Technology will augment what humans do, and will not replace Filipino employees in the business process outsourcing sector, according to an industry leader.
“In the BPO industry especially, technology will be an enabler by making processes more efficient and making things happen faster. At the same time, with 83 percent of customers always wanting to speak with another human to explain and answer their doubts and queries, there will always be a need for human interaction and so a need for humans in the BPO sector. Technology will enable more human-to-human interaction, not replace it,” says Sudhir Agarwal, the chief executive of Everise and C3/CustomerContactChannels.
He says that if the Philippines is to remain a global leader in the BPO sector, it needs to innovate and embrace technology. “Globally, the BPO market is predicted to reach $262.2 billion by 2022, with the Asia Pacific region receiving the lion’s share of growth at 8.5 percent. The BPO sector of the Philippines, which employs over 1.15 million people, is expected to capture 15 percent of the global outsourcing market in the next four years. The Philippines possesses a talented workforce with high English language proficiency that contributed to driving the BPO sector’s growth up until now,” he says.
“At the same time, other Asian nations, including Malaysia and Vietnam, are also developing their own BPO industries, with Vietnam’s BPO industry achieving annual growth of more than 20 percent over the past decade – this competition will start to chip away at the Philippines’ position,” says Agarwal.
He says with rising client demands and expectations, there is a need to provide higher-value and more complex services.
“BPO centres are expected to service customers through multiple channels such as voice, text, social media and chatbots. Technology will allow the Filipino sector to do this. AI, automation, and other innovations will take away many of the mundane and routine tasks that are currently carried out by BPO employees, thus freeing them and enabling them to focus on higher-value jobs that involve more customer interaction. Besides delivering a higher level of analysis for clients, AI will be able to merge and connect all customer services channels from online to text to voice, resulting in better service levels and ultimately future-proofing the BPO sector in the Philippines, for years to come,” he says.
“What is so amazing about the injection of AI and technology is that it will enable the very same BPO employees to do so much more, at a faster pace and a better level of service and quality,” says Agarwal.
“Today, we handle so many things through our phone, including communication with companies and brands. Everise seeks to make this possible through its partnership with Microsoft, which allows us to implement AI solutions for clients that are tailored to their needs, through the C3 Labs. The result is BPO employees that are more productive and armed with more information on the customers that they speak to, enabling faster and better customer service,” he says.
“Automation and AI are here to help the Philippines move up the value chain, leading to an increase in mid-skilled jobs and high skilled services,” says Agarwal.