EX:CHANGE 2026: The liminal space
What does it mean to be a translator or interpreter today? Are we even still translators and interpreters or just cogs in a machine-centred process? How deep is this crisis of identity? Or is it, rather, an opportunity for reinvention? But how do we meet the ‘new reality’ of doing business in an industry that is re-defining the value of human contribution? And let’s make no mistake: we are doing business.
The questions we are facing are not simple. In professional terms, they may be the hardest ones we have come across, yet. And they require more than simple, cookie-cutter answers. How-to scripts and blueprints for success are unlikely to hold the kind of wisdom needed to respond to this big challenge with the nuance that preserves our values and the meaning in the work we do, and that is the bedrock of our profession.
The uncertainty many of us are feeling right now is very real. We are leaving behind the safety and familiarity of identities and established business models that have served us well for years and were never judged as insufficient. This is difficult. There is grief to be processed, and righteous anger. None of us asked artificial intelligence to disrupt our industry and our businesses. At the same time, we are attempting to move forward not truly knowing where we are headed or whether our new idea or business model will succeed. And we are doing all this while facing the reality of needing work right now and watching our resources dwindle. There is a name for this kind of situation. Liminality. The moment when something has ended but the new path is not yet clear or not fully formed. It is gradual, emerging slowly. Feeling unsure about what to do at this point is only human. This new space is uncharted territory; nobody truly knows how the impact of artificial intelligence will unfold and how it will ultimately shape not only our industry, but the entire world of work. The uncertainty so many of us experience right now is a natural consequence of that, not a sign of failure. It is deeply uncomfortable – but part of the process.
If we can accept that, the first step is already made. Because it means that we are moving from the discomfort of struggling with not knowing what it all means for us and our businesses toward the tentative curiosity of working out what we would like it to mean. This shift is profound and essential. It turns frustration into agency and pain into growth. We are not helpless and we are not defeated. We did not choose this disruption to our careers and our industry, but we can choose how to respond.
What if the most important questions we really need to ask are: what do you choose to do? In this space between the past and the future of your career and your business, what do you choose to embrace? What vision are you building for the next year, the next three years, the next five years? Yes, most of us never asked to be entrepreneurs or to develop new business models or think about our ideal clients. There is an understandable fear of being dragged into corporate-style thinking, marketing and business positioning. But for all the discomfort of uncertainty that liminality brings, it also holds the opportunity to reimagine the shape of our careers, our profession and our businesses. For all the lack of tried-and-tested models in this liminal space, there are also no prescriptive rules. We can choose to make this space of uncertainty a place to test out ideas, be courageous, dust-off projects we have left in the attic of our minds for ‘one of these days’. We can look for inspiration and reassurance from those within and outside of our industry who navigate the business world successfully, without having to follow their exact steps. We make it our own while remembering an important message: we are not alone. The community around us is our most powerful resource. Our proud professionalism, our shared knowledge, our collaborative creativity.
This is why our entrepreneurship and business development session at EX:CHANGE 2026 will focus on creating safe shared spaces to do what we do best: communicate. We have a keynote speaker with an actionable psychological focus, a multi-disciplinary panel discussion showcasing real-life examples of overcoming the challenges of entrepreneurship, and hands-on group discussions. This offer will enable dialogue, spark ideas to more successfully manage the changes we need to implement in our daily work and find new partners to help us open doors we may have never even seen before. We will explore how to recognise and reaffirm our value. We will become co-creators of an industry that is, and remains, our industry. And we will create success on our own terms.