GALA Roadshow Bay Area - Enterprise Edition
This is an in-person event and is limited to 40 attendees.
GALA's first Roadshow - Enterprise Edition
Client-side practitioners face a distinct set of challenges, including aligning across functions, meeting product and marketing timelines, balancing quality with scale, and working with resources that vary dramatically, from large programs to single-person teams. Add the realities of unexpected mandates from leaders who don’t yet understand the work, frequent reorganizations, the ongoing job of re-explaining the basics, doing more with less, and the pressure to stay current not only on language technology but also on the adjacent systems.
This Roadshow will be a small, client-only, confidential working day for professional development: practical sessions you can put to work immediately, with candid questions encouraged.
GALA and co-host Coupa have curated this program with regional leaders who are generously sharing their experience. Each hour pairs a focused talk with ample Q&A and moderated discussion. We’ll close with a roundtable open to all participants to connect threads, identify next steps, and perhaps get a few things out of their system. It’s a chance to connect with peers who do what you do, compare approaches, and build relationships you can rely on after the event. We’ll keep it small and practical, with takeaways you can use the next day.
Who should attend
Client-side leaders and practitioners in globalization, localization, product, and content. Whether you’re new to the role or long-tenured, running a large organization or a lean team, this day is designed to help you tackle current challenges, grow your influence across the organization, and dig into areas you may not have explored yet.
About GALA Roadshow
GALA Roadshow is a cooperative event series designed to create positive learning experiences for attendees. Hosted in cities around the globe and co-curated by GALA members and partners, GALA Roadshow events provide a platform for in-person knowledge sharing, industry networking, and professional development.
GALA’s goal is to grow year-round value for and strengthen our enterprise-side community, and this program is part of that initiative. We are thrilled to have Coupa as our co-hosts in planning the inaugural Bay Area event.
Agenda
| September 19 | |
| 8:30 AM - 9:15 AM |
Registration and Networking Breakfast
Light breakfast, coffee, hugs and handshakes. |
| 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM |
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Speaker: Jose Palomares, Coupa & GALA Topic: Introduction to the GALA Roadshow Bay Area – Enterprise Edition, overview of the day, and expectations for participation. |
| 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM |
From Globalization to Global Product Management
Speaker: Lyena Solomon, ServiceNow Topic: How moving from globalization leadership into global product management works in practice—what skills carry over, what shifts to expect, and how to navigate the challenges in a closely related but largely different space. |
| 10:30 AM - 10:40 AM |
Coffee Break
Coffee, tea, fruit, and hallway hellos. |
| 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM |
Marketing Localization in an Always-On World
Speaker: To be announced soon. Topic: To be announced soon. |
| 11:40 AM - 11:50 AM |
Refuel Break
Coffee, tea, fruit, and hallway hellos. |
| 11:50 AM - 12:50 PM |
AI Transformation in Practice
Speaker: Raffaella Buschiazzo, Salesforce Topic: Lessons from leading a team through AI adoption—building on years of MT experience, retraining teams, and enabling multilingual capabilities for agents and tools. |
| 12:50 PM - 1:50 PM |
Lunch & Table Discussions
Catered lunch with optional conversation prompts. |
| 1:50 PM - 2:50 PM |
Scaling Teams: Size, Roles, and Timing
Speaker: Katell Jentreau, Expedia Group Topic: Practical strategies for adjusting team size, role composition, and capacity across different business cycles—when to outsource, when to hire internally, when to contract, and how to assemble the right mix of skills at the right time. |
| 2:50 PM - 3:00 PM |
Snack Break
A quick bite and a quick word. |
| 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM |
Roundtable & Ask Me Anything
Topic: Open conversation with the day’s speakers—attendees are encouraged to ask questions, share their own experiences, and exchange practical advice. |
| 4:15 PM - 4:30 PM |
Closing Remarks
Speaker: Jose Palomares, Coupa & GALA Topic: Key takeaways, thanks to participants, and what’s next for the GALA Roadshow. |
| 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM |
Networking Reception
Beer, wine, sparkling water, and charcuterie. |
Raffaella Buschiazzo, Salesforce
Raffaella Buschiazzo is the Senior Director of Localization at Salesforce, based in San Francisco. She brings over two decades of experience in the localization industry, with significant contributions to tech companies in Silicon Valley and fintech firms in Geneva, Switzerland. Since 2019, Raffaella has overseen most product and content localization efforts at Salesforce. Previously, she spent seven years leading content localization and co-invented Salesforce Machine Translation. Raffaella holds a Master's degree in Translation and postgraduate degrees in Machine Translation and Terminology from the University of Geneva. She also has extensive experience as a freelance translator, working with French and English into Italian.
Katell Jentreau, Expedia Group
Katell Jentreau has 20+ years of experience in localization, both on the vendor and client sides. She led the globalization effort at Box for 3 years, before joining Netflix’s Globalization team in 2015 as the company was getting ready to launch globally. At the start of 2024, Katell joined Expedia Group where she has been leading the centralized Globalization function for all Expedia brands. From 2013 to 2015, she was also on the board of Women in Localization and has remained a member and volunteer ever since.
Jose Palomares, Coupa
Jose Palomares is the Senior Director of Global Experiences at Coupa, the software company leader in the enterprise Business Spend Management category. With a trajectory in our industry spanning more than 25 years as a translator, technologist, business leader, and entrepreneur, Jose brings to the table his combined experience from the vendor and buyer sides, a keen interest in all things technology, and an outspoken attitude toward how to empower our community to do more, and do better.
Lyena Solomon, ServiceNow
Lyena Solomon is the Director of Globalization and Accessibility at ServiceNow, where she drives product globalization and go-to-market localization strategy for the ServiceNow AI Platform. Building on expertise in analytics, usability, digital technologies, and localization, she developed a data-driven framework to quantify globalization’s impact on revenue and customer success. Lyena led the task force behind the Globalization Strategy Playbook, a strategic guide to transforming localization from a tactical translation function into a strategic product investment. She is recognized for bringing a clear strategic vision, measurable outcomes, and strong stakeholder alignment to delivering global-ready product.
| Price | |
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MEMBER TICKET (Enterprise Globalization Only)
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$175.00 |
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NON-MEMBER TICKET (Enterprise Globalization Only)
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$175.00 |
This GALA Roadshow is limited to professionals from enterprise globalization teams. GALA continues to produce other events and content each year to serve the entire GALA membership, but this particular event is designed for an under-served segment of our membership: those from "buyer-side" companies, to provide them with a space for open discussion and learning around their unique needs.
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