DeepL
When we started working with DeepL, generative AI just reshaped the entire category. So at the time DeepL started to double down on Language AI as its core positioning, and expanding its communications footprint across Europe. opnrs soon became the EMEA hub agency, coordinating PR and thought leadership across DACH, Spain, Italy, France and the UK.
We take care of all of DeepL´s PR & Thought Leadership in
DACH, Spain, Italy, France, and the UK. Shifting its image from translation app to AI research company known for Language AI, we also support DeepL´s policy affairs with relevant media and development screenings and strategy advisory.
The Starting Point
DeepL entered 2023 as Germany's best-known AI success story - a Cologne-based company already celebrated for building the world's most precise neural machine translation engine. But the generative AI boom fundamentally shifted the landscape around them. Overnight, "AI" became the most contested term in media and policy - and DeepL needed to move fast: away from a broad consumer-and-business positioning toward a more B2B focus, while simultaneously stepping into the European policy debate on AI regulation. The company was in full transformation, scaling its communications ambitions at the same pace as the technology was evolving. And we jumped right into it with them.
What We Do
Heading EMEA
As EMEA hub we set the strategic direction that ran across all five markets — developing the master messaging, briefing partner agencies in Spain and Italy, ensuring local execution stayed aligned with the overarching narrative, and acting as the central point of coordination between DeepL's internal team and the wider agency network.
Positioning Work
The central brief was twofold. First, reposition DeepL as the trusted AI partner for businesses - not only a consumer tool, but the enterprise-grade solution for safe, precise, language AI at scale. This required a full pivot of messaging, content strategy and media targeting toward B2B audiences across DACH, with data-led narratives and executive voices addressing decision-makers across industries.
Thought Leadership
Second - and running in parallel - establish CEO Dr. Jaroslaw Kutylowski as a credible, independent thought leader in the European AI policy conversation. This meant moving beyond product PR entirely: weekly policy monitoring, proactive positioning on regulatory developments, and building DeepL's presence at the intersection of technology, governance and industry including corridors to political institutions.
Always-On Intelligence: Screening & Briefing
A core part of our work for DeepL is the continuous monitoring of the AI, technology and policy landscape - tracking regulatory developments, parliamentary debates, industry positions and media narratives across DACH and the EU to ensure DeepL is never caught off guard and always positioned to lead. This always-on screening feeds directly into our briefing practice: for every interview, panel appearance or speaking opportunity, we prepare tailored briefings that give DeepL's spokespeople the full picture - background on the organiser, the attending media, the current political or industry context, likely lines of questioning and recommended messaging. With DeepL's CEO and senior team in frequent demand across national and European forums, the quality of this preparation is what turns a speaking slot into a genuine positioning moment rather than a box-ticking exercise.
What We Move
We helped build DeepL's external network: a continuous pipeline of speaking opportunities, individually briefed and strategically selected; a mapped ecosystem of KOLs, policy experts and institutional contacts - each with tailored outreach recommendations. Media introductions, inbound management and a coordinated product push strategy gave DeepL's internal team the support to move fast. The result: a company that moved from domestic darling to a recognized voice in the European AI debate.
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