Guildhawk

Guildhawk is a United Kingdom-based language services and technology company headquartered in the City of London. Founded in 2001 by Jurga Zilinskiene as Today Translations, the business initially focused on translation and related language work before expanding into a broader portfolio of localisation, interpreting, voiceover, subtitling, consulting and technology-enabled communication services. It adopted the Guildhawk name in June 2019 after a two-year corporate rebranding process. Management concluded that the word “translations” no longer represented the full scope of the organisation’s activities, which had expanded into digital transformation, artificial intelligence, software, creative production and international trade support. The company’s offering combines human expertise with machine translation, natural-language processing, artificial intelligence and proprietary workflow systems. Its services include translation, localisation, interpreting, transliteration of songs and scripts, voiceover, subtitling, multilingual content production and advisory work. Guildhawk states that its network covers more than 200 languages and has included more than 3,000 staff and contributors across multiple locations. The company also uses database software designed and developed by Zilinskiene, which has evolved alongside the business and supports the management of people, information and language workflows. Technology development became a larger part of the business through the company’s Gai Labs research division. Gai Labs has worked on productivity software and algorithms for managing people and information. In 2019, Guildhawk and Sheffield Hallam University received government-backed Knowledge Transfer Partnership support to develop software for managing people and information in the gig economy. That work later contributed to GAI Translate, an artificial-intelligence translation software-as-a-service product using natural-language processing and GPT-related technology. Innovate UK Scale-up Edge backed the company’s efforts to scale the product, which received the Market Disruptor Award at the 2025 Safety & Security Entrepreneur Awards. In 2025, Innovate UK identified the Sheffield Hallam University–Guildhawk partnership among the fifty most successful knowledge transfer partnerships in the programme’s fifty-year history. Guildhawk has also developed digital-human and media technologies. Guildhawk Voice produces multilingual speech and video using AI-generated digital twins or avatars. The company has described applications in corporate communications, training, meetings and multilingual content. Its technology has been used in connection with a joint venture involving Gammon Construction and in an address for the Fraud Advisory Panel. In 2022, Zilinskiene said the company intended to offer authentic virtual human twins to staff who wanted them, supporting immersive multilingual communication. The business has maintained a strong emphasis on data security and quality management. It has reported independent UKAS certification against ISO/IEC 27001 for information security and certification to ISO 9001 for quality management. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Guildhawk launched Guildhawk Aided and Text Perfect, services intended to support medical-document translation and other urgent multilingual communications, while moving much of its workforce to remote work. The company also produced free multilingual health and safety notices and provided guidance concerning fraud, cybercrime and information protection. Alongside commercial work, Guildhawk has supported arts, music and cultural projects. These activities have included sponsorship and production support for theatre, radio theatre, music recording, Burns Night events and translation of cultural texts. The company has worked with artists and musicians, including Alex Mendham & His Orchestra, and helped establish the Mendham Guildhawk Song Company during the pandemic. Its corporate identity includes the Guildhawk Girl with a Red Scarf, a registered company design, while Guildhawk is a registered UK trade mark. The company remains privately held and active, with a positioning that combines specialist multilingual expertise, secure technology and creative cultural production.

