Localization Leaders: Meet Zendesk’s Ketty Tirrito

In our latest Localization Leader interview, we were joined by Ketty Tirrito, Localization Manager at Zendesk. Zendesk is an award-winning customer service software that serves global businesses in over 28 languages. 

Join our chat with Ketty where she explains the power behind Zendesk’s Product Localization team, the best ways to build a successful localization operation, and how to leverage AI to improve localization workflows.

Read the full interview, or watch the videocast below:

Thanks for joining us, Ketty. Can you tell us how your career path led you to your current role as Zendesk’s Localization Manager? 

I’ve always been fascinated by foreign languages and cultures, so in a way, I knew this was my path since my teenage years. I studied linguistic mediation back in Italy, where I’m originally from. Then I moved to the UK to study translation studies and TESOL, which is Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. 

It was in England that I started my career in the translation industry. I joined a translation company as a project manager, which was a great opportunity to apply all the theoretical learnings I acquired during my studies to real-life work. I learned so much about different linguistic requirements. 

A couple of years later, I had the opportunity to join the marketing and communication agency for Jaguar Land Rover. At the time, the team needed a localization manager to start a localization team. I ended up starting this localization team from scratch. During my time there, the agency transitioned from a very chaotic process where everybody sent projects to the language service providers, to eventually having a localization team. That was very challenging but absolutely rewarding – it taught me a lot. 

About five years ago, I joined Zendesk in Ireland. That was the first time I started working on software localization, which turns out to be quite different from marketing localization. Now I work as a localization manager leading the team that focuses on strategy and operations for product. My team focuses on vendor strategy, linguistic quality assurance, language assets, and machine translation processes. I work really closely with the localization program managers and with the localization testing team. 

I would love to hear more about how localization functions at Zendesk. How is your team and department structured and what role would you say localization plays at Zendesk? 

Localization at Zendesk is a big machine. Our localization efforts are led by three different teams. I’m part of the Product Globalization team, but we also have a Transcreation team that sits under Engagement Marketing. They deliver all the creative content, as well as support other stakeholders in the company. And then there is the Product Documentation team which is in charge of creating user guides and localizing help center articles. 

As I mentioned, I am part of the product globalization team, which is made up of internationalization and localization. I lead one of the three product localization “scrum” teams which takes care of the software localization lifecycle. Our mission is to deliver localized software for Zendesk customers and to handle KCS (Knowledge Centered Support) materials and other various content for stakeholders within the company. The team works closely with the design teams, program managers, and engineering teams. 

Our main goal is to release a fully functional piece of software that is localized and tested in over 28 languages. 

Sounds like quite an operation! In your opinion, what is Zendesk’s greatest localization strength? 

The product localization team has been around for a long time. Our Senior Director did a great job with setting it up about 13 years ago. I think the first strength is the stability of the team which has since grown from a team of one to a team of 20+, so the operations have really scaled up. 

I think another one of the greatest assets is the fact that we work together with the internationalization team. The internationalization team is wonderful because they help ensure the standardization of localization practices. They provide guidance and support to the engineering teams and enforce internationalization best practices, which allows localization to operate much more smoothly. 

I think another great strength is that the product localization team organizes three “scrum” teams. 

Each of our teams takes care of a particular area of the software development life cycle, which allows team members to own the process and grow in that area. This brings a lot of expertise and passion to the work.

Since Zendesk is a large global company, I imagine your team members collaborate from different locations around the world, which can be tricky.  How do you optimize global team communication? 

Yes, that comes with its challenges, one of which is different cultural backgrounds. We all come from different parts of the world and have our own way of communicating, working, or operating. Sometimes it does require a little bit of adjustments and fine-tuning to really understand each other. Time zones can sometimes be a nightmare, so that requires some organizational skills. 

In general, it’s important to strive for very clear and concise communication. 

We rely a lot on written communication. We prefer instant messaging over other communication channels, such as Zoom calls or emails, to make the process a little faster. We also schedule regular meetings with a clearly defined agenda beforehand, so the other person knows what will be discussed and can prepare in advance. 

Another thing that we find useful is being flexible with time. We try to accommodate our team members by either starting a little earlier or finishing a little later, depending on meetings and what needs to be discussed with other team members. 

But above all, I think focusing on the human touch is very important. We try to create that human connection through informal sessions or “watercooler chats.” Recently, we were lucky to have the opportunity to also meet in person, which goes a long way. 

When you can sit next to a colleague who is normally on the other side of the world and you can work together at the same table, it’s priceless. 

Do you have any advice for global brands that want to build a localization team for the first time? 

To begin with, be patient. I think it’s a great opportunity, but it’s also a lot of work. I would start by being clear about the company’s objectives and expansion needs. Where does the company want to go when it comes to other markets? 

