Kristina Šuškevič is the Country Manager of Skrivanek Lithuania, overseeing language services and business training initiatives at the intersection of communication and global expansion. She entered the industry in 2005 while studying philology, joining an international translation agency as it moved into the Lithuanian market. Over more than 17 years in leadership at Skrivanek Lithuania, she has guided sustained growth, including consistent annual revenue increases of around 10% and peak growth reaching 37%. Her work centers on helping companies adapt linguistically and culturally to foreign markets, delivering executive training, strengthening intercultural communication, and developing practical strategies for integrating international employees into local teams. She also writes on the evolving role of AI in translation, with a particular focus on maintaining accountability, quality, and regulatory standards in increasingly automated workflows.

In this interview, Kristina Šuškevič reflects on leadership, language, and organizational resilience in an era defined by rapid change. She emphasizes the importance of trust-based team cultures, clear operational structures, and adaptability as the foundations of long-term growth. She points to high-leverage decisions—investing in people, expanding into AI-driven services, and embracing calculated risk—as critical inflection points in building durable organizations. The conversation examines the subtle but consequential pitfalls of cross-cultural communication, the often-misunderstood distinction between integration and assimilation, and the evolving role of HR in globally distributed teams. Šuškevič also explores how AI is reshaping translation workflows, even as it underscores the enduring necessity of human judgment in navigating cultural nuance and executing effective international business strategy.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What facets of female leadership add to company growth and organizational resilience?

Kristina Šuškevič: Over the years of my professional experience, I’ve met many female executives in business forums and conferences, and I have noticed one common pattern that contributes to company growth—strong relationships within teams. Female leaders often place a clear emphasis on trust and connection within their teams. They implement strategies in workflows where employees feel seen, inspired, and empowered—through team-building, training, and open communication. This is something I have observed increasingly in female-led companies.

Female leaders often embody what is good within an organization and inspire people to align with its mission. This helps create environments where people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, solve problems together, and, most importantly, grow within the company. When employees work in an environment where things are transparent and leadership direction is clear, they feel confident enough to generate new ideas and take risks they might otherwise avoid. Over time, this kind of culture makes companies more adaptable and resilient, because teams are more engaged and willing to invest their knowledge in the organization.

Jacobsen: What were the highest-leverage decisions made to support sustained growth over many years?

Šuškevič: The most important decisions were not always about growing faster, but about building strong foundations. Investing in the right people, knowledge, and long-term partnerships made growth more stable and sustainable. When those elements are in place, expansion becomes much easier.

For me as a leader, decision-making is a daily responsibility. I have an adventurous spirit and thrive in uncertainty, so I often choose to take risks. That means saying yes to bold moves—expanding into new lines of business and building new teams with both internal and external experts.

In our case at Skrivanek Group, we moved from offering translation and localization services to launching language training services. From there, we expanded further into the AI and technology space, establishing dedicated R&D, AI, and IT departments. We began investing heavily in pilot projects—some successful, others not. But that is the nature of innovation: it is like building start-ups within your own organization. You never know which idea will succeed.

The hardest part is always the moment before the decision. Once the decision is made, there is no room for hesitation. You commit, lead, and generate new momentum—for both yourself and your team. That requires authentic motivation.

When I choose to enter a new phase, I know I must show up with vulnerability and openness. These qualities become essential during periods of transformation. I have learned that one of the most powerful things a leader can do is recognize when comfort becomes a limitation—and then move into the unknown with clarity and courage.

Jacobsen: What is the method for stabilizing a complex, large-scale project?

Šuškevič: Large-scale projects often involve technical challenges, rising costs, changes in design and operational requirements, disputes over responsibility, and new regulations. This level of complexity requires strong preparation, including clear strategies and well-coordinated teamwork.

I have implemented several principles in my company that help us navigate these challenges.

The first step is to make everything as clear as possible: who is responsible for what, how decisions are made, and how information flows. These arrangements help employees understand their roles, so they are not operating in isolation but within a defined structure of practices, responsibilities, and expectations.

Employees should understand that they are accountable for the projects they work on, but they do not have to manage everything on their own. As a leader, I make it a habit to seek external advisors, seek second opinions, and create space for diverse perspectives. Over time, my colleagues have adopted the same approach, becoming more comfortable seeking input when needed.

Risk management is another essential element throughout all phases of a project. While it is impossible to anticipate every challenge, we place significant emphasis on identifying potential risks early. Drawing on past experience, we develop a strategic system with a range of responses to possible scenarios.

Adaptability is critical for any project, but especially for large-scale ones. Even when some risks are anticipated, unexpected changes can still arise. By keeping the overall goal in focus, we adjust tactics and strategies as needed to stay on track.

