GALA Academy Q3 2026: Vendor Management After the AI Wake-Up Call
AI is changing the setup of our industry, and Vendor Management cannot and does not want to sit outside that change. Vendor managers are rarely taken into account as early adopters, while potentially being among the most impacted roles: not because AI replaces people, but because it replaces, accelerates, or reshapes processes. And vendor management is full of processes.
This Academy looks at what is already changing behind the curtains of vendor management, combining practical automation examples with a broader discussion on how vendor managers can support, source, price, and manage emerging AI-enabled services.
Session 1 — Replicable Automation for Everyday VM Work
Date and time: 15 September 2026 – 7:00-8:30am PDT / 16:00-17:30pm CEST
Practical, repeatable automation designed by vendor managers, for vendor managers.
This session will focus on simple but powerful automation use cases that can be replicated across vendor management workflows. The goal is to show how targeted prompts, repeatable structures, and light automation can improve the way we handle recurring work. The promise is very concrete: free up time from process-heavy tasks so vendor managers can spend more energy where their judgment matters most.
Moderator: Giada Gerotto (IQVIA)
Speakers:
Giuseppe Malara (Creative Words)
Michalina Krogulecka (Argos Multilingual)
Session 2 — Beyond Quick Wins: AI Workflows for Strategic VM Impact
Date and time: 22 September 2026 – 7:00-8:30am PDT / 16:00-17:30pm CEST
A walk-through of higher-level VM automations that can trigger new ways of working.
Session 2 will move one step up from everyday automation and look at broader vendor management scenarios where AI can help structure decisions and reduce manual friction. Can homemade AI solutions help explore the gap that translation management systems or off-the-shelf solutions have not fully solved yet? Will they have the ability to adapt quickly to very specific vendor management needs? This session is meant to trigger ideas and possibilities, and think about the next request to make to your IT teams.
Moderator: Giada Gerotto (IQVIA)
Speakers:
Kimberly Miller (Argo Translation)
Session 3 — Vendor Management in Emerging AI-enabled Services
Date and time: 29 September 2026 – 7:00-8:30am PDT / 16:00-17:30pm CEST
A panel discussion on how AI is creating new services, new sourcing needs, and new VM questions.
This panel will bring together professionals who are buying, sourcing, or providing services that did not exist, or were not commercially mature, before AI became part of the industry setup. We will keep the conversation away from the usual shortcuts and focus on practical vendor management questions:
- How are these services scoped?
- How are providers assessed?
- What are the methodologies emerging?
- How are pricing systems being structured?
- What do expectations look like from the buyer, provider, and sourcing side?
No “human factor” or “talent shortage” as default answers: the goal is to go deeper (and hopefully slightly controversial).
Moderator: Giada Gerotto (IQVIA)
Speakers:
Nadia Kotaishová (Rheinschrift)
Agnes Schöndorni-Schönner (GoTo Technologies Germany GmbH)
Adriano Ferraresi (University of Bologna, Italy)
What you’ll walk away with
- Concrete automation ideas that vendor managers can replicate or adapt to their own workflows, including cheat-sheets directly from the speakers
- A clearer view of where AI can reduce process friction without removing the need for vendor management judgment.
- A practical understanding of how emerging AI-enabled services are being sourced, structured, and managed, for companies looking to transform the high management request of “integrating AI” into reality.
Can't make it to every session live? All three sessions will be recorded, with recordings available for at least one year.
And if you attend at least two of the three live sessions, you can request a certificate of attendance.
What is GALA Academy?
GALA Academy is a localization academy offering quarterly courses that take an in-depth look at top issues facing the language services and technologies industry. Each event comprises three to four peer-to-peer learning sessions featuring expert-led conversations, small group discussions, and open Q&A.
Attendees can expect to leave with actionable takeaways to assist them in their everyday work and meet their professional development goals.
Academy courses are included for free with a GALA membership. Membership also includes free webinars, Special Interest Groups, industry reports, and discounts on the annual Conference.
Become a member now to save.
Registration Options
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Registration Options
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Price |
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MEMBER TICKET
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FREE |
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NONMEMBER TICKET
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$250.00 |
Moderator
Giada Gerotto (IQVIA)
I’m a translator by training and a vendor management strategist by evolution. My career has taken me through the full spectrum of our industry: MLV, SLV, and buy-side. I’ve built a career on juggling metrics with humanity, because keeping both vendors and internal teams happy needs a mix of science and empathy, but more than anything, circus skills.
I often speak at conferences about the power of integrated, data-informed vendor management, because data and feelings can, and should, always coexist.
