Ilya Spiridonov, Alconost – Selling Localization Without Commoditizing It

What happens when AI starts undercutting your core service offering — and your best strategic move is to help clients use it anyway? That's the commercial tightrope Ilya Spiridonov walks every day as CCO at Alconost, and in this episode he talks through exactly how he's navigating it.   In this episode: • Why Alconost proactively moved clients toward AI-assisted translation — even when it meant lower per-word revenue — and what they were betting on strategically • How account management became a distinct function at Alconost, separate from both sales and operations, and why that separation changed client retention • The shift from outbound-heavy sales to inbound and content-led demand generation — and why Ilya still hasn't "cracked" outbound after 12 years • Why localization is a competitive advantage, not a cost center — and how the consultative sales conversation has changed as clients arrive with AI already running   Ilya Spiridonov is the Chief Commercial Officer at Alconost, a localization company serving software, games, and global brands across 14 AI engines and dozens of language pairs. He has spent 12 years building the commercial side of the business from individual contributor to revenue leader, and now owns everything from first conversation to long-term client success. He also runs a side SaaS project — a sales enablement tool called HummingDeck — built originally for his own team.   Connect with Ilya Spiridonov: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilya-spiridonov Website: https://alconost.com   Subscribe: https://localization-fireside-chat.simplecast.com/ CreditsHost: Robin Ayoub, Founder, Localization Fireside ChatConnect and watch moreWebsite: www.L10NFiresideChat.comSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5OoURgc29R31XPGzOWL9iXBe a guest: https://calendly.com/robin-ayoub/localization-fireside-chat-podcast-recordingLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinayoub/Support the showShare the episode with a friend. Subscribe on YouTube and Spotify. Leave a short review.DisclaimerViews are for education and discussion. Apply judgment in your own context.Tags#L10NFiresideChat #localization #hiring #recruiting #leadership #ai Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.