AI, Human Agents, and the Future of Customer Experience BPOs

Customer Experience BPOs: Trends, Predictions, & Providers

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) providers face growing pressure as new AI technologies reshape customer experience (CX) operations. Generative and agentic AI are challenging traditional models but also offer a chance to enhance services, especially around complex, high-value customer interactions that resist full automation.

This month, leaders from four top BPO firms shared insights about what’s next in CX:

• Max Schwendner, Co-CEO of Alorica
• John Abou, President of TTEC Engage
• Gurpal Singh, Global Chief Operating Officer at Startek
• Jamie Timm, Chief Delivery Officer at TELUS Digital Solutions

Customer Experience BPOs: The Trends

AI dominates the conversation, but each expert highlights a different angle.

Clients No Longer View AI as a Human Replacement

Schwendner: The idea that AI replaces human agents is outdated. Instead, AI acts as a force multiplier, boosting agents with real-time insights, sentiment analysis, and multilingual support. Combining human empathy with AI’s speed and accuracy sets a new standard for personalized customer service. Alorica invests in conversational AI with emotional awareness and real-time voice translation, advancing trust and safety in digital interactions.

Clients Are Taking a Staged, More Thoughtful Approach to AI

Abou: Companies initially rushed into AI implementation expecting quick fixes. Now, they realize success requires clean data, curated knowledge bases, and new operating models with strong guardrails. Many are pausing to build solid foundations before scaling AI. The focus is on enhancing employees' work and customer experiences, avoiding new frustrations from poorly implemented AI.

BPOs Are Becoming More Strategic Partners

Singh: Hybrid AI-human models are moving beyond pilots. Agent copilots and real-time guidance reduce cognitive load and accelerate proficiency. Automation manages repetitive tasks and flags risks, while humans bring judgment and empathy to complex situations. Proactive care, driven by early warning signals, reduces avoidable contacts and protects revenue. Governance, data security, and explainability are now core to operations, ensuring compliance and customer trust.

Agentic AI Is Transforming the BPO Space

Timm: Unlike generative AI that waits for prompts, agentic AI acts independently, setting tasks based on goals. It streamlines workflows by automating data entry, ticket classification, routing, and compliance checks. It also predicts workload spikes and suggests staffing changes. This autonomy moves BPOs from reactive to proactive customer engagement, anticipating needs and resolving issues early. The goal is to empower humans, not replace them.

Customer Experience BPOs: The Predictions

The experts also shared predictions on how the CX landscape will evolve and what it means for BPOs.

Customer Engagements Will Rise Because of AI

Schwendner: Rather than reducing transactions, AI will increase customer interactions. Enhanced personalization and satisfaction will encourage customers to engage more often and in more complex ways. This pattern echoes earlier tech shifts like IVR and chatbots, where interactions expanded post-adoption.

Clients That Embrace Predictive & Proactive CX Engines Will Win

Abou: Contact centers gather vital data on customer behavior and preferences. AI-driven analytics will turn this into actionable intelligence, impacting service, revenue growth, supply chain management, and product development. Success will come to companies that anticipate customer needs and deliver seamless, human-like experiences—even when technology is involved. Balancing AI insights with genuine human connection will be the key advantage.

Contact Centers Become Experience Control Rooms

Singh: The term “contact center” will give way to “experience control room.” These hubs combine agent copilots and automation to allow leaders to predict and prevent issues early. Key shifts include:

• Success Metrics Change: Focus moves beyond handle time to reducing effort, managing emotions, and protecting revenue.
• Journeys Become Event-Driven and Proactive: Triggered interventions orchestrate care across channels, reducing friction and boosting retention.
• Commercial Models Evolve: Outcome-based partnerships grow, with fees tied to retention, NPS, or revenue protection. Ethical CX and sustainability become critical in partner selection.

Expect Challenges Before Realizing Long-Term AI Benefits

Timm: AI’s potential comes with a transition phase that introduces complexity. Today’s mix of niche AI tools can clutter the agent desktop, even as unified platforms emerge. The goal is a consolidated view offering agents clear customer insights, action tools, and real-time guidance. Over time, AI will handle many interactions, with humans focusing on exceptions and “managing the agent” tasks. Continuous training is essential to develop AI fluency alongside human judgment.

Customer Experience BPOs: The Providers

The CX BPO market is crowded. Here’s what sets these four apart:

Alorica

Schwendner: Alorica is driven by passionate people focused on three pillars:

• Performance: Consistently ranked among the top providers by clients.
• Possibilities: Pioneering award-winning digital CX solutions that integrate collaboratively with client systems.
• People: The largest certified minority-owned CX firm, Great Place to Work certified in many countries, with high employee satisfaction and low attrition. Investing in career growth and experienced leadership.

TTEC

Abou: TTEC excels in blending CX expertise with AI tools to deliver real value. They focus on aligning AI with employee workflows and customer expectations. Their global reach, industry knowledge, and tech partnerships help clients rethink operations without sacrificing humanity.

Startek

Singh: Startek combines digital-first automation with experienced operators to balance speed, quality, and empathy. Highlights include:

• Scale and Governance: Operations in 13 countries with 40,000 associates and Centers of Excellence that standardize best practices and manage risk.
• Agent Enablement: Real-time decision support and automation that reduce handle time and improve resolution without compromising compliance.
• Deep CX Experience: Over 30 years in the industry with proven playbooks that reduce ramp-up time and drive CSAT and NPS improvements.

TELUS Digital Solutions

Timm: TELUS Digital builds AI products from scratch to address business challenges and improve the customer journey. Their differentiators include:

• Fuel iX, a proprietary generative AI platform offering copilots, agent trainers, and security tools.
• AI-first lean teams combining senior talent with advanced AI to speed development and lower costs.
• Recent acquisition of a Salesforce-focused consultancy to enhance enterprise and agentic AI delivery.
• A strong trust and safety practice to mitigate risks and ensure compliance in digital environments.

For customer support professionals looking to grow skills in AI-driven CX, exploring targeted AI training can provide practical tools for working alongside these technologies. Resources like Complete AI Training’s courses for customer support roles can help build relevant expertise.