BUSINESS process outsourcing (BPO) industry workers will soon be required to learn technology as the new requisite for the job as more developments into artificial intelligence (AI) come on stream.

Technology experts have suggested that AI will augment human capabilities rather than replace them, and that will require potential and current employees to upskill in order to remain in long-term career opportunities.

“What we want to see in the industry is that we can upskill the workforce to the point where they are the ones that interact with the AI,” explained Egbert Von Frankenberg, CEO of Knightfox Apps Design Ltd, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“The AI becomes the tool, and the mindset of people entering the BPO industry from a career standpoint shifts to ‘How do I become a master of utilising AI? How can I analyse data and retrain’?”

Von Frankenburg highlighted the critical importance of training and apprenticeships in adapting to the AI-driven transformation. As AI becomes more prevalent, companies will increasingly seek professionals skilled in programming, data analytics, and creative roles that require human empathy. To remain competitive, outsourcing firms must prioritise training and upskilling initiatives, enabling agents to use AI effectively. While formal education in data analytics holds value, Von Frankenburg emphasised the importance of hands-on, on-the-job training.

“Through the Global Skills Council, we have started to integrate apprenticeships, and we want to foster that more. It’s a dual training approach — you have the on-the-job experience and traditional training, which is going to be supported through programmes like HEART Trust, so that you’re learning on the job but at the same time getting the certification,” he added.

He emphasised that adopting on-the-job training will help create a more skilled and versatile workforce, as opposed to employees who simply work 9-to-5 and go home. He encouraged employees to view this as an opportunity for personal and professional growth. This announcement follows itel’s recent launch of itelligence, an AI-powered platform for customer experience (CX) innovation, introduced in September 2024. The platform enables itel’s employees to transition from traditional call centre roles to using AI tools for data analysis and interpretation. Now known as “super agents,” these employees leverage AI to enhance customer interactions, increasing efficiency and reducing routine transactional tasks.

“Some of the stuff that we’ll see as a benefit with super agents going forward would be like reducing average handle time, as an example, reducing wrap time through stuff like automatic summarisation, giving the agent the ability to not have to look through large amounts of text because the AI agent can actually do the summarisation on the agent’s behalf and have them focus on providing that optimal service to the customer and not the mundane aspect of, you know, going through a lot of repetitive and loads of information to provide that same value,” revealed Duane Williams, chief technology officer at itel.

Itel is also developing a voice agent to directly engage customers, leveraging AI for enhanced interactions.

“We have vast data,” said Von Frankenburg.

“Now we’re cataloguing calls to train the AI on good interactions, enabling virtual agents to handle simple enquiries.”

Itel’s AI will manage routine tasks, such as status updates and basic questions. Complex issues will be transferred to specialised super agents.

“As well, we will have emotional AI that will allow the actual agent to hear from the audio that is spoken to understand the emotion that the customer’s in besides the sentiment of the word that’s being spoken. So it will make the agent a lot more aware of what the customer is that they’re dealing with at that point in time,” he added.

Jamaica’s BPO sector has experienced significant growth over the past decade, expanding from 12,000 employees to over 60,000, according to industry data, up from 55,000 in March 2022. Despite concerns that AI may be contributing to business losses in the BPO sector, Yoni Epstein, CEO of itel, refuted this claim. He noted that a decade ago, Jamaica was not recognised as a major BPO destination.

“Jamaica has evolved. The nearshore market has evolved,” he explained, explaining the recent launch of itelligence at itel’s office in Kingston.

Initially, the call centre industry gravitated towards India, primarily due to lower costs. It later shifted to the Philippines, which offered competitive pricing and a more neutral accent compared to India. However, the focus then moved to nearshore regions like the Caribbean, South America, and Central America, which, while slightly more expensive, provided the advantage of proximity and convenience over distant locations.

“What we have seen in the last 24 months with the evolution of AI is not a situation where business or jobs have been lost because of AI,” Epstein said. “Instead, businesses have been turning to lower-cost destinations, driven largely by inflation, high interest rates, the cost of capital, and potential economic slowdowns. As a result, many departments have faced budget constraints, causing companies to overlook the added value that nearshore destinations provide. Nearshore regions might be more expensive, but they offer cultural affinity and geographic closeness.”

Looking ahead, Epstein believes that itel’s focus on AI, particularly through its itelligence platform, will position it well for the next phase of BPO growth in the region.

“The value we add with our AI capabilities gives us a competitive edge, and this is the advantage of being nimble, small, and focused on the nearshore market, rather than trying to be a global provider spread too thin,” he added.