BPrO President Ana Karina Quessep Tells Finance Colombia How the CX Summit Became the Region’s Must-Attend Contact Center Event

25 years on, BPrO’s leader on building a world-class CX agenda

Ana Karina Quessep is the executive president of the Asociación Colombiana de BPO (BPrO), the trade association representing Colombia’s contact center and business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, and the driving force behind its annual CX Summit. Loren Moss, founder and publisher of Finance Colombia, spoke with Quessep in Cartagena as BPrO marked its twenty-fifth anniversary. The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.

Finance Colombia: I’m here another year, another success, with Ana Karina Quessep. Ana — the head of BPrO, a youthful and tireless advocate for the contact center industry for over 25 years. BPrO this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the event, the CX Summit, just keeps getting better. What do you consider to be the reason for the growth of BPrO, which started 25 years ago with 10 founding members and now has over 100?

Ana Karina Quessep: Well, actually, it’s been a great journey, and it’s a team effort, obviously — and it’s about how the sector has evolved, and all the companies established in Colombia, and those that also come to Colombia to do business. Obviously, growing the sites in Colombia helps us work better in order to have a better delivery. And one of the main things, I guess, is how we combine the academic agenda with all the commercial side — the booths and all the commercial partners are here. So I think that’s the most important thing, and that’s why we’ve been growing a lot.

“It’s been a great journey, and it’s a team effort.” — Ana Karina Quessep, executive president of BPrO

Finance Colombia: You know, you mentioned the academic sessions, the keynote speakers. I go to a lot of events. I just got back in the country Monday — I was at two different events, one in Las Vegas and one in Washington, DC — and I got back home here to Colombia and I was like, “I can’t wait to get home.” They were like, “But you’re a gringo.” I was like, “I want to go to Rionegro, Antioquia.” But the interesting thing is that, normally, at a lot of these events, the stands take the focus; and here we’ve got some great exhibitors, but the quality of the keynote speakers… I felt bad, because I felt like I couldn’t be out here mingling — I didn’t want to miss this session, and then the next session, and then the next keynote speaker. How do you attribute the success and the quality of the speakers? How do you find these people? You just had a big consultant from the United States who gave a speech, and at the end — who knew? — she’s Colombian. She grew up in the US. I had no idea. What’s your secret to the quality of speakers and attendees you have participating in the conference?

Ana Karina Quessep: Well, actually, it’s not an easy task, but we start with an academic committee. As soon as we finish here, we start searching for the right speakers and figuring out how we’re going to put together the whole agenda for next year. And one of the things is that I travel a lot, too, and I visit other countries and other conferences and try to summarize the best of the best and then bring it here — because it’s easier for Colombian companies, and companies from the region, to come to Colombia than to go to maybe Vegas. I mean, it’s very far away. But this is how we manage. So we have an academic committee, and we talk with the speakers and try to find the best every year. That’s basically it. And the other thing is that we do a panel survey at the end of the year in order to know what the companies want to hear at the next event. So, you know, we combine the committee, the search, and the survey — that’s how we build the agenda.

Finance Colombia: You’ve certainly figured it out. And I’ll let you go, because I know you have to mingle and you’re extremely busy. But I’m looking forward to the awards — in just a couple of hours we’ll know who won. Every year you have the awards, and they’re great, and I know the rigorous judging that takes place. So I’m super excited. I highly recommend this. I’ve talked to other people here at the event, and everybody is giving us positive feedback, saying this is the must-attend event — not just for Colombia, but for the region. So thanks so much. It’s great to see you again, and count on our enthusiastic support and collaboration always.

Ana Karina Quessep: Thank you so much to you, and for always being faithful to this event. I hope to see you next year.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. Count on it.