DeepL’s Forrester study: 345% ROI and €2.79 million in savings for multinational organizations

What you need to know about DeepL’s TEI study by Forrester Consulting:

• DeepL reduced translation time by 90% and sped up project timelines, with efficiency savings of €2.79 million for global enterprises

• Using DeepL reduced translation workloads by 50% and generated a 345% return on investment (ROI)

• With a 50% reduction in document flow to translation services, DeepL empowered translation professionals to increase efficiency and focus on more complex tasks

Ever wondered how AI translation impacts global business growth? Or what kind of cost savings and ROI an AI translation tool like DeepL has produced? 

Thanks to “The Total Economic Impact™ of DeepL”, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting in 2024 on behalf of DeepL, we have plenty of insights to share. The 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, it has been considered the gold standard for evaluating business impact.

For DeepL’s study, Forrester interviewed four organizations with experience using DeepL from the energy, financial services (Big 4), legal services, and pharmaceutical industries to create a single composite organization.

The study explains how reduced translation time impacted efficiency savings for internal and external business communications, while our blog post will explore some highlights from the study itself. Ready to jump straight to DeepL’s TEI study? Download the full 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, in turn, helped them navigate global markets with greater ease and efficiency. 

In fact, the interviewed organizations reported efficiency savings of €2.79 million over a period of three years. 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 their translation processes, ‌which allowed them to allocate resources more efficiently. 

Just consider this quote from one of our 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. Enhanced human expertise with AI assistance

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%. This, in turn, 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—letting their expertise truly shine.

Reduce costs and speed up translation workflows with AI translation

Based on these results, it’s clear that DeepL enhanced decision-making processes by providing: 

• A positive ROI 

• Significant cost savings

• A decrease in translation time

• The ability to enhance human expertise with Language AI 

To learn more about what made DeepL a strategic investment for global businesses, read the entire TEI study today.