Once you understand the markets and which locales and languages will be needed, it’s time to prioritize. Align with internal stakeholders and understand what their priorities are. Avoid the urge to localize everything all at once in all languages because that could potentially turn into a waste of money and time. 

It takes you away from the focus you need to keep in mind – focus on what delivers the most strategic value. 

Another thing that is important to consider is investing in the right tools. Having the right TMS/CAT tool goes a long way, as well as understanding what language model is best for your needs. For instance, do you need internal reviewers? Can you just rely on vendors? 

Then, start educating your stakeholders from the very beginning. Adhering to the best localization practices from the outset is critical. Anytime an internal stakeholder says, “Oh, no, yeah, we will address it later,” “later” probably means never. So try to enforce the importance of best practices from the beginning by explaining why you’re so obsessed with doing it right from the outset.  

From an operational point of view, you should set up workflows, establish quality assurance procedures, and build linguistic assets because those are the backbones of any localization operation. 

Once the ball is rolling, continue to educate stakeholders on what the localization team is bringing. For example, how does the localization team contribute to the company’s revenue growth, brand awareness, and overall global expansion success?  

Finally, use data. Data is so important, not only to show the impact, but also to make informed decisions on what languages to prioritize and which markets are important to expand into. Data can provide many valuable insights. 

AI is impacting every industry, and localization is no exception. How would you say AI impacts your day-to-day as a localization manager? And do you have any tips on how you use it effectively? 

I think AI is a fantastic tool that can really help us address many areas of the business that require recurring, time-consuming, and repetitive tasks and processes. That’s how we’re trying to use it in our daily operations. 

Imagine tasks where you have to analyze a very large piece of text, such as terminology extraction. 

We’ve been using AI to extract terminology and identify repetitive patterns throughout a document or a piece of text. 

For example, what type of placeholders are used? Are there any standalone adjectives or nouns that could pose issues for localization? These are just some examples, but in general, the approach has been, “What can we do faster?” That’s the objective. 

We are also trying to document everything we’re discovering from AI so we can adapt learnings to the next project.

To summarize, I think AI speeds up processes and helps us address low-hanging fruit and tasks that have been on the backlog for a long time. These are tasks we never had the time to address before AI, but now we can get them done thanks to this technology. It still requires a lot of human input and revision, but I think AI is useful for localization operations. 

Let’s get into our rapid-fire questions. What is your favorite language? 

English. English was my first love, the first foreign language I learned. I appreciate the flexibility and adaptability of English. I think it’s a great language, but above all, it allowed me to connect with a lot of people whom I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to connect with. I’m thinking of people like my Turkish and German friends.

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

Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Argentina. I went to the Patagonia region in the south, and that has a very special place in my memories. The landscapes are just incredible, the views of the glaciers and the mountains.

And what’s the best localization advice you’ve ever received? 

With time, I’ve come to the realization that probably the best piece of advice is to pick your battles. Sometimes it’s impossible to deliver the same quality and the same level of localization services across the entire volume of content your company provides or creates. It’s really important to focus on data and remain focused on what the priority is. 

What is your localization nightmare? 

Probably when localization within a company is considered as a mere cost center. Sometimes the lack of vision or objectives for a localization team can provide that perception to stakeholders internally who tend to see localization as a cost center rather than a profit-generating department. 

Who would you say is your localization role model? 

This industry is really blessed with very talented people and very generous people. I’m always amazed at how people are willing to share their experiences, struggles, and learnings. 

If I had to choose one person, I’d say Nataly Kelly, the CMO of Zappi. I think she makes linguistic topics as a whole, not just localization, really interesting and engaging for people who are not necessarily in the industry. I love her passion and her drive, so I follow her with great pleasure and interest. 

And which brand would you say is your localization crush? 

I love Revolut, the online banking company. I use it daily; I think it’s a great application. Sometimes I play with changing my foreign language to see what it’s like in different languages. I think they’re doing a great job. 

Sometimes I’m even thinking, “How would you translate this button in Italian?” 

Right now, I’ve got it in French because I live in France and I’m steadily getting to learn French. But I rotate my language settings between English, Italian, Spanish, and French. 

Before we go, are there any localization projects you have coming up at Zendesk that we should be looking out for? 

What I’m trying to focus on right now is all the great AI-powered features the TMS company we work with is releasing to improve quality, reduce cost, and deliver faster results wherever possible. 

There is so much out there in terms of features that can really help you with almost any area, whether you want to improve efficiency, your workflow, or your linguistic output. There’s so much out there that is available and ready to be tested. It’s extremely exciting. 

Ketty, thank you so much for joining us and for taking the time to speak with me – much appreciated!

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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