Guildhawk began in London in 2001 under the name Today Translations, founded by Jurga Zilinskiene. The early company was established with £13,000 of Zilinskiene’s personal savings and developed from a translation business into a broader international language-services organisation. In 2003, Zilinskiene received a Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur award. The company later expanded its work to include localisation, interpreting, voiceover, subtitling, transliteration, consulting and multilingual content production. International trade and cultural activity became recurring elements of the company’s identity. In 2006, the business received a UK Trade & Investment Certificate of Appreciation. It received the Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe’s Breakthrough Trade award in 2015 and was associated with trade missions involving Lithuania and the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In 2019, the business received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category under its former name. Zilinskiene was also appointed an MBE in 2019 for services to international trade. The company gained public attention in 2016 through its emoji-translation initiative, which led to coverage by the BBC and other international media. It also worked with the Victoria and Albert Museum on an event concerning language and emoji culture. In June 2019, after a two-year rebranding exercise, Today Translations and Today Advisory became Guildhawk. The new identity was intended to communicate a wider technology, advisory and creative remit rather than a narrow focus on translation. Guildhawk and its “Guildhawk Girl with a Red Scarf” symbol were registered as UK intellectual property. Software and artificial intelligence became central to the next phase of development. Through its Gai Labs research division, Guildhawk developed algorithms and systems for managing people, information and language work. In 2019, it partnered with Sheffield Hallam University in a government-backed Knowledge Transfer Partnership focused on software for the gig economy. The project later supported development of GAI Translate, an AI translation SaaS platform using NLP and GPT-related technology. Innovate UK Scale-up Edge supported its scaling, and Innovate UK later recognised the partnership among the most successful in the history of the Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme. The company also developed Guildhawk Voice, a digital-human service that can turn text into multilingual speech and video through AI-generated avatars. Examples described by the company and referenced in public material include a digital avatar used in connection with a Gammon Construction and Guildhawk joint venture and another used for a Fraud Advisory Panel chairman’s address. In 2022, Zilinskiene announced an ambition to create virtual human twins for participating employees, with intended uses in immersive communication and multilingual media. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Guildhawk introduced Guildhawk Aided and Text Perfect, with an emphasis on medical research documents and rapid translation needs. It moved staff to remote working and reported an 18% productivity increase in an interview about measuring work output during the pandemic. The company also published free multilingual health and safety materials and offered guidance on cybercrime, fraud and information protection. Its work in security assurance included ISO 9001 quality certification and ISO/IEC 27001 information-security certification, with a transition to the 2022 standard reported for 2025. Guildhawk has supported theatre, music and cultural initiatives through sponsorship, production and translation. Projects have included the Courage & Benevolence Ball, Dracula in the Dark, The Fuse radio theatre production, Burns Night activities in Vilnius and the translation of the Uzupis Constitution into Scottish Gaelic. The company supported Alex Mendham & His Orchestra and, during the pandemic, Zilinskiene and director David Clarke formed the Mendham Guildhawk Song Company with Alex Mendham. The collaboration combined archival music research, performance, multilingual song work and digital production. Guildhawk remains an active private company whose business model combines language expertise, proprietary technology, security assurance, international trade and creative-sector partnerships.

• 2025

  GAI Translate recognised

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  GAI Translate won a Market Disruptor Award and the related university partnership received Innovate UK recognition.

• 2020

  Pandemic technology response

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  Guildhawk launched Guildhawk Aided and Text Perfect and moved staff toward remote work.

• 2020

  Guildhawk Voice introduced

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  The company launched an AI-enabled digital-twin and multilingual video service.

• 2019

  Rebrand to Guildhawk

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  Today Translations and Today Advisory adopted the Guildhawk identity.

• 2019

  Knowledge Transfer Partnership begins

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  Guildhawk and Sheffield Hallam University began government-backed software development for gig-economy management.

• 2016

  Emoji Translator initiative

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  The company’s emoji-focused media initiative generated international coverage.

• 2015

  Breakthrough Trade award

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  The company received the COBCOE Make Europe Work award for Breakthrough Trade.

• 2006

  UK Trade & Investment recognition

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  The company received a UK Trade & Investment Certificate of Appreciation.

• 2003

  Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur award

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  Zilinskiene received a Shell LiveWIRE award recognising the early business.

• 2001

  Company founded as Today Translations

  [1]Guildhawken.wikipedia.org

  Jurga Zilinskiene founded the London translation business that later became Guildhawk.

A technology-led, security-conscious language and digital transformation partner combining human linguists, artificial intelligence, proprietary software and creative multilingual production.

• AI translation software

  GAI Translate

  An AI translation software-as-a-service product developed through Guildhawk’s Gai Labs work and its partnership with Sheffield Hallam University. Public descriptions associate it with natural-language processing and GPT-related technology, with an emphasis on secure translation for professional and high-risk environments.

• Digital-human and multilingual video technology · 2020

  Guildhawk Voice

  A service using AI-generated digital twins or avatars to convert text into speech and multilingual video. Guildhawk has described applications in corporate meetings, formal addresses, training and immersive communication.

