Teleperformance upbeat on BPO operations in PH despite AI rise

Business process outsourcing (BPO) giant Teleperformance (TP) remains upbeat on the Philippines despite risks from the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which is believed to complement rather than erode the country’s strengths as a global outsourcing hub.

Instead of simply replacing Filipino workers, TP expects AI to augment the advantages that the local BPO industry already offers, such as scale and cost competitiveness.

The company also sees Filipino workers increasingly taking on more complex tasks as AI automates routine work, therefore allowing the Philippines to compete for higher-value operations.

“AI is reshaping work while expanding what people can achieve. For TP, the opportunity is to combine AI with our people’s expertise and emotional intelligence, empowering them to take on more complex work,” TP Philippines CEO Rahul Jolly said in a statement.

Citing an analysis by HSBC Global Investment Research, TP said the feared AI-driven collapse of the Philippine outsourcing industry has so far not materialized.

The Philippine BPO industry generated about $40.3 billion in revenue and employed 1.89 million workers in 2025, according to the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP). The country’s share of global information technology-business process management services headcount also climbed to 17 percent from 15 percent in 2022.

IBPAP further projects the local industry to generate $42.3 billion in revenue in 2026 and reach about $45 billion the following year.

“Philippine business-services exports and employment have continued to expand despite the emergence of generative AI, while AI itself could help strengthen the competitiveness of outsourcing destinations by improving worker productivity, quality control and the ability to deliver services remotely,” TP said.

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For its part, TP continues to invest in the Philippines, recently opening its 29th site in the country at the Four E-Com Center in Pasay City, which is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.

The facility will support global clients expanding their Philippine operations and complement TP’s existing Pasay site at the MAAX Building, which houses more than 5,000 employees.

TP has operated in the Philippines for 30 years and employs about 60,000 people nationwide, with operations across Metro Manila and regional hubs including Cebu, Bacolod, Baguio, Clark, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Laoag and General Santos.