Welcome back to “The Voices Behind the Words: Member Spotlight” – our interview series shining a light on the diverse stories and experiences of our members. 

Our next interview is with Aleksandrina Karabasheva, Business development & Innovation Manager at arte.doc

1. What are three interesting facts about your company?

arte.doc has been a leader in the language services industry for 24 years now, making it one of the oldest LSPs in Bulgaria. And we were the first providers of Bulgarian translations to the Centre for Translations of the EU and the European Commission. We have worked with them since 2008 and still do today.

We were the first translation agency in Bulgaria to create transparency and visibility of the costs of our services with our Calculator that facilitates end clients to order translation and legalisation services entirely online.

And last but not least, we actively participate in community charity programs and even create our own. Our longest running social project is providing free translations of medical documents for children!

2. What aspect of your company do you believe sets it apart from others in the industry?

I believe that it is our unwavering commitment to embracing technology and innovation. At arte.doc, we understand that staying ahead in the dynamic landscape of the language industry requires a proactive approach to integrating new technological solutions or AI. We continuously explore new ways in which we can enhance our internal processes and improve client experiences. An example would be our new digitised clients’ profile, which gives our clients quick and easy access to their translations, invoices, and everything they might need.

Our openness to adopting innovative technologies not only sets us apart but also allows us to meet the evolving needs of our clients with agility and foresight.

3. What is something about your role that people might be surprised to learn?

What many people don’t know about me is that I have a background as a pastry chef by education and I worked as such some years ago. Thanks to this experience I am used to keeping an eye for new trends, I appreciate and pay attention to details, and I love to experiment with new and sometimes unconventional flavours. Overall, my pastry experience helps me see things through a different perspective and allows me to approach company strategies with creativity and imagination. Oh, and my colleagues are very happy that I still experiment with new pastries that I bring to the office for “quality assurance”.

4. If your job had a theme song, what would it be and why?

This is difficult, as I am a huge music fan…But if I had to choose one, I’d go for ‘Break on Through (to the Other Side)’ by The Doors as my theme song because it encapsulates my role’s essence of innovation, breaking barriers, and persistence in driving our company’s growth. Just as the song embodies a spirit of pushing boundaries and embracing new horizons, I strive to bring that same energy to my work every day.

5. If you could choose anyone as your mentor, who would it be and why?

I am lucky enough to actually have a mentor – our owner and CEO Tanya Karabasheva. Her remarkable journey in building our company into a leader in the Bulgarian language industry, through her pioneering initiatives, serves as an endless source of inspiration.

Her guidance and unwavering support empower me to continually grow and excel, not only in my current role but also in shaping my future endeavours.

And I can only hope to be as inspiring one day.

6. If you could change one thing about the language industry today, what would it be?

If there’s one change I could make in the language industry today, it would be to foster a greater embrace of AI. Rather than viewing AI as a threat, we should recognize its potential to enhance our services, making them more efficient and accurate. And not only that – we can improve on our external processes as well, i.e. facilitate the client and improve the overall client experience. This is for example what we are doing with Artina, our AI colleague that provides 24/7 consultation for translation, interpretation and legalisation services.

So I firmly believe that embracing AI represents an opportunity for us to stay ahead of the curve and make our processes easier both for us and our clients.

Because AI isn’t going away but neither are we.

Company name: arte.doc
Company website: https://artedoc.com
Name: Aleksandrina Karabasheva
Job title: Business development & Innovation Manager