Localization Leaders: Meet Revolut’s Giulia Tarditi

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Giulia Tarditi, Head of Language Experience at Revolut, for our Localization Leaders series. Revolut is a global financial app and banking alternative that allows users to send, spend, and save money.

A true leader in the industry, Giulia shares her extensive career journey and the valuable lessons she learned along the way, including how to influence business beyond localization, key qualities to look for in a localization manager, and important steps to take when starting a new role.

Read the full interview, or watch the videocast below:

Can you start by giving us a bit of background on your career path and how you ended up in your current position as the Head of Language Experience at Revolut?

I studied cross-cultural communication. I’ve always been very good with languages, process design, and writing. So when it came to finishing my degree, I thought I’d perhaps become a journalist or cultural mediator because I like writing.

When I was in London, I saw a position for a multilingual copywriter, and I thought, “I can do that. Let me give it a try.” The company didn’t know much about localization processes, so I asked if I could take ownership of the localization efforts. Instead of just multilingual writing, I was able to oversee the writing process across languages.

My first career-defining role was leading translations for Badoo, a social networking and dating platform. We grew into 180 markets in 43 languages in less than three years.

It was a massive score because all the tools we used were built in-house, and we had in-house translators. We even created a crowdsourcing platform to get users to translate. It was fast-paced and ambitious from a goal-setting perspective.

After that, I started consulting for companies in various industries looking for someone senior to own localization. I moved from social networks to gaming, e-commerce, accommodation, real estate, and eventually e-learning. My first finance-related localization gig was at Monese, where I stayed for four years. Initially, I focused on localization, but after a restructuring, I became a product manager for the website and compliance-related areas. Although this was far from localization, it gave me valuable insight into product ownership, which I could funnel back into localization.

I’ve always been interested in the relationship between language and experience, so when someone from Qualtrics approached me about setting up a center of excellence for language experience management, I saw it as a massive opportunity. I stayed at Qualtrics for about three years, learning a lot from their internal XM Institute, which offered extensive resources on user and customer experience.

The opportunity at Revolut appeared on the horizon, and I was eager to return to a more B2C-focused space. Revolut, being a large company with offices around the world and more than 20 languages, presented a perfect challenge. We also have an in-house team of linguists, which allows me to influence the work in ways that aren’t possible with a vendor-only setup. It’s fast-paced, ambitious, and rewarding—which is just the way I like it, it’s a part of my DNA.

I’ve been at Revolut for about eight months now. On one hand, it feels like I just started yesterday, but at the same time, it feels like it’s been eight years! It’s been a very rewarding journey, and I’ve learned a lot.

One key lesson I’ve taken to heart is to start as a listener. When you join a new company, it’s essential to understand how things work and what the company’s goals are before making any changes. Observe first, and then influence.

Based on your years of experience, what do you think is the best way for global companies to set up their localization teams?

There isn’t a single best practice or a playbook for localization, despite what some might say. 

Localization is unique and needs to be tailored to each company, like a dress made-to-measure. It depends on the company’s structure—whether it’s product-centric or market-centric—and where the company is in its lifecycle.

Flexibility is key. The right place for localization might change over time. For instance, localization might start in the product department but later move to user operations or services. 

When first starting at a company, the temptation is to show, show, show, and make a lot of changes, but that can be detrimental. Copy-and-pasting successful processes from one company might not work at a different company. Before recommending how a team should be structured, it’s important to take a step back and understand the company’s goals.  What are they selling? Who are the users? What are they trying to achieve in the next five years?

In some companies, an in-house team of linguists makes sense, while in others, you may need just a few key people with the rest outsourced. Understand the strategic objectives of the company and build your team around those objectives. Establish specific KPIs that align with the company’s short-term goals, and be ready to iterate. Sometimes the initial setup isn’t perfect, and you need to be open to change.

What do you look for when hiring a localization manager for your team?

Three things: passion, data literacy, and curiosity. Passion is critical—localization isn’t just about speaking a language. You need to understand how to use language to influence and guide users, especially in product localization. Being data-driven is also essential. Localization managers don’t need to be data gurus, but they must be comfortable consuming and interpreting data to make informed decisions. Finally, curiosity is vital. I want someone who looks beyond localization and learns from other disciplines to enrich their localization approach.

Localization professionals sometimes have difficulty securing the budget they need or demonstrating localization’s value. Do you have any tips for overcoming those challenges?

You need to speak the language of the people you’re trying to influence. Localization often sits horizontally across the company, serving various departments, so you need to familiarize yourself with their KPIs and goals.

Understand what keeps them up at night and how you can help make their lives easier. Relevance is key to influence.

One of the best hacks I’ve heard to get access to the intel you need to be relevant was a localisation department in a global company that offered to translate all department goals for local office’s ease of consumption and understanding. It’s a shortcut to getting access to everyone’s KPIs and understanding what’s important to each department. By finding disconnects or areas where departments’ goals aren’t aligning, you can influence not only at the department level but also at the executive level. Show how you contribute to the company’s overall goals, and your value will be recognized.

What do you feel is Revolut’s greatest localization strength?

Their in-house team. Having an in-house team of linguists is a significant advantage. The team has deep expertise, not just in localization, but also in the product, user journeys, and customer funnels. They understand how users engage with the product, which is crucial for effective localization. This expertise is something I’ve rarely seen elsewhere.

Thanks, Giulia – let’s move on to our rapid-fire questions. What is your favorite language?

Spanish.

What’s your favorite localization tool?

Phrase. It’s simple and gets the job done, though I’m not using it at the moment.

What’s your favorite place that you’ve traveled to?

Andalusia in Spain.

What’s the best localization advice you’ve received?

Not specific to localization, but it’s been key: never squeeze smart people into roles. Be ready to build roles around people.

What’s the most successful market you’ve invested in?

China.

What would you say is your localization nightmare?

Not feeling heard. I used to have this nightmare as a child where I would try to speak, but no sound would come out. That feeling of not being heard is my professional nightmare as well. I listen, I learn, and I have valuable contributions, but if I can’t get things done or be heard, that’s the worst.

Who is your localization role model?

Diego Cresceri, he runs an LSP company called Creative Words. He is always in a good mood, and always eager to learn and innovate. He brings positivity to everything, and I appreciate that.

Which brand is your localization crush?

King. Games are my number one inspiration when it comes to localization. King does a great job of integrating writing and localization, with a strong focus on the player’s experience. It’s a fantastic example for B2C localization. 

Are there any localization projects coming up at Revolut that we should look out for?

We’re working on some creative and unexpected uses of AI in localization connected to getting our translations done. I wish I could share more, but it’s exciting, challenging, and moving fast.

Thank you again, Giulia, for taking the time to speak with me and for sharing your advice and insights.

Corinne Sharabi

Corinne is the Social Media and Content Lead at BLEND. She is dedicated to keeping global business professionals up to date on all things localization, translation, language and culture.

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