Amplitude of Tech welcomed Andrew Griffiths of Outsource Consultants for a practical conversation with Shawn Cordner, CMO at Amplix. They covered what BPO really means, how AI is reshaping contact centers, when outsourcing is smart, and when it is not.
Featuring: Andrew Griffiths (Outsource Consultants) with Shawn Cordner (Amplix)
Episode Snapshot
BPO vs Offshoring:
Outsourcing is about who does the work, not where it happens. Offshoring simply refers to geography. You can outsource onshore, nearshore, or offshore depending on your goals. You might engage a domestic contact center in the U.S. or a nearshore team in Colombia. The distinction is expertise and scope, not distance.
AI’s real value:
Less about instant cost cuts and more about better outcomes, budget creation, and scalable growth.
Right work to the right worker:
Machines handle repetitive tasks. Humans handle complex, emotional, high-stakes moments.
Boardroom language:
Tie CX initiatives to churn, revenue, and risk. Speak outcomes, not acronyms.
Flexibility by design:
Architect for today’s needs while keeping pivot options for future scenarios.
6 Big Ideas You Can Use
1) Define the terms before you decide
Outsourcing is a model. Offshoring is a location choice. Choose the model that fits your compliance, language, and cost goals, then decide where it should live. Many organizations now blend onshore, nearshore, and offshore delivery to balance cost with control and business continuity.
2) AI should fund better experiences
Start by optimizing labor to create budget. Then invest in AI for deflection, QA, analytics, and coaching. Companies that reinvest savings from automation into customer experience consistently report stronger retention and growth. The goal is not to spend less but to redirect resources toward experiences that build loyalty and revenue.
3) Trust is part of the design
Customers want automation for speed and people for confidence. 78% of consumers will abandon a brand if they cannot reach a human when needed. Use AI to handle repetitive or low-value tasks so agents can focus on complex, emotional moments where empathy and judgment drive loyalty. Trust is not a byproduct of CX; it is the metric that sustains it.
4) Flex for uncertainty
Choose partners that can scale capacity up or down and support multiple geographies. The right outsourcing model can absorb seasonal spikes and regulatory shifts without needing a complete rebuild. Flexibility is now part of operational resilience, with growing emphasis on real-time oversight of third-party providers.
5) Train faster with proof
Combine brand-specific training content with AI role play and proficiency checks so agents don’t “practice” on real customers. AI-driven simulations have shown more than a 50% reduction in manual onboarding time and around a 30% improvement in key interaction outcomes, proving that better training drives measurable CX results.
6) Sell the outcome internally
Executives fund growth, risk reduction, and margin improvement. Translate NPS, CSAT, and handle time into business metrics such as churn, revenue per customer, and cost to serve. Companies leading in CX outperform peers on revenue growth by more than five times. Speak the language of impact, not acronyms.
Myths vs Realities
Myth: AI will slash costs across the board
Reality: AI is reshaping operations, but it is not a silver bullet for cost reduction. The short-term gains often come from automating low-complexity tasks, while the lasting value comes from improving consistency, quality, and decision speed. CX leaders are finding that when AI is funded through labor optimization and then reinvested into experience design, it becomes a growth engine rather than a budget cut. The competitive advantage is not cheaper service but smarter allocation of human and digital capacity to the right moments in the customer journey.
Myth: Outsourcing fixes broken processes
Reality: A BPO can optimize and scale, but it can’t repair misaligned workflows or unclear ownership inside your organization. In today’s environment, high-performing partners act as strategic co-architects, mapping processes, data flows, and performance levers alongside internal teams. The most successful CX executives treat outsourcing as a catalyst for process clarity, not a replacement for it. When both sides share KPIs and governance models, efficiency follows naturally.
Myth: Offshoring always means lower quality
Reality: The assumption that offshore means less capable is outdated. In many global markets, contact center work is a respected profession with structured career paths and sophisticated quality systems. The difference now is transparency and control. Leaders can monitor performance, sentiment, and compliance in real time across regions. The right partner network provides access to multilingual talent and cultural adaptability without sacrificing brand standards. The future of quality is hybrid, where talent, technology, and trust operate as one integrated ecosystem.
Decision Guide: Is a BPO the right move right now?
Use a BPO if you need:
- Capacity and resiliency: Seasonal peaks, rapid scaling, multi-geo continuity
- Specialization: Healthcare, legal, multilingual, regulated workflows
- Budget creation: Unlock funds to pilot AI and customer journey upgrades
- Speed to competency: Faster training, QA at scale, analytics that surface fixes
Press pause if you are:
- Early stage without clarity: You still need direct feedback to shape the offer and voice of the brand
- Process-broken: Fix the workflow first so outsourcing accelerates value instead of amplifying problems
Exec Translation Cheat Sheet
- Reduce churn instead of improve CSAT
- Increase ARPU instead of better upsell scripts
- Lower cost to serve instead of cut AHT
- Mitigate risk instead of improve QA coverage
Quotable Moments
- “The ideal future state scenario is humans doing meaningful work that help other humans and the machines taking care of the mind-numbing stuff.”
- “I’m absolutely convinced that the future of a person talking to a person is going to be stronger than it is now.”
- “Don’t think that a broken process internally outsourced automatically fixes itself.”
Ready to map your path?
Book your CX Strategy Call to get a practical, vendor-neutral plan that aligns people, process, and AI with your growth targets.
