Acolad has announced the appointment of Bertrand Gstalder as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Super Agency, effective March 15, 2023. Gstalder brings to the group over 25 years of executive experience that include a five-year tenure as CEO of SeLoger Group, an online real estate platform based in France.
Although this is Gstalder’s first venture into the language services industry, he has a diverse career in digital services for multiple international companies. He told Slator that he is “generally drawn to environments that are creative in nature, people-oriented and thrive on technological advances – and that is the current state of affairs in the Language and Content space.”
Regarding joining Acolad specifically, Gstalder added that the company “is in an amazing place right now, having built a high-end portfolio of services and solutions, supported by a powerful R&D team that is focused on answering – and anticipating – customer needs. That, combined with its global footprint and overall potential for growth, with a challenging spirit, made for a very attractive prospect indeed.”
In his long career, the Acolad CEO has been exposed to several aspects of the localization process, and as he put it, there is a “need for localization done right.” To him, “it is about context and understanding the specificity of each product or service – essentially knowing one’s audience and culture, something common to all industries.” He cited real estate as a perfect example of that.
When asked about how he envisions supporting Acolad’s human talent at a time when AI technology is expected to continue to deeply change and challenge the way language services providers work, Gstalder said that he believes “We are in an incredibly exciting time for the industry. Rules are being adjusted every day and new developments are being announced as we speak.”
Slator 2022 Language Industry Market Report
He added that at Acolad, people “don’t shy away from challenges and focus on leveraging all these developments to improve our solutions and service. My role will be to help create a sustainable, stable atmosphere that enables people to think of change as a positive thing. AI is the next frontier, so let’s work with it and be the best at it. Let’s not oppose it: technology is a great exoskeleton for our people.”
Regarding bringing together globally distributed, multicultural and multilingual resources, Gstalder sees Acolad as “enriched by its international aspect. Easy communication, with technology bridging the gap between geographically dispersed teams.”
Gstalder explained his vision for Acolad as a common vision and mission, and “a culture that gives teams around the world a unified goal and sense of purpose and way of acting. A challenging and friendly spirit, with respect for diversity, serving the customer with continuous improvement, and embracing innovation.”
Acolad continues to morph not only with significant personnel changes but also with its close to a dozen acquisitions. The company will continue to invest in digital solutions, content integration, consulting services, and information management solutions for all its core services.
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