We’ve been talking about the impending disruption facing BPO for well over a decade now, as maturing AI and automation technologies promise to replace the masses of humanity hired to deal with customer queries, move data from one screen to another, process reams of invoices, claims, and many other office tasks. However, are we finally on the cusp of genuine secular change in the industry commonly known as “BPO”?
Will UnBPO succeed where Robotistan failed?
In fact, we went as far as introducing Robotistan as the new BPO location back in 2012 as RPA solutions launched themselves upon the industry. Somehow, labor-centric BPO has managed to weather the storm as enterprises struggled to scale the technology to do anything beyond piecemeal task automation, hence our declaration of RPA death in 2019. However, as enterprises have gradually run out of excess onshore labor to be replicated offshore, the BPO industry has slowed down considerably, and the only room for further value in the model is to shift away from moving work from humans to lower-wage humans by moving that same work to software.
The industry has been ripe for this transition for many years, but it’s the rapid rise of agentic technology to mimic human work that is about to make the pivotal assault that finally forces the industry to change. The technology is finally here, and there is nowhere left to hide. In short, the rise of GenAI, automation, and digital-native competitors is making legacy BPO look like a relic, and the old model—offshoring, labor arbitrage, FTE pricing—is on life support. Firstsource is betting its future on a radical alternative: “UnBPO.”
CEO Ritesh Idnani, a BPO veteran who has lived and breathed every flavor of BPO for the last two+ decades, unveiled this bold vision at the Emergence customer event, making it clear that this isn’t just another incremental shift, it’s a demolition job on the traditional BPO model. The ambition is for AI-first, networked, outcome-driven operations that render legacy paradigms obsolete. The tenets laid out in the UnBPO playbook are well aligned with the guidance HFS has been giving the industry, and the seeds of real change are being planted with some of the shifts Firstsource is making to its organization and client engagements. But execution is everything. Can Firstsource and the industry make the leap, or is this just another rebranding exercise?
Firstsource CEO Ritesh Idnani unveils Firstsource as the UnBPO Company
The future workforce has to unlearn — there’s no patience for legacy thinking
Forget offshore, nearshore, or onshore. Work has no borders anymore. Firstsource is throwing out the outdated “location strategy” playbook, embracing a truly global workforce where AI, automation, and human expertise operate in sync. The new model isn’t cheap labor, it’s technology arbitrage.
The company’s AI-first mantra—”data for AI, AI in everything, AI for everyone”—signals a pivot from cost-cutting to value creation. This is about augmentation, not elimination. One radical example is how Firstsource now uses AI bots to conduct all first-round hiring interviews. That’s not just automation, it’s rewriting how companies think about talent acquisition.
But talent strategy isn’t just about who does the work, it’s about how they learn, and traditional training models are facing potential extinction. Firstsource is betting on hyper-personalized skilling and real-time learning as a talent game-changer. They are forgoing static training programs in favor of guided decision-making, dynamic prompts, and AI-driven agent support in the moment. Firstsource’s workforce will need to unlearn outdated processes and mindsets quickly to keep up. As Idnani put it, “The only metric we want employees to think about is what value did you add to your customer today?” That’s the kind of metric that forces transformation—or exposes the cracks.
AI translation is smashing the global talent market. Location no longer matters.
One of the most disruptive forces in the contact center industry today is the rise of AI-driven language translation capabilities. If companies can use AI to remove language barriers, they can literally hire anywhere. Firstsource is already deploying live agent voice translation, meaning an agent in Bogotá can seamlessly serve a customer in Tokyo. This flattens the global talent market, unlocking labor pools previously off-limits due to language constraints.
This has profound implications for the BPO industry. For Firstsource, this is a competitive advantage—if it scales. But it also introduces risk. AI-driven translation depends on data quality, compliance, and regulatory alignment. Firstsource’s mission will be scaling AI translation without introducing compliance nightmares or degrading customer experience.
Firstsource aims to kill headcount-based pricing, focusing the customer on value, not “effort”
Perhaps the most aggressive part of Firstsource’s UnBPO model is its rejection of traditional BPO pricing. Firstsource is pushing for risk-sharing and outcome-based pricing—aligning revenue to value delivered, not hours worked. Firstsource is riding a wave of aggressive growth in 2024, outpacing struggling mid-tier competitors by doubling down on AI, automation, and digital CX (see chart below). Its strategic acquisitions—Ascensos, Quintessence, and AccunAI—signal a clear intent to lead, not follow. In our current market discussions, an increasing number of enterprises are far more open to an AI-first mindset to procuring services, with 6-out-of-10 declaring they are ready to move a large amount of their services into a services-as-software model by 2030. We are also seeing many enterprises start to value the services platform they are buying as opposed to the number of bodies required to execute for them. This is where the game finally changes for services as the customer focus shifts from effort to value.
This is surely the calm before the storm when enterprise customers are ready to UnBPO themselves
Furthermore, Firstsource’s rising headcount is a direct response to its business expansion, fueled by new client wins, strategic acquisitions, and an increasing demand for AI-augmented services. Unlike traditional BPOs that add headcount primarily for labor-intensive contracts, Firstsource’s growth strategy is tied to scaling its AI-first, automation-driven service model. But hypergrowth comes with high stakes. Scaling headcount while shifting to outcome-based pricing is a balancing act—one that introduces revenue unpredictability just as Firstsource is making massive bets on AI and workforce transformation. Clients love the concept, an many have declared they are ready to commit at scale. This is surely the calm before the storm when enterprise customers are ready to UnBPO themselves.
Firstsource’s UnBPO vision hits all the right notes, but the transformation is only just beginning. The growth tear that was 2024 indicates a good start. However, heavy AI investments, workforce restructuring, and non-linear revenue models create unpredictability. Investors and clients will be watching closely. The real test will be whether Firstsource can consistently deliver measurable outcomes enough to make this model viable in the long term.
The Bottom Line: AI is flattening the global workforce and upending BPO. UnBPO is a whole new way of thinking, working and partnering. Only the strong – and courageous – will survive.
Firstsource just put BPO on notice. It’s not just talking about transformation—it’s daring the entire industry to burn the old playbook.
AI is flattening the global workforce, killing off legacy BPO, and redefining what service delivery means. The challenge is execution. Firstsource’s vision is compelling, but it requires massive change to survive the brutal realities of enterprise adoption, financial sustainability, and workforce resistance. One thing is certain: BPO firms that cling to outdated models will be left in the dust. Firstsource has thrown down the gauntlet. Now the industry has to decide—evolve or be erased.
Posted in : Agentic AI, AGI, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Buyers' Sourcing Best Practices, GenAI, Generative Enterprise
