Nelson Morales

BPO industry group says AI creating new jobs, sees growth ahead

Article (news)

Jekki Pascual

ABS-CBN News

MANILA— Artificial intelligence is creating more jobs even as it makes other jobs obsolete, one of the biggest BPO industry groups said on Monday.The Customer Xperience Association of the Philippines (CXAP), formerly the Contact Center Association of the Philippines, said it wants to debunk the notion that AI is negatively affecting the call center industry.The group said that while some jobs were affected, more high-value jobs were created because of the technology.“We understand that AI is changing tasks and changing roles within our industry, but this routine and repetitive work has actually already been something we have addressed in terms of automation for a very long time,” said CXAP Board Director Julian Valenzuela, who is also the President and CEO of Visaya KPO.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780905477436CXAP.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Officials of the Customer Xperience Association of the Philippines discuss the impact of AI on the BPO industry. Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News"/>Officials of the Customer Xperience Association of the Philippines discuss the impact of AI on the BPO industry. Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News</div>CXAP Board Director and Concentrix Philippines Vice President of Client Success &amp; Marketing Tonichi Achurra-Parekh also doubted that AI will replace the human workforce.“We believe that AI will create new types of jobs. And we are ready.”With AI, the group also said it will continue to conduct upskilling trainings and officials believed this will improve company revenues in the long run. They expect revenue per full time employee or FTE will improve because of the higher-skilled workers. In 2025, industry revenue hit $33.9 billion and it forecasts it to be $35.7 billion this year.“We are in the position to increase the revenue generated per FTE. Per FTE 2025 is around 20,000- these are all in dollars. And then 2026, we’re projecting that to be between 21,000 to 22,000,” Enriquez said.The number of workers is also growing. In 2025, there were 1.68 million workers in the sector, up from 1.62 million in 2024. For 2026, it expects 1.73 million agents.“AI prompt engineers, AI trainers, AI quality controllers, even AI ethicists. These jobs are real and are growing in popularity and in demand,’ Enriquez said on some of the jobs available today.The group said it rebranded into the CXAP to highlight the country’s strength as a customer experience center amid the rise of artificial intelligence or AI.The 25-year old association added that the rebrand will help position the Philippines as a hub for AI-ready workers, asserting that AI is creating new jobs in the country.“We need to shout to the world that we can do more than basic contact center transactional services, that we have people who are also tech-ready, we have people who can work hand in hand with technology and deliver better value,” said CXAP President Haidee Enriquez, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Microsourcing and Beepo.CXAP said the biggest challenge is having a trained workforce. It is conduction trainings internally, and it has also partnered with institutions like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to train Filipinos on AI and data skills.

The group said that while some jobs were affected, more high-value jobs were created because of the technology.

The group said that while some jobs were affected, more high-value jobs were created because of the technology.