From Add-On to Advantage: Delivering global learning with confidence and control

As global learning programmes become a regular part of agency work, multilingual delivery is no longer just something to include. It is an opportunity to add value, strengthen client relationships and build more predictable, scalable work.

With the right strategy in place, localisation can increase deal value, support long-term partnerships and help agencies stand out in competitive pitches. When it is not, it can create pressure, leading to more time spent coordinating across markets, more review stages, and less clarity around effort, pricing and approach.

At the same time, AI has changed the conversation. Clients are asking different questions, expecting faster turnaround and looking more closely at cost. The challenge is not whether to use AI, but how to apply it in a way that still delivers quality, consistency and strong learning outcomes.

In this on-demand session, Emily Decker, General Manager and Head of Client Partnerships at Comtec, shares how learning agencies are approaching this in practice. Drawing on real experience supporting agencies on discovery calls, scoping multilingual rollouts and advising on client conversations, she explains how a more structured approach to localisation can improve both delivery and commercial outcomes.

This is a practical, experience-led session based on real agency scenarios, not theory or AI hype.

In this 20-minute session, you will see:

• Why localisation is often treated as an add-on, and what changes when it is built in earlier
• How AI has shifted client expectations around speed, cost and delivery
• What AI in localisation actually looks like in practice, beyond the headlines
• A simple, tiered model for applying different levels of translation across learning content
• How to handle common client questions such as “can we just use AI?”
• How to guide clients towards the right approach based on risk, audience and objectives

You will come away with a clearer way to structure multilingual learning so it feels more predictable, easier to manage and more commercially sound.

🎥 Watch the full recording

• Localisation is not just a delivery step. When approached strategically, it can increase deal scope, strengthen client relationships and create more predictable work.
• AI has changed how localisation is delivered, but not whether it is needed. Clients still expect quality, consistency and learning outcomes that land in every market.
• The most effective approach is not AI or human. It is a combination of both, applied differently depending on the content.
• A tiered approach helps agencies match effort to impact, improving both delivery and margin.
• Agencies that lead these conversations position themselves as more strategic partners and differentiate more clearly in pitches.

Across the learning agencies we support, localisation is rarely handled in a single way.

Instead, different types of content are matched to different approaches.

For example, structured, high-volume content such as compliance or product training can often be handled using a more AI-led approach with automated post-editing. Core learning content, such as onboarding or learner-facing modules, often benefits from human post-editing to ensure clarity and tone. More complex or high-impact content, such as leadership programmes or highly branded material, is usually best suited to full human translation.

This creates a more balanced approach where speed, cost and quality are aligned to the needs of the content, rather than applying one method across everything.

This session is designed for learning agencies and learning partners who are already delivering, or increasingly being asked to deliver, global programmes.

It is particularly useful if you:

• Deliver learning content into multiple languages
• Are being asked more questions about AI in translation
• Want to feel more confident in pricing and scoping multilingual work
• Are looking to reduce friction in delivery and review stages
• Want to position localisation as part of your value, not just a requirement

Typical roles include founders, commercial leads, client services leaders and senior delivery or instructional design teams.

If this session resonated, there are a few practical ways to take this further depending on where you are.

Talk it through

If you would like to sense-check how you’re currently approaching localisation, we are always happy to talk it through and share how other learning agencies are structuring this in practice.

Review your content mix

We can review a sample of your learning content and suggest how different approaches could be applied across it, helping you identify where a more AI-led approach makes sense and where human input will add value.

See the difference between approaches

If helpful, we can provide a sample of your content translated using different methods, so you can compare outputs and see how quality, tone and effort vary in practice.

Build a more structured approach

We can also walk you through a simple framework to help you categorise content and apply the right level of localisation effort from the start.

If any of this would be useful, feel free to get in touch.

Emily Decker
Head of Client Partnerships, Comtec
edecker@comtectranslations.com