AI Document Translation Pipeline — Architecture Guide
Design Principles
- Accuracy first — Government documents require higher accuracy than commercial translation. Always include a QA layer.
- Classification-aware routing — Sensitive and classified documents must not be sent to external APIs. Build routing logic.
- Terminology consistency — Maintain a living government glossary updated monthly.
- Human review for critical documents — AI translates, humans verify before publication.
Architecture Components
| Component | Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Document intake | SharePoint / Email trigger | Receive translation requests |
| Classification engine | Azure Information Protection | Route by sensitivity level |
| Translation model | Azure AI Translator + Custom Glossary | Core translation |
| Quality scoring | BLEU + custom government benchmark | Automated QA |
| Human review queue | SharePoint review workflow | For critical documents |
| Delivery | SharePoint output library + email | Return translated document |
Routing Logic
code
If document.classification == 'SECRET' → Human translator only
If document.classification == 'CONFIDENTIAL' → AI translate + mandatory human review
If document.classification == 'INTERNAL' → AI translate + automated QA + human spot-check (20%)
If document.classification == 'PUBLIC' → AI translate + automated QA only
Building Your Government Glossary
The single biggest improvement to translation quality:
- Collect your entity's 200 most-used technical and legal terms
- Get official Arabic translations approved by your legal team
- Upload to Azure Translator custom glossary
- Update quarterly — language evolves, policies change
Quality Measurement
Track monthly:
- BLEU score vs. human translation baseline
- Reviewer correction rate (% of AI output changed by human reviewers)
- Cost per page translated (target: < 10% of previous manual cost)
- Turnaround time (target: < 10 minutes per document)
Ahmed Al Nuaimi, Chief Technology Strategist, PMO — June 2026