Product Update: a Zen Monk and a Computer meet at a Bar

True elegance lies in simplicity.

I learned this again and again from the Zen Buddhist monks during my time with them at the monastery.

But I never thought I would experience this so vividly through technology.

When our team began building our Translation Portal, I thought it would be simple. It had to be simple. That was the one requirement. But how misguided could I have been.

Making complex things simple, easy and accessible. That's true sophistication.

And that's the proof of real knowledge. Wisdom materialized.

The portal isn't just about text, personas, and extracting the most possible juice from our context-sensitive AI engine.

It's about how the multimodal way in which people communicate in 2025.

That’s what inspired us to build full multimodality into the Translation Portal. With just a few clicks, you can now turn speech into text, text into speech, add subtitles, download SRT files, and more.

It’s beautiful to see the Portal grow its multimodal powers while still keeping that intuitive, simple feel that makes translation adoption spread fast.

And to remind us of how human we are, none of this incredible tech endeavor would have been possible without Eli's vision.  Elitza Dublewa-Servatius, Manager Digital EX & Change at  Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) had a dream:

To dissolve language barriers through technology, promoting accessibility, inclusivity and empathy. All essential precursors to the most robust global organizations.

We just helped her turn that dream into a reality. She pushed us a lot too, that's true. 😁 Explore the full story behind this collaborative journey.

But that's what we do here at Bureau Works. We entertain collective dreams with all of our users. We turn those dreams into concepts, those concepts into features, those features into code, and that code into unforgettable experiences right back for our users.  

Talk about a virtuous cycle...

Subtitle your videos instantly!

Upload any video to the Portal, and it’ll create .srt subtitles for you, with perfect timing, ready to download in seconds. You can edit them in the translation editor if needed, preview how they sync, and export the final file. No extra tools. Just done. Wait? Sounds too good to be true? See for yourself!

From words to voice in seconds

Type or paste any text into the Portal chat hit the speaker icon, and the Portal will turn it into natural-sounding audio. Choose from multiple AI voices, listen to a preview, and download the file when it sounds just right, with your terminology applied, as always. And you may be wondering, but yes, this works for the translated texts just as well.

One click from translation to human review

Sometimes you just need a second pair of eyes, and now the Portal makes that easy. The Translation Portal lets teams and agencies offer both quick automatic translation and an easy way to request human review.

It’s the perfect setup: one streamlined path for instant translation, and another for deeper review when the content needs extra care. Everything happens in one place, no email threads, no juggling files. Just upload, request a review, and keep the workflow moving.

🔥 The features above highlight the Translation Portal, but our TMS is moving just as fast with fresh improvements. 🔥

Extra-Context next to every segment

Translators don’t just need the words, they need the story behind them. And context, as always, is the key. With Contextual Reference Columns, you can pull in notes, comments, or even images straight from your spreadsheet and have them show up right next to each segment in the editor.

No more chasing context across files or wondering what “this” refers to. Everything sits side by side, making it easier to grasp the meaning behind each line and keep translations aligned with the source.

Break the machine, not the layout

When it comes to subtitles, UI strings, or forms, a few extra characters can break the layout or mess with timing. That’s why we built Target Charecter Limit, a simple way to keep translations tight and on point.

The editor now highlights segments that go over the limit, lets you filter and review them fast, and even check character counts across multiple segments. You can choose whether to count tags or not, depending on your project. It’s all about making sure translations fit where they should, no surprises.

Filter your payables your way

Finance teams get more control now. You can filter by Custom Fields when generating payables, whether you’re grouping by account, vendor, or anything unique to your setup.

What’s New!

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) strategically partners with Bureau Works

We’re proud to welcome Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (LON:CCEP) as one of our newest strategic partners. In our early conversations with CCEP, what stood out was our Context Sensitivity, which translates to not just converting words, but understanding meaning while carrying CCEP’s identity. As the engagement evolved, CCEP shared how our innovative culture, fueled by proactive and responsive support, played a key role in deepening ties with Bureau Works.

Now, our partnership is growing into full multimodality, giving CCEP teams access to modern tools for text, video, and audio translations, all powered by Bureau Works. A collaboration built by people pushing the frontier of what’s possible to a new standard.

Behind every great system, there’s a person who dares to rethink it.

Check it out! How Coca-Cola is innovating in translation.

Break your Localization Playbook

We’re not saying it’s easy. We’re fighting every day to adjust the way we work, it’s a COLOSSAL shift. And honestly, when someone tells me how I should do it, I get annoyed too.

But here’s the thing: for years, localization success meant following the same playbook, stable vendors, endless QA checklists, source-first thinking, process over performance. As AI transforms all industries, that old formula is starting to crack.

In this video, we invite you to take a fresh look at what quality, performance, and success really mean in localization, because the same methods that once worked might now be slowing you down.

Change is messy. But now’s the time to do it.

Watch the video and tell us what you think.

Translation and the Death of a Religion

We had the pleasure of opening the keynote at LocWorld 54, and one thing became clear: translation is undergoing a transformation akin to the death of a religion.

When a faith begins to fade, cracks appear. Factions form. Some people move on, others become even more fanatical about the fundamentals of that faith.

And every time I open LinkedIn, I can see those factions playing out in real time.

The temples we built around localization are starting to erode.

Are we witnessing the end of the old ways, or the beginning of a new belief system in translation? Join the conversation.

Thanks for reading. In a world that’s shifting right beneath our feet, we’re building tools that help you work smarter, not harder. There’s more coming, and we’re glad you’re on this journey with us. Thank you for all the love and support. It literally means the world to us!

Want to make the most of this moment? We’re well-positioned to help. Let’s talk here.

Let’s make it happen,
let’s make it WORKs!