New York, NY; 13 May 2025 – KUDO, the world’s leader in multilingual meeting solutions powered by professional interpreters and AI, today announced the release of AI Assist—a first-of-its-kind feature offering real-time speech transcription to interpreters directly within the KUDO interpreter console. This innovative capability is available immediately at no additional cost to all users of the KUDO multilingual platform.

AI Assist represents a major leap forward in interpreter support technology, delivering live captions of the speaker’s language to help interpreters maintain precision, confidence, and cognitive endurance during even the most complex meetings.

“This isn’t just another feature; it’s a breakthrough in how we support the incredible professionals who carry the weight of multilingual communication on their shoulders,” said Fardad Zabetian, CEO of KUDO. “With AI Assist, we’re combining the best of speech technology and interpreter-first design to redefine what’s possible in real-time language access.”

Real-Time Intelligence in the Booth

KUDO’s AI Assist provides interpreters with fast, accurate, real-time transcription of the original spoken language—right as it happens. This in-booth companion helps interpreters:

• Confirm numbers, acronyms, and specialized terminology with confidence

• Quickly recover missed words or unclear moments

• Reduce cognitive load in high-pressure interpreting environments

Built specifically for simultaneous interpretation, KUDO’s transcription engine offers:

• Ultra-low latency, with no distracting flickering or post-processing corrections

• Exceptionally low Word Error Rate (WER), setting a new market benchmark

• A clean, flexible interface that integrates into the interpreter console or runs on a separate device like a tablet

While many interpreters rely on third-party ASR tools, these can introduce complexity and raise data privacy concerns. KUDO’s AI Assist is fully integrated, secure, and designed from the ground up with interpreters in mind.

“KUDO AI Assist is built to truly complement the interpreter’s cognitive process, not replace it,” said Claudio Fantinuoli, CTO at KUDO. “This is a real-time tool that matches the interpreter’s pace, supports their workflow, and respects the complexity of their task. It’s not just smart—it’s interpreter-smart.”

Proven Benefits, Backed by Research

AI Assist isn’t just innovative—it’s supported by studies confirming the value of real-time transcription for interpreters:

• Defrancq & Fantinuoli (2020) showed ASR tools improve recall and accuracy, especially in number-heavy content

• Li & Chmiel (2024) found live subtitles reduce cognitive load while enhancing accuracy and fluency

What’s Next: Smarter Tools on the Horizon

This launch is a major milestone in KUDO’s mission to empower interpreters, and there’s more coming. Future updates will include the ability to highlight transcript sections and instantly translate them into the target language—supporting interpreters with unfamiliar terms and sudden topic shifts.

Available Now — At No Additional Cost

AI Assist is now available to all interpreters using the KUDO virtual interpreter dashboard. It’s designed to improve interpreting quality, streamline in-the-moment decision-making, and reinforce KUDO’s deep commitment to supporting interpreters with world-class technology.

To learn more or experience AI Assist firsthand, visit www.kudo.ai.

About KUDO

KUDO is the world leader in real-time multilingual solutions, enabling people to communicate effortlessly in any language on any platform. With a network of 12,000+ professional interpreters and its AI-powered Speech Translator, KUDO helps organizations collaborate more inclusively, efficiently, and globally—giving everyone the power to understand and be understood.

Media Contact:
Chloe Walford-Delahaye
marketing@kudo.ai