When I’m not working, I’m probably doing yoga, spending time with family and friends, or cuddling random cats in the world.
Speakers
Adriano Ferraresi
(University of Bologna)
Adriano Ferraresi is Associate Professor of English Language and Translation at the University of Bologna, a position he has held since 2019. He also serves on the Board of the Doctorate in Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies at the same university.
His research focuses on the creation and analysis of linguistic resources. He has contributed to several collaborative corpus construction projects, including WaCky, EPTIC, Eurolect Observatory, and CHEU-lex.
He currently serves on the board of the European Master’s in Translation (EMT) network for the 2024–2029 mandate and on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute for Applied Linguistics at the Eurac Research Center.
Agnes Schöndorni-Schönner
(GoTo Technologies Germany GmbH)
Fuelled by a passion for connecting people and products across languages and cultures, Agnes thrives where technology and creativity intersect. With over a decade at GoTo (former LogMeIn), she started as a localization leader at a fast-growing startup and helped scale global efforts across UI, marketing, and documentation. Her role has evolved alongside the company, taking her across borders and into a global team where she now oversees web and marketing localization, with a focus on international SEO and driving major tech initiatives.
Prior to GoTo, Agnes honed her expertise with 10 years on the LSP front, mastering the entire localization cycle – marketing translations, editing, project management, vendor management, and terminology. This extensive foundation helps her shape a holistic view on how people and technology work together.
Giuseppe Malara
(Creative Words)
Giuseppe Malara is the Vendor Relationship Manager at Creative Words, where he handles vendor sourcing, performance management, and the continuous development of a reliable and scalable network of collaborators.
He approaches vendor management with a focus on operational clarity, leveraging clean data and technology to improve daily workflows. By developing internal automations for recurring tasks, Giuseppe aims to eliminate manual bottlenecks, allowing the VM function to shift its energy away from file-handling and toward strategic partner engagement and high-impact decision-making.
Kimberly Miller
(Argo Translation)
Kimberly Miller is the Chief Operating Officer of Argo Translation, where she has been part of the team for over two decades. She joined Argo as a Project Manager and grew alongside the company, moving through roles as Production Manager and Director of Operations before stepping into her current position as COO.
Over the years, Kimberly has had the opportunity to help build and refine many of the systems that keep Argo running, including the vendor management program, multiple ISO certifications, and day-to-day operations and production across translation, and OPI and VRI interpretation services. She's proud to be part of a team that earned recognition on the 2025 Inc. Best Workplaces list for exceptional company culture.
Kimberly holds an MA in Foreign Language and Literature with an emphasis in Translation Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a BA in Spanish from the University of Iowa.
Michalina Krogulecka
(Argos Multilingual)
With over 10 years of experience in supply chain solutions, Michalina Krogulecka leads the Enterprise BU Supply Chain Team at Argos Multilingual. She is dedicated to continuous growth and improvement, bringing innovative sourcing strategies to the rapidly changing market. Her core responsibilities include ensuring seamless cross-functional collaboration, maximizing profitability through volume and pricing forecasting, and fostering high-value vendor relationships centered on collaboration, security and risk management.
Nadia Kotaishová
(Rheinschrift)
Nadia Kotaishová is a former third-culture-kid with a serious passion for communications and localization excellence. In her 10+ years in the industry, she has supported LSPs at varying stages of L10N Supply Chain maturity; from setting the foundations of the SC function, pre and post M&A to scaling up to facilitate substantial growth.
Nadia has found her “work home” at Rheinschrift—a next-gen boutique consultancy for linguistic solutions—where she serves as the Vendor Relations Lead and works alongside a brilliant team of talented colleagues.
Nicole Spyt-James
(AvantPage)
Nicole leads Avantpage’s innovation and finance initiatives, driving growth through strategic investment, operational efficiency, and emerging technology. With a focus on building sustainable systems that empower people and performance, she integrates financial insight with a deep commitment to organizational culture. Nicole champions innovation as a catalyst for inclusion and impact, ensuring Avantpage remains at the forefront of change in the language services industry.
Yana Dinchiyska
(1-StopAsia)
Yana Dinchiyska is the CEO of 1-StopAsia, a global language service provider with over a decade of expertise in Asian and world languages. With a strong background in business transformation and team development, Yana leads the company’s evolution toward AI-driven workflows, strategic scalability, and people-centered innovation. She is passionate about redefining traditional roles in the localization industry, empowering teams to thrive in an era where technology and human intelligence work hand in hand.
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