Echoes from eBF: How to strike a balance between savings and quality in the era of AI translations?

The largest Central European procurement and e-procurement festival, eBF in Ostrava, is successfully behind us. Our team, consisting of sales representatives Petra Kunovská, Barbora Smýkalová, and Matěj Machala, supported by our CEO Ivo Vedra, spent three intensive days in the industrial environment of Dolní Vítkovice. In a relaxed festival atmosphere, we discussed industry trends with dozens of procurement specialists and managers. Although the constant buzz at our booth left us with no time for the lectures, we caught the most important trends firsthand – straight from the networking areas and conversations with visitors.

If there was one topic that resonated absolutely everywhere at this year's eBF, it was AI and its impact on efficiency and cost savings. It is a massive topic for procurement teams, influencing many different areas.

We took away several crucial insights from the discussions at our booth that we want to share with you. Here are the key trends and our answers to the questions that seem to concern you the most.

Myth vs. reality: Is AI alone enough for corporate translations today?

In Ostrava, we frequently heard the following opinion: "We already use freely available AI tools for translations in our company, then someone quickly reviews the text internally, and that's enough for us, because our priority is the lowest possible cost." One manager even exaggerated the ideal scenario: "We want it immediately, for free, and with a certificate of professionalism."

We completely understand this pressure on the budget. In many companies, translations are often just a marginal concern. However, it is necessary to differentiate the context:

• When AI is enough: If you need an internal, quick translation just to understand the meaning of a text, AI with a good prompt will do a solid job at a minimal cost.
• When it's a gamble: As soon as you are dealing with representative materials, technical manuals, contracts, or export websites, blind trust in AI without expert supervision can heavily backfire.

What is under the hood of a high-quality translation?

The festival showed that many people still oversimplify the translation process and cannot imagine everything it entails. Our goal is not to fight against AI, but rather to teach customers how to use it safely and efficiently.

If your company is looking for real savings, we will gladly help you set up the right processes:

• Implementation of a custom translation engine: We will guide you through everything you need for internal translating so your data remains secure and doesn't freely leak onto the internet.
• Creation of specialized Machine Translation (MT): Based on a long-term partnership, we can train a translation model that deeply understands the context of your specific industry and corporate terminology.
• MTPE (Machine Translation Post-Editing): Combining the speed of a machine with the infallibility of a human proofreader, who tweaks the text to absolute perfection for a fraction of the cost of a standard human translation.

Live test at eBF: How did our AI interpreting perform?

Right on the spot, we practically tested AI interpreting and put it through its paces in real time. The result? It confirmed exactly what we tell our customers. When the speaker talks calmly and articulates well, the artificial intelligence keeps up perfectly, and the quality of the translated text is on a good level. But as soon as the technology fails, the audio is poor, or people talk over each other, AI starts generating nonsense. In short, the human factor and control are still irreplaceable.

Is our industry declining? Quite the contrary, we are adapting!

Some visitors were surprised by how dynamically our industry is transforming and how quickly we can adapt. Translation is not dying; the roles are merely adjusting. Translators are becoming technology consultants and editors.

The procurement market is changing at the speed of light and we are ready to change with it. If you didn't manage to stop by in Ostrava or didn't attend at all, it doesn't matter. Our doors are always open to you.

Are you currently figuring out how to set up translations in your company, save your budget, and not compromise on quality? Get in touch with us. We will be happy to discuss tailor-made options for your business.