Georg, could you share a brief overview of your professional journey and how it led you to become the CEO of Phrase?
I’ve been CEO of Phrase for three years. Before joining Phrase, I was CEO of Smoothwall, a UK child-safety business we scaled and sold. I remain on the board of the acquiring company, publicly listed in Australia (ASX:QOR). Before that, I held leadership roles at Tesla, launching and scaling operations in the UK and Western Europe, and at Yammer, where I helped grow the European team from three people in a pub to 85 in under 18 months. My early experience was at Microsoft, where I sold what would later become Office 365 in its earliest form.
Phrase brought together everything I was looking for: a truly international team and customer base, deep and evolving technology, and an ambitious growth trajectory. I’m half Dutch, half German, born in Switzerland, and based in the UK, with most of my professional experience working transatlantically, so the global nature of the business felt like a perfect match both professionally and personally.
How can businesses effectively scale hyper-personalized content across diverse global markets while maintaining cultural sensitivity and brand consistency?
AI enables personalization on a scale previously unimaginable—tailoring content to individuals, not just regions. Brands can now adjust tone, imagery, and messaging dynamically based on cultural and contextual factors. Businesses need structured brand assets, approved language databases, and strong AI integrations to scale effectively. It’s also about rethinking content creation. Are you preparing for 100 times more content? A billion times? That scale level requires hyperautomation, robust workflows, and a deep understanding of local audience expectations.
In what ways can businesses implement AI-driven hyperautomation with traditional content creation processes to streamline workflows, reduce resource strain, and ensure high-quality outcomes?
When we talk about hyperautomation, we don’t mean just replacing tasks. At Phrase, we are rethinking the entire content lifecycle. We apply AI throughout: assessing content for translation readiness, scoring quality, routing content based on confidence thresholds, and enabling post-editing and feedback loops.
We help teams customize AI outputs using proprietary linguistic data and automate intelligent routing, so content can move directly into production or get flagged for review. This balance of flexibility and control lets our customers scale confidently without sacrificing quality or consistency.
As AI handles repetitive tasks, what kind of opportunities emerge for creative and strategic teams to focus on higher-value initiatives?
AI frees up time and resources, enabling creative and strategic teams to focus on innovation, storytelling, and long-term brand-building. Instead of being tied up with repetitive tasks, teams can devote their energy to developing differentiated experiences, enhancing customer journeys, and driving strategic initiatives that boost competitive advantage in global markets.
How can businesses leverage linguistic data and other proprietary assets to enhance localization automation and create a competitive edge in global content strategies?
Anyone can access a generic AI model, but true differentiation comes from training AI with proprietary linguistic data. Linguistic data is one of the most undervalued strategic assets. Companies have spent decades building approved terminology databases and translation assets—these are invaluable for ensuring AI-generated content reflects brand voice and industry expertise.
Without this data, AI outputs risk sounding generic. Businesses that fine-tune AI with proprietary assets gain a distinct competitive edge in localization, making their global content strategy more accurate, authentic, consistent, and impactful.
What are the advantages that organizations have gained by adopting sophisticated localization approaches, and how do these benefits contribute to global business expansion?
Localization should be seen as a growth driver, not just a cost center. Historically, it was treated as the final step in content production, but it’s key to audience engagement, brand adoption, and market expansion.
When done right, localization becomes a growth engine. Companies leveraging AI-driven localization can reach new audiences faster, improve engagement with multilingual customers, and create personalized experiences at scale. Brands that invest in AI-powered localization will outpace competitors that fail to adapt.
To wrap up, what advice would you give to businesses to best position themselves and leverage these advancements for continued success in global markets?
First, use your imagination—the pace of AI development is so rapid that if you’re only planning six months ahead, you’re already behind. Bring in technologists and strategists who can help you anticipate what’s next.
Second, start now—your proprietary data is the key to AI success. The black gold of the AI era is your proprietary data sets. Are they in good shape? Are your content assets structured, clean, and accessible? Companies that invest in making their digital assets AI-available will gain a massive advantage in the coming years.
Comments
0 comment