Executives from an array of international corporations will gather in San Francisco this month to talk the language of business.
At the heart of the two-day GlobalExchange gathering beginning on June 15 is GlobalEnglish, a Silicon Valley firm specialising in internet technology that helps workers of many languages connect in a common tongue: English.
"The whole notion of being an American company or a French company is no longer the case," GlobalEnglish chief executive officer Deepak Desai told AFP. "You are a global company."
Companies are eagerly recruiting top talent in countries around the world, and those employees need to collaborate and communicate despite differing native languages.
English has become the default for business at global corporations since it has been adopted as a second-language in most institutions of higher learning, according to Mr Desai.
He added that English is spoken more by non-native speakers than it is by those to which it is the primary language.
"English no longer belongs to the native English speakers," said GlobalEnglish vice president of worldwide business development Mahesh Ram.
"The English spoken between a Malaysian and a Japanese does not correspond to what you might find in Shakespeare; it is what you need to get work done."
As corporations seek to expand in third world countries, they need to find common linguistic terrain with business partners as well as local employees integrated into international networks.
"Large corporations are dealing with the issues of talent and globalisation," Mr Desai said. "The world has changed a lot."
Serial entrepreneur Reece Duca founded the company 12 years ago with a vision that "e-learning" would merge with business productivity in increasingly multi-lingual global workforces, according to GlobalEnglish.
The firm provides lessons and online tutors as well as computer "tool bars" with features ranging from templates for letters to text-to-speech translations that include differences between accents such as British and American.
Employees have the option of taking in-depth English classes on the internet and can access teachers online at any hour.
"Companies aren't necessarily interested in learning for its own sake," Mr Desai said. "They are interested in improving productivity."
The GlobalEnglish roster of customers included leading computer maker Hewlett-Packard, global steel giant ArcelorMittal, and French banking powerhouse BNP Paribas.
"We continue to see great momentum and the vision of the founder has become a reality," Mr Desai said.
"The original vision is to democratise the teaching of English, and it is incredible to see we can do that."