At the recent Leadership Forum 2024, we had the opportunity to interview Jay Samit, a renowned expert on disruption, innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth strategies for business success.
As a leading voice in the tech industry and author of Disrupt You! and Future-Proofing You, Jay has guided countless leaders, including icons like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, on how to harness disruption for personal and professional growth and success. His career spans diverse sectors, scaling both hyper-growth companies and working with traditional giants like Coca-Cola.
Representing Maka Language Consulting – where our focus is helping people communicate across cultures and companies expand their global reach – we were eager to hear Jay’s insights on leveraging language, multiculturalism, and AI technology in the context of today’s evolving global business landscape.
Our discussion covered the intersection of cultural understanding, technological innovation, and the strategies businesses need to adopt to thrive and scale in a connected world. Here’s what he had to share.
Embracing Personal Growth through Multiculturalism & Languages
In his bestselling book Disrupt You!, Jay Samit emphasizes leveraging personal transformation for innovation. When asked about the evolving role of language learning in an age dominated by real-time translation tools, Jay was candid about the changing landscape.
He noted, “The era of having to learn multiple languages to connect with people of other cultures or lands is gone. Yes, it’s wonderful to think and dream in a different language, but today’s tools allow us to speak and understand dozens of languages without any formal training.” While Jay acknowledges the value of immersive cultural experiences and training, he emphasizes that the focus is shifting towards leveraging technology for instant communication.
The Power of Multiculturalism in Leadership and Business Growth
Jay has mentored numerous leaders and entrepreneurs, I was eager to hear his take on how multiculturalism and multilingualism can impact leadership and entrepreneurial success in our globalized business landscape. Jay highlighted a critical distinction: while technology can bridge the language gap, understanding cultural values remains a separate and essential challenge.
“Most American businesses go into foreign markets assuming everyone thinks and acts like Americans, or one way is superior to another, but that’s simply not the case,” Jay explained. “The only way you’re going to build a truly global team, is to have global representation, a diverse range of cultures and genders. This diversity helps in understanding what motivates customers and employees across different markets and help grow your business.” He emphasizes that cultural intelligence is key to scaling internationally, as it provides unique insights that can turn diversity into a competitive advantage.
Scaling Hyper-Growth with Internationalization Strategies
Drawing from his experience scaling hyper-growth companies like SocialVibe and ooVoo, We wanted to know to what degree he thinks businesses should look outside their borders in their growth strategy to scale faster. Jay shared his thoughts on the importance of internationalization from day one. He admitted that in the early days of his career, the U.S. market’s immense size often led him to overlook international opportunities. “Companies thought of the rest of the world as an afterthought.” However, he underscored the shift in today’s market dynamics:
“We are one click away from 8 billion people,” he says. “If you don’t embrace a global market from the start, you risk being outpaced by competitors who do.” “I was involved in eBay early on, it grew domestically but everybody saw what eBay was and they copied it in other markets, eventually eBay would go in and buy those companies to become global, Uber starts in one country and then buys up the copycats. But now with AI, where anyone has access to the same tools and the ability to scale, somebody that’s picking up the rest of the world while you’re just focused on one country may end up swallowing you, not the other way around.” Jay agreed with the importance of incorporating multilingual capabilities into a company’s tech stack and workflows to accelerate internationalization, pointing out that ignoring this could lead to missed opportunities and slower growth.
The Role of Language Technology in Driving Business Growth
In discussing his book Future-Proofing You, Jay highlights the importance of disruption for thriving in an era of rapid change. Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) are clearly disruptors that have caused a paradigm shift for business and in disrupting traditional markets. He shared fascinating insights into how AI is reshaping industries and empowering entrepreneurs globally:
“The future giants of business don’t have to come from Silicon Valley—they can come from Lithuania, from Africa, from anywhere in the world,” Jay said. “You have to think of an international strategy from day 1.” He noted that the international response from readers in 140 countries to his book, translated into a dozen languages, but originally written to address the domestic US Market, has been overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating the demand for innovative solutions beyond Western markets. “AI will only accelerate that.” “It’s never been quicker and easier to make a billion than right now.” Jay believes that AI-driven language tools offer people and companies unprecedented opportunities to compete and expand globally and connect with diverse audiences in a more personalized way. Startups can come from anywhere. “Take 99 Designs, the winner could be a kid in Madagascar, working real hard because $1,000 is a lot… you can create a film in Italy and get it to 40 countries and nations.” so you’ll see people worldwide embrace technology quickly.
Leveraging AI-Powered Language Solutions for Global Communications
As someone at the forefront of digital media innovation, when asked about the impact of AI-powered language solutions, such as generative content creation, real-time translation, chat boxes and voice recognition, Jay provided a compelling vision of the future. He believes that “active inference is vastly superior to large language models. but AI will continue to grow and learn like when we were children, at first you understand a few words so you can eat or hugged, then you add language and knowledge so you can sing songs, then write sonnets and understand literature, then we kind of stop right? The difference with AI is that it is learning everything that every man, woman and culture has ever learned and is connecting the dots.”
He shared an example from Hollywood, where AI now allows movies to be dubbed in multiple languages using the actors’ own voices, perfectly lip-synced—a breakthrough that has opened new markets for content distribution.
“In the past, when Hollywood dubbed their movies into other languages, the lips didn’t match. It was cumbersome. You had to translate the script, find voice actors. Disney can now release movies simultaneously in over 40 languages, still using human voices. breaking down barriers that once existed for small countries and lesser-known languages,” he explained. “This technology not only democratizes content but also allows local stories to reach a global audience like never before.” “I’ve recently done interviews where I’m speaking Japanese, or speaking Polish… I don’t speak those languages, it’s amazing.” Jay emphasizes that businesses must embrace these tools to stay competitive and enhance growth strategies, as they provide the means to reach and engage more customers in a more effective and culturally relevant manner.
The Future of Online Accessibility and Personalized Marketing
In the final segment of our interview, Jay addressed the growing impact of online accessibility and its impact on digital advertising. He painted a vivid picture of a future where personalized marketing is taken to new heights to reach diverse global audiences:
In the digital advertising space, in the past you would research the target audience, what will appeal, what type of spokesperson… get the actor or actress to match the demo, but they don’t, they match a big club of people.” “Google and Facebook have watched you for years, when you slow down, when you speed up...soon you’ll see spokespeople and influencers that are created just for you,” Jay predicted. Companies will speak directly to the individual “with AI, companies can tailor their advertisements down to the individual level, based on data collected over years of observing user behavior” While he acknowledged the ethical concerns this level of personalization might raise, he also highlighted the immense potential it has for businesses to connect with their target audience on a deeper level.
AI and humans
“AI is neither good nor evil. It’s at the mercy, at least for now, of the humans that are working with it.”
So the key is these tools are coming whether you want them to or not. These tools can empower like nothing we’ve ever seen before. So if you don’t use the tools to grow your business, to further your career, to satisfy your ambitions, I can guarantee you somebody else will.”
Closing Thoughts
Innovation and disruption often begin with embracing diversity of thought, culture and language. Our conversation with Jay Samit was a powerful reminder of the importance of embracing change, cultural diversity, and cutting-edge technology in today’s business landscape. At Maka Language Consulting, we believe in the synergy of language, multiculturalism, and innovation as drivers of personal and business growth. Jay’s insights have reinforced the value of these elements, offering a roadmap for companies looking to scale globally and thrive in an era of rapid transformation.
Jay, thank you for sharing your invaluable perspectives on developing growth strategies through disruption, innovation, and cultural understanding with us. As we look forward to the future of business, we are excited to continue exploring how language and culture can foster innovation and create new opportunities in a global market.