DeepL’s Forrester study: 345% ROI and €2.79 million in savings for multinational organizations
Key Takeaways
- DeepL's Forrester TEI study found a 90% reduction in internal document translation time for surveyed organizations.
- The study reported a 345% ROI and a 50% reduction in overall translation workloads over three years.
- A separate 50% drop in document flow to translation services freed in-house teams for more complex, high-value work.
- Efficiency savings reached €2.79 million, with an additional €227,430 in workflow and process cost reduction.
- DeepL's TEI study is based on interviews with organizations in energy, financial services, legal, and pharmaceutical industries
Ever wondered how AI translation impacts global business growth? Or what kind of cost savings and ROI an AI translation tool like DeepL Translator has produced?
Thanks to The Total Economic Impact™ of DeepL, a commissioned study that Forrester Consulting conducted in 2024 on DeepL’s behalf, we have plenty of insights to share.
The total economic impact (TEI) methodology assesses investment value with four components—cost, benefits, flexibility, and risk—and illustrates the ROI of a technology's product and services. For over 20 years, executives have considered it the gold standard for evaluating business impact.
For DeepL’s study, Forrester interviewed four organizations with experience using DeepL from multiple industries to create a single composite organization:
- Energy
- Financial services (Big 4)
The study explains how reduced translation time affected efficiency savings for internal and external business communications. Here, we’ll explore highlights from the study itself.
Download the full DeepL TEI study.
1. 90% reduction in translation time
According to DeepL’s TEI study, one of its key benefits was the 90% decrease in internal document translation time. This translated to significant time and cost savings for the interviewed organizations, which helped them navigate global markets with greater ease and efficiency.
In fact, the interviewed organizations reported efficiency savings of €2.79 million over a three-year period.
This figure shows the true value of DeepL as a strategic investment, having helped transform multilingual communication.
2. 345% ROI and 50% reduction in translation workloads
Forrester Consulting also found that DeepL had an ROI of 345% and reduced translation workloads by 50%. This provided the interviewed composite organization with significant cost savings while maintaining high-quality, trustworthy translations.
Over three years, this amounted to €227,430 in workflow and process cost reduction. With DeepL's Language AI, the interviewed composite organization could streamline its translation processes, which allowed it to allocate resources more efficiently.
Consider this quote from one of the interviewed organizations’ employees, a software applications manager at an energy company:
“I used to spend 10% of my time on translation-related tasks and now probably only spend 1% of time on them. With DeepL there is no need to search for translation tools and then use multiple tools to cross reference the translations because there’s so much confidence and trust in DeepL; it’s just a quick skim and quality check (according to my own confidence and knowledge in the language). I’m happy with the translation and quality, especially now with the use of the DeepL shortcuts feature.”
3. More time for high-value translation work
DeepL’s goal has always been to empower translators to do their best work. In our TEI study, Forrester Consulting discovered that DeepL reduced the document flow to translation service teams by 50%.
In turn, this allowed the interviewed organization’s in-house staff to manage translations more efficiently.
According to a product manager in legal services, “DeepL really adds value in terms of reducing the number of translations that we have to do with other companies.”
This shift also helped translation professionals focus on more complex, nuanced aspects of language and cultural interpretation. And that lets their expertise truly shine.
Recap: DeepL's measurable impact
Based on these results, it’s clear that DeepL enhanced decision-making processes by providing concrete advantages:
- A positive ROI
- Significant cost savings
- A decrease in translation time
- The ability to enhance human expertise with Language AI
Read the entire TEI study to learn more about what makes DeepL a tactical investment for global businesses.
See what DeepL's Language AI suite could save your organization
The results in this study reflect what's possible with Translator alone. Pairing it with Voice and API can extend those efficiency gains across your organization's full range of multilingual communication.
Contact Sales to discuss what ROI DeepL's specialized Language AI suite could deliver for your business.