Going global is a decision.
Operating globally is the hard part.

Companies going global

Language is the visible part of entering a new market. Content, product, support, and vendors all have to work in each market, and usually nobody owns the whole picture. I help you decide what to adapt, in what order, and how to run it without building a department you don't need yet.

Localization programs & LSPs

Your program works, but it costs too much, scales too slowly, or the business still treats it as a cost center. I review your workflows, vendors, tooling, and use of AI, and tell you what to change first. For providers, that often means moving from executing requests to working toward your clients' goals.

Advisory Session

A focused 60-minute session on one problem: a tool decision, a vendor question, a market entry plan, an AI pilot that isn't scaling. You send context beforehand. You leave with a clear recommendation.

Localization Operations Audit

A structured review of your workflows, vendors, tooling, costs, and quality. You get a written report, a prioritized roadmap, and a readout with your team.

AI Program Design

AI can cut cost and turnaround time. It can also ship mistakes at scale. I design AI workflows with the human checkpoints, quality framework, and governance that keep the risk where you can manage it.

Advisory Retainer

Senior guidance without a full-time hire. A set number of hours each month, mostly async, for decisions like building a program from scratch, renegotiating vendor contracts, or choosing a TMS. I design, your team executes.

Built a localization function from zero.

A content services company handled translation only when clients asked for it, with no real process behind it. In six months I put processes, tools, and teams in place and turned it into a professional service covering almost every European language.

Cut tooling costs
by 67%.

At a global networking technology company, I reduced localization tooling costs by about two-thirds while building the team from scratch and leading entry into Asian and Arabic-speaking markets.

Renegotiated a six-figure vendor contract.

At a large e-commerce company, I led the renegotiation of a multi-year, six-figure localization vendor agreement, resulting in 40% savings YoY.

I am Julio Leal and have spent more than 15 years building and running global programs from inside the companies that needed them. I've built teams and functions from zero, renegotiated vendor contracts, chosen and replaced tooling, and taken companies into markets where they had no presence.I've also worked at language service providers, so I know what a buyer needs to get a decision through finance, product, and legal, and what a provider needs to deliver on it.My career spans SAP, Ciena, Spendesk, Wayfair, Lionbridge, and Nimdzi Insights, across enterprise software, telecommunications, fintech, e-commerce, language services, and research. I'm currently leading global localization at a US marketplace.When a project needs more than one person, I bring in specialists from my network. I work in English, Spanish, and German, across US and European time zones.You can view my full Linkedin profile here.

Speaking

I speak about what makes international operations work, and what quietly breaks them. Everything I talk about, I've had to do myself: build the function, fix the vendor relationship, and scale the AI program after the pilot.

Where the Humans Go
Getting an AI pilot to work is the easy part. Scaling it is where things go wrong, usually because nobody decided where human judgment sits once volume goes up. This talk covers which checkpoints matter, how to measure quality when output outpaces review, and how to build governance teams actually follow.

The Function Nobody Asked For
No budget line, no mandate, and no one who owns the problem. How to find the first allies, prove value before asking for headcount, and turn ad hoc requests into a service the business relies on.

What Nobody Measures
Companies track revenue, traffic, and conversion in new markets. They rarely track whether the product, the support, and the content actually work there. This talk is about the operational gaps that cap growth abroad, and how to make them visible before they show up as churn.

The Master Key
Most service providers are good at doing what they're asked. Few ask what the client is trying to achieve. The advantage isn't a new technology. It's an old discipline: understanding the business you serve. First delivered as a keynote at ELIA Networking Days.

Recent appearances

Keynote, "The Master Key"
ELIA Networking Days, Seville · October 2026Panelist, "Beyond the Pilot"
Global Ready Conference by Smartling · May 2026

Formats

Keynote, Panel, Workshop. Remote and in person.

• Invite me to speak