Should You Use Your BPO’s AI Solutions?
Right now, nearly every BPO is rolling out AI tools as part of their service offerings, leaving online retail brands with a strategic question: Should you use your BPO’s AI tools, or adopt your own solution that your BPO may or may not manage.
There’s pros and cons to each option depending on where you are in your business and your AI journey. Let’s break them down so you can consider which option may be right for you.
What BPOs Are Actually Offering Today
Most BPOs are no longer just staffing partners; they’ve become hybrid service providers offering both people and technology. AI is woven into that mix, sometimes in ways that directly benefit you and sometimes in ways that are primarily geared toward their internal efficiency.
Generally, BPOs offer AI three ways.
The first version are internal tools the BPO uses for its own operations. This might be auto-QA systems, AI-assisted coaching, or performance monitoring models. You don’t pay extra for these tools; you simply benefit because the BPO is using them to improve quality and efficiency behind the scenes. This is often the smoothest, easiest version of BPO-led AI adoption. Leveraging these are a no-brainer.
The second version is when the BPO partners with one or more external AI vendors. This is where you might see offerings like an AI chatbot, an AI voice agent, or an AI agent-assist tool that the BPO bundles into your contract. The BPO manages implementation, training, and optimization, and you gain access to technology you didn’t have to evaluate or purchase independently.
The third version is proprietary AI built or exclusively bought by the BPO itself. These are custom AI agents, voice bots, automation suites, or full platform solutions that the BPO wants to position as differentiators. You gain access to the technology, which may be fully managed by the BPO, but only for as long as you’re partnered with the BPO.
The Benefits Of Leaning Into Your BPO’s AI
Taking advantage of your BPO’s AI tools is a low-risk way to explore AI. Many brands appreciate having a partner who already knows the technology, understands the workflows, and can handle the complexity of setup, maintenance, and optimization. For teams who feel overwhelmed by all the changes occurring in the online retail space (and there’s been a lot) or teams that don’t have the capacity to take on AI implementation and management themselves right now, this can be a major sigh of relief and a huge win.
There’s also the financial advantage. Implementing your own AI solution, especially a robust, enterprise platform, comes with a decent price tag your organization may not have a budget for right now. Starting with the BPO’s offering allows you to test, learn, and begin building internal understanding without making a major commitment.
Because the BPO manages both the technology and the humans, improvements also tend to happen more quickly. When the bot isn’t solving or the agent-assist suggestions are off, the BPO’s team can usually see that in real time and make targeted adjustments right away.
The Potential Drawbacks For Using Your BPO’s AI
As AI becomes less of a tool used by any particular department, and more of a greater business infrastructure, outsourcing your AI could limit its full potential to your organization. If your AI stack lives inside your BPO, insights may not be shared as freely across the organization as they would be if the tool lived in your org’s ecosystem.
Another thing to consider is that a BPO’s preferred partner may not be the best tool for your particular brand. Their go-to AI solution may have been selected because it works well for most of their clients. It may have been selected because it was the most cost-effective tool, or the simplest to implement. It’s important to remember that many AI tools are good, but they’re not ALL good for EVERY brand, and had you selected the solution yourself, you may have gone with something different.
There’s also the missed opportunity for you and your team to build your own AI expertise. At this point, AI literacy isn’t optional for CX leaders. It’s a career-critical skill. If you rely entirely on your BPO’s solutions, you may delay the development of that skill. The brands who will excel over the next decade are the ones who understand how to use AI, how to assess it, how to govern it, and how to evolve with it, not just consume it passively.
While a BPO can excel at staffing, training, and customer experience, questions have been raised at how strong a BPO will be when it comes to AI strategy and optimization. Some contact centers have brought this service in smoothly and effectively, while others have the service but it’s lacking. There may also be BPOs that lean too hard into the AI space, taking their attention off the human connection they were founded on.
Lastly, when executed well, AI reduces support volume and handle time, which in-turn reduces headcount. BPOs usually make their money through headcount. While most BPOs genuinely want to bring modern, automated solutions to their clients, and want to improve customer experiences regardless of the method, their financial models can be at odds with AI initiatives.
So What Should You Do?
There’s no universal answer, but there is a smart way to approach the decision.
If you’re early in your AI journey, stretched thin, cautious about the investment, or don’t have the investment, starting with your BPO’s AI tools is a low-risk entry point that makes a lot of sense. You can start gaining experience without a heavy lift or a heavy invoice.
But if you’re a bit more established in your AI journey, you’re comfortable evaluating, managing and investing in a tool yourself, and you’re building out a long-term strategy, then selecting your own solution may bring you the most benefits.
Many brands choose a hybrid path: they start with their BPO’s tools to get familiar with AI, then transition into their own platforms once they understand what they need, what works, and what their team is ready to manage.
