing, and ensures consistency at scale.

Transformation 3: quality, consistency and compliance from the start

Centralized AI governance accelerates quality reviews, and ensures that every translation complies with business and regulatory requirements. With manual processes, the risk of inconsistency and costly mistakes grows with translation volume. With AI in control, the opposite is true.

Transformation 4: AI does much more than just translate

Global businesses that tackle translation operating challenges with purpose do so by giving AI the role of orchestrating translations, not just assisting them. It’s this end-to-end approach that shrinks delivery timelines from weeks to minutes. It also frees localization teams from repetitive work and enables them to focus on strategic priorities, cross-functional planning, and sharing the cultural understanding and insights that transform business impact.

Transformation 5: translation happens seamlessly across formats

From PDFs and other files to instant voice translations for meetings and conversations, AI is able to embed translation everywhere. In so doing, it eliminates the need to copy and paste, removes potential for human error, and further accelerates delivery.

Transformation 6: security gives AI its license to transform

Enterprise-grade security and compliance standards will become essential as AI touches every aspect of operations. Enterprise organizations need to work with AI partners that comply with the most stringent data privacy and security standards. Secure in the knowledge that their AI partner maintains the highest security requirements enables businesses to unlock the full potential of AI for scaling translation.