Jacobsen: Which internal routines support integration and collaboration?

Šuškevič: As I mentioned earlier, when employees feel seen and heard, they are more likely to grow, take risks, and share their ideas. The same applies to integration and collaboration. When people see that the company values them not only as employees but as individuals, they become more trusting and integrate more naturally into the workflow. Collaboration improves when people feel comfortable asking questions and sharing their perspectives.

For me, effective communication is essential—clear, consistent, and sincere. Every interaction with colleagues helps me better understand my team, their strengths, and their areas for growth. For them, it creates opportunities to ask questions, contribute ideas, and share their perspectives. The more opportunities people are given to engage, the more collaborative they become.

Jacobsen: What do C-level executives misunderstand about language, culture, and communication?

Šuškevič: From our experience working with C-level executives, many still see language primarily as translation or fluency in English or another language. They often underestimate how deeply culture shapes communication. As language professionals, we observe that understanding cultural context is essential to effective cross-cultural communication.

Culture influences how people give feedback, manage disagreements, and interpret others’ behavior.

In one cultural context, a phrase that seems direct and efficient can easily be perceived as rude or dismissive in a more relationship-oriented environment. At the same time, indirect feedback—common in Southern European or Asian teams—may be too subtle to register at all. In multilingual teams, many misunderstandings arise from differing assumptions about what is expected and appropriate. A “yes” in one culture may signal agreement, while in another it simply means acknowledgment.

Leaders cannot be aware of every nuance required to navigate multicultural environments, but to achieve their goals, they need at least a foundational understanding of the cultural context of the people they work with. That is why collaboration with cross-cultural coaches is so important for business growth.

Jacobsen: What is the difference between “integration” and “assimilation” for foreign employees?

Šuškevič: The distinction between integration and assimilation is often misunderstood, even though it significantly shapes how people experience a workplace. Assimilation typically means expecting individuals to fully adapt and to leave behind aspects of their cultural identity to fit into the existing company culture. Integration, by contrast, focuses on helping individuals understand the local environment and ways of working while respecting who they are and where they come from.

In practice, this difference becomes visible in everyday work. When employees feel they must hide or suppress their background to fit in, they often struggle to build trust or feel fully comfortable within the organization. But when companies invest in proper integration—helping individuals understand local norms while valuing their perspectives—the outcome is different. People become more confident, more engaged, and more willing to contribute their ideas.

That is where the real value emerges. Diverse teams bring different ways of thinking, problem-solving approaches, and insights into international markets. When leaders recognize this and create space for those differences, teams tend to become stronger and more innovative. In my experience, companies that prioritize integration rather than expecting full adaptation tend to build more resilient and collaborative workplaces.

Jacobsen: What HR trends are consequential for Lithuania-based organizations working internationally?

Šuškevič: We are seeing a growing trend of Lithuanian companies hiring international employees and working with freelance specialists from around the world.

This places greater responsibility on HR professionals, who now need to focus more on integration, cultural awareness, and the nuances that shape effective collaboration. They must pay close attention to cultural differences to build workflows that function well for everyone.

For example, silence in meetings is often interpreted as a lack of initiative in many Western workplaces, whereas in some Asian cultures, it may reflect respect or careful consideration. Similarly, a polite “yes” may be understood by Western colleagues as a firm commitment, while in high-context cultures it may simply indicate acknowledgment. These gaps in interpretation can lead to missed expectations, frustration, and delays, which is why HR teams are increasingly focused on inclusive onboarding processes.

Remote collaboration is also expanding, with Lithuanian companies relying more on international specialists for both project-based and long-term roles. This requires HR departments to establish clear communication structures for remote teams.

As a result, we see the adoption of practices such as structured check-ins, transparent documentation, and clearly defined expectations around availability and response times.

Jacobsen: How are AI and automation changing the language-services industry?

Šuškevič: AI and automation have significantly transformed the language translation sector. Machine translation tools have become much more reliable in recent years, but AI still has limitations.

It is making simple translations faster and more accessible, reshaping the economics of the language services industry. Tasks that once required considerable time are increasingly automated, allowing projects to move more quickly and at greater scale. At the same time, this shift highlights the limits of technology. When accuracy, cultural nuance, tone of voice, or sensitive communication are involved, human expertise becomes even more critical.

In practice, the role of language professionals is evolving. Rather than simply translating texts, they are increasingly acting as guides for international communication. Their role is to ensure that a message is not only linguistically correct but also culturally appropriate and effective for the intended audience.

This means helping companies adapt communication across languages, cultures, and markets so that the intended meaning and impact remain consistent.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Kristina.