Finland is not only the official home country of Santa Claus, but also a recognized leader in innovation and — according to recent reports — the happiest country in the world. So, there was no better place for the 15th edition of the Nordic Translation & Interpretation Forum (NTIF), which was held November 23-25, 2025.
Thought leaders and language industry professionals from all over Europe gathered in Helsinki to find inspiration in the concept of sisu: a unique Finnish blend of resilience and determination. Sisu in the face of adversity, as artificial intelligence (AI) and language models rapidly reshape the industry, means awareness and agility. As business-to-business (B2B) marketer Yuliya Salorenko stressed in her keynote, only through acceptance and authenticity can we stay relevant.
A recurring theme of the conference was building bridges between partners and stakeholders on all levels. As end-clients seek ownership of their localization processes, suppliers are inclined to develop different self-service solutions to offer visibility and control over workflows and even final output. The key is creating trust and synergy. In their joint presentation on risk management, Maarit Koponen — professor of Translation Studies at the University of Eastern Finland — and Mary Nurminen — a researcher and teacher at Tampere University — emphasized working together with buyers and content creators in defining workflows to minimize risk of linguistic errors, but also taking into account the risk of not providing localized content at all.
According to tradition, NTIF offered expert panel discussions and un-conference style moderated Think Tanks on topics such as interpretation and terminology. A general takeaway was the growing requirement for policies, guidelines, and regulations regarding the use of AI tools in the public domain. Leonardo Doria de Souza, senior adviser at the Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity, and a member of the Steering Committee of the European Commission’s Knowledge Center on Interpreting, shared his insights from over two decades of work regarding how public service interpreting can embrace innovation without losing its humanity.
Simultaneously, a panel on accessibility in the age of AI, including representatives from Finnish public service and AI-powered language service providers (LSPs), defined accessibility as customer experience. As combinations of first language, aging, and various impediments create complex requirements, accessibility is becoming more of a challenge. There is a highlighted potential for innovation and a great opportunity for the industry to take the wheel and influence buyers, decision-makers, and legislators.
In his closing keynote, Joel Willans — an Englishman living in Helsinki who is an award-winning author and the creator of the social media sensation “Very Finnish Problems” — focused on the concept of sisu, providing humorous examples such as celebrating May Day with a massive national picnic in rainy, 8-degree weather. It’s a concept that pretty much sums up the optimism and ambition of an industry going back to the drawing board — and learning to unlearn.
NTIF continues to be a conference-style celebration of an industry passionate about innovation. And despite the sub-arctic climate, organizers and party queens Anne-Marie Colliander Lind and Cecilia Enbäck once again created a warm atmosphere across all conference events.