• Translation service and software · 2020

  Guildhawk Aided

  A translation offering launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to support urgent multilingual work, including translation of medical research documents and other time-sensitive material.

• Language editing and translation technology · 2020

  Text Perfect

  A language-focused product introduced during the pandemic alongside Guildhawk Aided. Public descriptions identify it as part of Guildhawk’s technology response to urgent communication and document requirements.

• Translation and localisation · 2001

  Language services

  Guildhawk’s core service portfolio covers human and AI-assisted translation, localisation, interpreting, transliteration, voiceover, subtitling, consulting and multilingual content production across more than 200 languages.

• 2020COVID-19 multilingual information support

  United Kingdom · International

  Guildhawk produced free multilingual health and safety notices and offered online briefings concerning fraud, cyberattacks and information protection during the pandemic.

  Outcome. The initiative extended the company’s language and security expertise to public and business communications during the crisis.

  Source
• 2020Mendham Guildhawk Song Company

  United Kingdom · International

  Guildhawk directors collaborated with bandleader Alex Mendham to support musicians and produce historically styled recordings during the pandemic.

  Outcome. The collaboration generated streamed performances and remote-produced broadcasts, including a concert aired in May 2021.

  Source
• 2019Making Hopes Become Achievable

  United Kingdom · International

  A one-minute film accompanied the Guildhawk rebrand and presented the company’s vision through the story of a young girl and boy. It was produced by Lipsync Productions.

  Outcome. The film helped communicate the new brand’s broader purpose beyond conventional translation.

  Source
• 2019Cultural translation and Burns Night support

  Lithuania · United Kingdom

  Guildhawk supported Burns Night activities in Vilnius and sponsored translation of the Uzupis Constitution into Scottish Gaelic, alongside an artistic tribute.

  Outcome. The project received coverage from the BBC and other media and linked the company’s language work with cultural exchange.

  Source
• 2016Emoji Translator

  United Kingdom · International media

  Guildhawk’s predecessor publicised the appointment of Keith Broni as an emoji translator and used the initiative to discuss how emoji meaning changes across language, culture and context.

  Outcome. The initiative became a widely reported media story and established a visible public association with emoji interpretation.

  Source

• 2022

  Expand virtual human twin programmeStrategy

  Background

  Guildhawk was exploring the use of avatars and immersive media for multilingual communication and the emerging metaverse.

  Action taken

  Zilinskiene announced an intention to create authentic virtual human twins for employees who wished to participate.

  Aftermath

  The proposal positioned Guildhawk Voice and related avatar technologies as tools for internal, commercial and immersive communication.

  Source

• 2020

  Launch pandemic-focused language productsProduct launch

  Background

  The COVID-19 pandemic created urgent demand for medical and operational multilingual communications while disrupting normal office-based work.

  Action taken

  Guildhawk launched Guildhawk Aided and Text Perfect and moved staff toward remote working.

  Aftermath

  The company continued developing technology-enabled remote workflows and reported increased productivity in a 2021 interview.

  Source

• 2020

  Launch Guildhawk VoiceProduct launch

  Background

  The company was expanding from language services into AI-enabled communication and digital media.

  Action taken

  Guildhawk introduced a digital-twin service that creates multilingual speech and video from text.

  Aftermath

  The technology was used in corporate and institutional communications and became part of the company’s digital-human proposition.

  Source

• 2019

  Adopt the Guildhawk corporate identityStrategy

  Background

  Management concluded that the former Today Translations and Today Advisory names understated the company’s technology, advisory, creative and digital-transformation activities.

  Action taken

  After a two-year process, the company rebranded as Guildhawk Limited in June 2019.

  Aftermath

  The Guildhawk identity became the umbrella brand for its language services, technology development and related activities.

  Source

• 2019

  Develop gig-economy management softwareOther

  Background

  Guildhawk sought to apply its software and algorithms for managing people and information to the changing gig-economy workforce.

  Action taken

  It partnered with Sheffield Hallam University through a government-backed Knowledge Transfer Partnership.

  Aftermath

  The project contributed to later development of GAI Translate and received further Innovate UK recognition in 2025.

  Source

1. 1Guildhawken.wikipedia.org