Loek van Kooten, MAInside the Machine: How RWS Gutted the Company That Built It
SDL was the largest language technology company in the world. Annual conferences people flew across continents to attend. A community where developers were required to read and respond to feedback. A culture people stayed in for decades. RWS bought it for a billion pounds. Then came three CEOs in four years, rolling layoffs that targeted SDL veterans first, and a sales compensation plan designed to fail.
The content technology division, which generates more profit from less than half the revenue, is quietly subsidizing the language side while its own products starve. Former employees are talking. Partners are leaving. The people who built Tridion, who closed million-dollar deals, who ran partner programs for years, are gone. They took their client relationships with them.
This is Part 2 of an ongoing investigation, built on public filings, regulatory disclosures, and first-hand accounts from people who spent a decade inside the company. RWS is welcome to respond. Any response will be published in full, unedited. https://www.loekalization.com/blog/blog/2026/03/26/inside-the-machine-how-rws-gutted-the-company-that-built-it/