BPO leaders at SaaSconPH tout AI as workforce ally, not replacement
PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES — Business process outsourcing (BPO) industry leaders at SaaScon Philippines 2025 presented an optimistic outlook on AI integration in the workplace, emphasizing that AI should augment human capabilities rather than replace workers entirely.
The panel discussion featured prominent industry figures including Ambe Tierro of Accenture, Larah Sta. Maria of Concentrix, Winston Malapad of Foundever, with Dominic Ligot of CirroLytix Research Services moderating the conversation.
AI adoption accelerating, not eliminating jobs
Larah Sta. Maria, Vice President of Concentrix, noted that while initial forecasts in 2022 predicted AI would devastate the outsourcing industry, the reality has been quite different.
“2024 McKinsey actually reports the percentage of businesses that are going to be adopting generative AI in at least one of their functions more than doubled to 33% to 65%,” she stated.
The panel highlighted that customer preferences still favor human agents for complex issues.
“What we’re seeing is that while a lot of customers are more than happy to go down the automation and AI route when it comes to their simple and less complex concerns… when it comes to the more complex concerns, they would much rather still speak with an agent,” Sta. Maria explained.
Jobs transforming, not disappearing
The speakers provided concrete examples of how AI is transforming roles rather than eliminating them.
Sta. Maria described how quality evaluators at Concentrix have evolved: “For a quality evaluator [who] will usually evaluate four to six polls every month for each agent, the generative AI tool we have at Concentrix is able to derive insights from 100% of the transactions.” This allows evaluators to focus on “value-adding tasks” like coaching rather than monitoring.
Building a strong digital foundation
Ambe Tierro, Country Managing Director and Technology Centers Lead of Accenture in the Philippines, emphasized that companies need a strong “digital core” comprising data, cloud, and security to effectively scale AI implementation.
“The limitation of companies [is] they don’t have a strong digital core,” she noted, adding that there’s a significant opportunity to reskill our people to work on digital services.
Urgent need for workforce development
The panel stressed the urgency of preparing the workforce for AI integration.
“We need to have a sense of urgency in the reskilling agenda for the Philippines, because we need to elevate ourselves in the global stage so that we can take more higher value services in the market,” Tierro stated.
Winston Malapad, Talent Acquisition and HR Director for Process Excellence Reporting and Data Analytics of Foundever, highlighted that 75% of employees are already using some form of AI, with Filipinos at an even higher rate of 85%. However, most are using “bring your own AI” rather than company-sanctioned tools.
Embracing AI as a partner
The session concluded with calls to view AI as an ally rather than a threat. Sta. Maria quoted a keynote speaker who said, “Generative AI as we know it today is in its worst state… because we all know it’s only going to get better.”
She urged leaders to “divorce from our fear of generative AI” and see it as “the Robin to our Batman.”
Malapad added a practical note: “For leaders, you don’t have to penalize your people for using AI. For God’s sake, you might be using AI yourself.”
As the Philippines maintains its position as the second-largest BPO hub globally, the industry’s approach to AI integration will be crucial for its continued growth and evolution in the coming years.
