The true objective is not to cut budgets, but to build a smarter, more efficient localization engine that generates a significant return on investment. This shift—from localization as a cost center to a value driver—is demonstrated by the success of companies like Asana, Cricut, and NordVPN. Their results, including $1.4 million in annual savings and a 43% increase in sales, demonstrate how a modern approach to localization can turn a cost center into a value driver.
Why these case studies demonstrate strategic value
The case studies of Asana, Cricut, and NordVPN demonstrate the broad applicability of Translated’s AI-powered solutions across different industries and business challenges. These companies represent key sectors—SaaS, e-commerce/creative, and cybersecurity—each with a distinct localization goal. Asana needed to increase automation and efficiency, Cricut aimed to scale content production without increasing its budget, and NordVPN sought to drive revenue growth through high-quality localization.
Cost reduction strategies implemented
Centralizing localization with an AI-first platform
Managing a fragmented vendor ecosystem is one of the most significant barriers to cost-effective localization. It often leads to inconsistent quality, duplicated efforts, and high administrative overhead. A centralized, AI-first platform like TranslationOS directly addresses this challenge by unifying the entire localization workflow.
NordVPN’s success illustrates the power of this approach. Before partnering with Translated, the company struggled with inconsistent quality from various vendors. By consolidating its localization process onto a single platform, NordVPN established a consistent brand voice across 24 languages, improved efficiency, and drove a 43% increase in sales in target markets. Centralization transforms localization from a chaotic, reactive process into a streamlined, strategic operation.
Automating workflows to eliminate manual effort
Manual, repetitive tasks drain any localization budget. Activities like file handoffs, copy-pasting content, and project tracking consume valuable time that could be better spent on strategic work. Workflow automation eliminates these inefficiencies and unlocks substantial cost savings.
Asana’s experience provides a clear, evidence-based example of this principle in action. By implementing an AI-powered, automated workflow, Asana achieved 70% automation in its localization process. This directly led to a 30% reduction in manual effort, saving the equivalent of 268 workdays per year. This automation not only accelerated their time-to-market but was a key contributor to their $1.4 million in annual savings.
Leveraging adaptive AI for content scalability
For global brands, the demand for localized content is nearly infinite, but budgets are not. Scaling content production traditionally means a linear increase in costs, limiting how many markets a company can effectively serve. Adaptive AI breaks this model by decoupling content volume from cost.
Cricut, a company with a rapidly growing international community, faced this exact challenge. To educate its users, it needed to produce a high volume of video content in multiple languages. By leveraging AI-powered audiovisual localization, Cricut was able to triple its content output without increasing its budget. This allowed them to meet the needs of their expanding user base, double course registrations, and increase monthly active users—all while maintaining cost efficiency.
Technology impact on costs
The role of TranslationOS in operational savings
Beyond direct translation costs, enterprises face significant operational expenses in project management, software licensing, and process inefficiency. The savings from a modern localization strategy come from optimizing this entire workflow, which is managed and automated by TranslationOS.
By acting as a centralized hub, TranslationOS provides visibility and control over the entire process, from content ingestion to final delivery. It automates the workflow that leverages our Human-AI system, reducing the manual project management that drives up operational costs. Asana’s $1.4 million in annual savings stemmed from this holistic optimization—a combination of efficient AI translation and the streamlined workflow managed by the platform.
How adaptive machine translation maximizes budget
One of the foundational technologies for translation cost control is Translation Memory (TM), a database that stores previously translated segments. Our CAT tool, Matecat, leverages TM to automatically find and reuse identical or similar translations, reducing the amount of new translation required.
Using T-Rank™ to optimize talent sourcing
The quality and efficiency of a human translator have a direct impact on the final cost of a project. A more skilled translator works faster and produces higher-quality work, reducing the time and expense of editing and revisions. T-Rank™, Translated’s AI-powered talent management system, is designed to find the ideal translator for every job.
By analyzing a global network of translators based on their performance, expertise, and real-time availability, T-Rank™ ensures that content is always handled by the most qualified professional. This data-driven approach to talent sourcing minimizes the risk of quality issues and reduces the need for costly rework, contributing to a lower total cost of ownership for localization.
Process optimization results
The strategic changes in technology and workflow translate directly into measurable improvements in speed and efficiency. These are not abstract benefits; they are concrete results that impact a company’s ability to compete globally.
The outcomes achieved by our partners speak for themselves. Asana’s workflow automation led to a 30% reduction in manual effort, accelerating its time-to-market for localized content. Cricut cut its audiovisual production time by two-thirds, allowing the company to scale its content operations at an unprecedented speed. For NordVPN, a consolidated and streamlined workflow resulted in faster, more consistent output, which was a key factor in its international growth. These results are the direct consequence of moving from a manual, fragmented localization model to a strategic, technology-driven one.
Quality maintenance achievements
A common fear in localization is that reducing costs inevitably leads to a drop in quality. This assumption forces a false choice between budget and brand integrity. A modern, technology-driven approach proves that enterprises can achieve both cost efficiency and high quality simultaneously.
The key is a Human-AI Symbiosis model. In this workflow, AI-powered tools like Lara, our proprietary LLM-based machine translation, handle the heavy lifting of translation at scale. Lara is designed to preserve full-document context, providing a consistent and high-quality baseline that frees up human experts to focus on what they do best: ensuring cultural nuance, refining brand voice, and making strategic quality improvements.
ROI realization
True cost optimization is not only about reducing expenses; it’s about maximizing the return on every dollar invested. The definitive measure of a successful localization strategy is its impact on the bottom line.
NordVPN’s 43% increase in sales in localized markets is the definitive proof of this principle. This result demonstrates that high-quality, efficient localization is a powerful revenue driver. Similarly, Cricut’s ability to double course registrations and grow its active user base shows that effective localization creates tangible business value by improving customer engagement.
Even direct cost savings, like Asana’s $1.4 million, represent more than just a budget cut. That capital can be reinvested into product development, marketing, or further global expansion, creating a virtuous cycle of growth.
Conclusion
The success stories of Asana, Cricut, and NordVPN offer a clear roadmap for any enterprise looking to optimize its localization strategy. Four key lessons stand out:
- View localization as a growth driver, not a cost center. The goal of a modern localization strategy is not just to translate content, but to generate business value. As NordVPN’s sales growth shows, localization is a powerful tool for driving revenue.
- Technology is the key to unlocking scalable, cost-effective localization. Manual processes cannot scale efficiently. Asana’s success demonstrates that automation and AI-powered workflows are essential for achieving significant cost savings and speed.
- A centralized strategy is more efficient and delivers higher quality. Managing multiple vendors and workflows leads to inefficiency and inconsistency. A unified platform like TranslationOS provides the control and visibility needed to maintain quality and optimize costs.
- True ROI is measured in business impact, not just cost savings. While direct savings are important, the ultimate measure of success is the ability to enter new markets, engage more users, and grow the business.
The evidence is clear: a strategic, technology-driven approach to localization is the most effective way for enterprises to reduce costs while driving global growth. The success stories of Asana, Cricut, and NordVPN demonstrate that with the right partner and the right technology—like TranslationOS and adaptive AI—it is possible to build a localization engine that is both highly efficient and exceptionally effective.