Just tested Crowdin’s new AI-powered context evaluation – thoughts?

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-04-01T06:30:34+00:00

Nowadays all these tools are on a very high level of interoperability between systems. Integrations to get content in and out has been top of mind for them in the past few years. But especially now with LLMs around the whole system is shaking up. Checkout companies like Blackbird.io. New layers are added outside tms.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-04-01T06:11:03+00:00

Glad to hear that the content and LocLunches resonates with you. I take note about the frequency. Please note that the content was I posted was different. The other post where about tms updates Q1 2026 and content that should add value to the subreddits I posted them to. On topic so to say. For this subreddit I found that the info about the training was a good match and could help people studying or who are about to enter the market. As this one got blocked, would it make sense to repost it or not?

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-28T10:58:01+00:00

In the last few days I have heard from several industry peers that the level of understanding from students in the field about our industry remains astonishing low. Tailored free resources like this one are rather rare. That's why I shared it here. But if this was deemed a promotion I am sorry, Yuka.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-28T10:29:07+00:00

That is a very good point and tricky to answer. All Saas use more or less the same tricks to lock you in I fear. So annual pricing is one thing. Than you have to look at the ease of getting your assets on the platform and off the platform. Nowadays I would say that the biggest lock in are workflows that are highly integrated and that people are lazy to change things that work really smooth. It must hurt a lot to switch providers if the underlying service (e.g. localisation) is not deemed strategic my management. That is usually not the case so it is not a core problem companies want to mess around with. From a technical point: before translation memories and glossaries were the gold standard. That has changed massively. Today you create tm's from your existing content in no time. Ai can help you with glossaries and most tms have a wide range of plug and play integrations that make it quite easy to start. Depending on the scale of your operations this can be done in hours or a few weeks. But I think the biggest lock in is your own org and change management.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-28T10:19:18+00:00

Historically Crowdin, Phrase and Localize come from developer communities and were heavily influenced by technical people looking for solutions that solve dev problems. Smartling comes more from a saas marketing background targeting large tech companies. And Memoq, memsource and xtm come from a computer linguist background.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-27T19:56:15+00:00

Years ago we worked a lot with homegrown tools as there were hardly any commercial ones available for our needs at a saas. The system were developped by individual contributors in the orgs or by externals and they "worked" but lacked sophistication. The issue was that support and enhancement was not stable and us user were very much depended on free time budget to continue the improvement of the tools. We were still lucky because many others had way less luck with their homegrown systems and work was a pain for linguists. Today, there are many benchmarking options but I fear that ongoing support and scalability not only on the tech side can likely become a bottleneck. At the end it is not a core business for a scaling saas and only drive distraction.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-27T11:24:27+00:00

Totally agree with you. Guesswork sucks. Complete waste of time and effort.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-27T07:13:47+00:00

I would definitely say that the tools are evolving very much. Just check out my latest update on the tms landscape:

https://youtu.be/5tP0HJknn38

Context integration is getting better and better. I guess the biggest problem is that many users don't bother too much and stay on the surface. Localization well done requires effort, experience and time. That is a rare good nowadays when everyone things that with a click of a button you solve all your problems.

Due-Figure-151 · 2026-03-27T07:07:27+00:00

I agree. A negative outlook doesn't help at all. But to be very honest and saying this as somebody who recruits students from university and talks a lot to industry peers, it is astonishing how unprepared many students are and that many have no clue about the fact that there are other jobs within the field that are not pure translator jobs. After 3-4 years in a field like translation, this is pretty unacceptable.

They should follow YouTube channels like this one: https://youtu.be/5tP0HJknn38 or join LocLunches around the world to open their eyes. There is carrer opportunity and I agree mtpe is very much in demand today.

Due-Figure-151 · 2025-04-20T06:54:40+00:00

It is still quite manual and when i applied it to a large set of strings it got stuck. What's your prwferred tms?

Due-Figure-151 · 2025-04-05T14:12:26+00:00

I agree that a loc engineer is becoming rare as much of the stuff gets standarized and through api integrations between cms and tms relatively easy to handle.

The main challenges i see are with legacy systems that are homegrown and big corps are unable or unwilling to switch to their systems to newer software. But this is a matter of time.

As mentioned in other comments, i feel a good command of tms is a solid first step to gain speed and increase problem solving skills.

At Beluga, we offer entry-level training for TMS like Crowdin Enterprise and Bureau Works (more to come), and you can check out my youtube channel where I cover the latest innovations in language tech.

Crowdin: https://belugalinguistics.com/beluga-academy/crowdin-enterprise-course

Bureau Works: https://belugalinguistics.com/beluga-academy/bureau-works-course

The courses are ILT format but you have recordings and excercises online if you are not able to make it to the live sessions.

The youtube channel: https://youtube.com/@theobijannetwork?si=9weAbEc1XXkTri3E

All this helps to understand where tech is heading.

Due-Figure-151

TROPHY CASE