ARGOS MULTILINGUAL - Key Persons
Alexander took on the role of CEO of Argos Multilingual in December 2023 after holding various other top management positions. As CEO, Alexander is most excited about solving complex challenges for Argos's customers. Bringing people together from various backgrounds and with different skills, expertise and in-depth knowledge of internationalization and technology is what he loves the most.
A firm supporter of the company's mindset, ‘How can we help?', Alexander believes that trust, transparency, and engagement are the keys to successful business collaborations.
Alexander aspires to learn something new every day and empowers his team to do the same. Being a Six Sigma Black Belt, he very much enjoys combining data and data-driven decisions with creative solutions and teamwork.
Brian is no stranger to the industry; having worked for over 20 years in the L10N space, gaining experience in Account Management, Business Development, Customer Success, and Executive Leadership. As a seasoned CSO, he is passionate about supporting and engaging customers to provide customized solutions.
He collaborates with operational, technology, and client-focused teams to ensure the success of engagement between customers and Argos. For Brian and his team, meeting with customers to launch successful partnerships and build long-term relationships is the most rewarding part of the role.
Chris has 20+ years in the Translation/Localization industry. He has worked on many high-volume and high-profile projects. He has contributed many time and cost-saving solutions to large-scale projects through the introduction of automation, tools, changes in workflow, team management solutions, and CAT tool hopping. Recognized by industry colleagues as a person who simplifies the impossible. Chris considers himself an individual who thinks out of the box and questions everything in search of a better solution.
Chris has gained skills from all angles of the translation industry, including sales, customer relations, supplier sourcing, project management, shared services, technology, tooling design (UX), and process management. He also successfully set up and architected Argos' Data division managing large-scale/complex data projects for all data collection clients including four of the major Big Tech organizations. Chris has designed 10+ custom technology solutions for human-in-the-loop to enable scalability, creativity in collection methods, quality control, and UX.
Job Titles:
- Global HR Director / Global HR Director
Iwona is a versatile HR professional with almost two decades of experience in comprehensive Global HR leadership and has shown proven success in creating cultures of collaboration and implementing change to achieve workforce excellence.
She is an empowering leader who supports the company leadership team with effective employee engagement, rewards, and recognition strategies. She is a strong, interpersonal, dynamic team player with exceptional communication skills used to build effective business partnering relationships with management and employees. She has a track record of coaching in the areas of transformational leadership, intercultural communication, team building, and managing change, with proven success in international recruitment.
A highly motivated individual, Iwona is agile, loyal, and committed with a positive attitude. A genuine influencer who thrives on challenges and translates visions and strategies into actionable, value-added goals.
Jan has always had a passion for computers, programming and foreign languages.
He entered the location business as a side job as a Localization Tester while he was completing his studies in Microelectronics and Business Management, 25 years ago.
He was quite quickly fully consumed by the impact of the localization on the local markets' users and became passionate about delivering the best experience in localized SW products.
He has continued to grow into other roles as a Project Manager, Business Unit Manager, and Account Manager and finally decided to use his technical knowledge to solve the challenges that the globalization business brings.
Over the last 12 years, he has served as CTO in two localization companies and is still fascinated by the opportunities that technology can bring to the industry. He is proud and honored to be working with colleagues that share the same values and spirit at Argos.
In his free time, he likes to tinker with open-source hardware, ride mountain bikes, and enjoys photography.
With two decades of experience in the Translation/Localization industry, Joanna blends a strategic and operational perspective of the localization process with a strong leadership focus. Her journey began as a Project Manager, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies within the translation domain. Serving as the head of the Life Sciences Management Team and later as a Business Unit Director, Joanna steered diverse teams of localization specialists for over a decade, successfully implementing and supporting customized, holistic solutions for clients spanning various industries.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Founder
- Founder & Chairman of Board / Founder & Chairman of Board
Kimon Fountoukidis was born in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in New Jersey and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin. Kimon has always had the entrepreneurial bug. In college, he had t-shirts printed and sold them door to door in dormitories. After college, in 1993, Kimon moved to Poland and tried all kinds of businesses, from exporting amber jewelry to trying to import specialized machinery for creating metal roofing. He ended up founding ARGOS Multilingual and PMR, which have both become market leaders. Kimon has led multiple successful acquisitions of other translation companies and strongly believes in M&A as a powerful growth tool for small businesses. Apart from work, Kimon is a poker enthusiast; he endeavors to compete in the World Series of Poker which happens once a year in Las Vegas whenever he can.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Kåre has over 30 years of globalization experience in the software and localization industry. In 2008, he founded Venga Global, a specialized full-service localization company that works with some of the biggest names in the technology industry. Since Oct 1, 2021, Venga Global has been part of Argos Multilingual. Kåre has also served in executive roles for Oracle, PeopleSoft, and Hogia.
During his career, he gained first-hand experience working with requirements from most countries around the globe and has extensive knowledge in a multitude of areas, including global brand management, agile localization, cloud, and SaaS-based products, and eLearning/voice-over.
Kåre is an active advocate for the future of the industry and has served on the board of GALA (Globalization and Localization Association), TILP and NCTA, and as a member of several trade organizations and initiatives.
Kåre grew up in Sweden, then spent 10 years in the UK before relocating to the US in 1993 to join the IT boom in Silicon Valley. In 2019, he moved back to Europe and now lives in London.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director of Chillistore / Managing Director of Chillistore
As Managing Director of Chillistore, Olivier generates together with his team industry-leading quality for localization projects. He drives strategic growth for the company and ensures the alignment of client requirements with optimal streamlined services. Within Chillistore, he manages a cross-cultural team of 35 along with 500+ vendors to provide localization and translation services in 70+ different languages. Olivier's priority is to ignite successful partnerships and nurture long-lasting relationships, both with clients and vendors alike.
Over the past 25 years, Olivier has developed strong strategy, leadership, and executive skills, generating growth at an international level. He recently served as Director of Shared Services at a leading global LSP, where he contributed numerous time- and cost-saving initiatives. He holds a track record of building and motivating high-performance teams, boosting company growth, and accelerating process improvement across various industries.
Olivier is passionate about fostering synergies between interdisciplinary teams and developing in-company talent and culture. His skills encompass engagement leadership, effective strategic planning, commercial acumen, delivering operational changes, especially in integration processes, and materializing strategies into actionable plans.
When not at work, Olivier enjoys hiking, especially in the Pyrenees, and rowing, as well as learning about architecture and landscaping. Also, anything related to Japan, tea, and cartography will most definitely get his attention.
His preferred level of spice is very hot, with a fondness for sambal, a South-East Asian chilli condiment.
Together with his great team of experts, Steven oversees the Global Accounting department as well as the financial control and reporting of the company. Excellence in customer service through collaboration and innovation is what drives the Finance team.
Steven holds a master's degree in Economics and started his career at KBC Bank. Ten years later, he joined a start-up in the localization business, Xplanation. Over 20 years, with Steven in the roles of CFO and CEO, the company made it to the Top 50 of the industry.