AI impact on IT-BPM industry fuels future growth

Cebu is set to host the Contact Islands 2024 this July, bringing industry leaders to talk about future growth prospects.

Photo shows an aerial view of Cebu IT Park, home to the province’s call center and IT-BPM companies. Throughout the years, the industry has generated thousands of jobs and investments in Cebu. /Contributed photo

The Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said that generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has generated positive impact not just to contact center companies but also to the entire Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) industry.

Cebu is home to the country’s second bustling IT-BPM hub after Metro Manila, generating thousands of jobs and investments in this sector.

The CCAP is set to facilitate discussions about the influence of AI and other significant issues to local call center operations here in Cebu.

The 145-member organization is inviting key leaders and representatives from contact center and IT-BPM firms, local and national government, the academe, and thought leaders to the Contact Islands 2024 this July 24 to 26, 2024 at the Fili Hotel Nustar in Cebu City.

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CCAP: Impact of generative AI on IT-BPM industry positive

The annual sectoral conference sets the stage for pivotal discussions about pressing concerns affecting contact center and IT-BPM sector as AI continues to alter the landscape amid a dynamic global economy and an evolving geopolitical climate.

“We firmly assert that AI will continue to help make our industry become more resilient and generate more revenues, contradicting fears of some concerned parties,” CCAP president Mickey Ocampo said. “People may not be fully aware, but AI has already been widely used through the chatbots we encounter online and even through the mobile features and applications we use daily. That usefulness can further strengthen our industry.”

Contact Islands 2024 will serve as a platform for showcasing innovations, highlighting best practices, and moderating dialogues as member-companies unite in taking the path towards realizing the IT-BPM industry’s 2028 roadmap.

Continuously growing sector

Based on data from global research firm Everest Group, the sector posted an annual revenue of $29.5 billion in 2023. That accounts for almost 83 percent of the entire IT-BPM industry revenue of $35.5 billion.

The Philippine IT-BPM industry has set an annual revenue target of $59 billion by the year 2028. The Contact Center Industry is expected to account for about 83 percent of that amount, or around $49 billion.

Ocampo asserted that AI could logically boost productivity in the workplace by enabling contact center agents to focus on more important and complex transactions, which could ultimately make the overall experience much better—for agents and customers alike.

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In the past several months, several legislators have called on the national government to regulate or even prevent the integration of AI into the IT-BPM industry. Those include Senators Imee Marcos and Risa Hontiveros— both coming from two opposing political inclinations—who think AI might eliminate jobs.

“Just like how we overcame data privacy challenges years ago, CCAP member companies are continuously re-skilling and upskilling our agents to update and upgrade them to the constantly changing demand of our clients and technology,” he said. AI itself will create more jobs related to the engineering, maintenance, and upgrade of AI applications.

Employment in the local contact center sector grew 9.4 percent year-on-year in 2023. That figure exceeded the overall growth rate of the IT-BPM industry of 8.6 percent. About 1.51 million contact center agents were employed in 2023, accounting for 89 percent of the entire IT-BPM employment of 1.70 million full-time employees.