What languages do you speak?
German, French and English. I think I would probably have to say that my attempt to learn Turkish has failed.
You have been Head of Customer Success since July. Does that mean the success of Apostroph customers is now in your hands?
(Laughs) That would be a bit too much for one person to cope with. It’s effective teamwork and close collaboration that enables us to achieve our goals and impress our customers. As someone who works on a visual level, I imagine that to be something like a cogwheel system in which everything meshes perfectly to get things moving.
So it’s about customer focus. How does Apostroph define that?
Not as a theory, but as an attitude. I can see that this attitude has always been part of the corporate DNA at Apostroph. People demonstrate this attitude every day here. And that is something that’s worth its weight in gold to me in my position.
Sales, which you headed up before, and Operations have been merged. Why is that?
The two teams are coming even closer together. That’s important and gets us even closer to our customers. We see their needs and requirements as the focus of every decision we make and find target-oriented solutions more quickly, particularly with our technological capabilities. That is more essential than ever when it comes to creating tangible added value for customers. Just wanting to sell our services – that wouldn’t be enough. And that is why we focus on developing and offering tailor-made solutions.
How do you see Apostroph from the point of view of a specialist in digital transformation development?
Apostroph has not only managed to make that digital transformation but has really made the most of it. The company has developed from your classic translation agency into an international full-service communication provider. In other words, we offer the entire spectrum of language services for all corporate communication: creative texts, content, proofreading, re-reading and SEO optimisation. That all happens with state-of-the-art digital tools. And when I say state-of-the-art, that is the source of one major challenge.
What exactly do you mean by that?
Two or three years ago, people were talking about digital projects and ideas in IT that are now either irrelevant or obvious. What I mean is that digital options are penetrating our daily routines at an incredible speed these days. The transformation process has to be able to keep up with this pace. I’ve been at Apostroph for fifteen months now and I can see this development in our apoLAB. We very definitely want to be abreast of the possibilities. Our IT team is growing and seizing opportunities. Alongside our own machine translation system, which we host in Switzerland by the way, I would mention our own AI writer as a current example.
What is that exactly?
Well, to put it briefly, it’s a proprietary AI text tool that specialises in the services relevant to our customers.
And how does the Apostroph technology connect with the Apostroph corporate clients? They may not have the infrastructure for it.
They usually do have the infrastructure for it. But maybe not the right tools. Technology is meaningful, useful and purposeful for companies if they keep pathways short and make processes efficient and as simple as possible. Every company has its own IT environment and specific needs. This is where another Apostroph service comes into play, a service that is particularly valuable for large companies: consulting for all language management processes. We present the IT options and evaluate possible tools including those based on artificial intelligence. At the implementation stage, we integrate these and create tailor-made interfaces. Then there’s the training sessions.
Your position means you’re now a member of the Executive Board. So do you have a huge office and a priority parking space now?
(Laughs) No! I still sit in our lovely open-plan office in amongst our teams and the daily goings-on. For me, it’s important to experience what’s going on in the business and not just hear about it in meetings. We have flat hierarchies at Apostroph and work together in dynamic project groups across departments. And that means we can act quickly and proactively. Rigid or hierarchical structures would only slow us down.
What’s your leadership style?
I would call it cooperative. For me, it’s important to involve employees in decision-making processes. We encourage individuals to take responsibility at Apostroph. There are so many skills and ideas within our teams. These should be given the chance to develop and flourish so we can achieve our common goals together. And open communication is the basis for this.
