Her presentation explored the “platinum rule” of leadership, which is treating people the way they want to be treated, as well as the changing expectations of different generations entering the workforce.

With Colombia’s BPO industry employing a large and increasingly younger workforce, Walden, A Colombian with roots in Santander, discussed how leaders can better engage Gen Z employees, build psychological safety, improve communication, and adapt to a rapidly changing global workplace shaped by technology, globalization, and shared experiences such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finance Colombia’s Executive Editor Loren Moss was able to speak with Walden about her concepts and guidance for innovative employers in any industry sector.

Finance Colombia: We’re here at the CX Summit 2026. I’m with Lisa Walden. You’re quite the superstar. There’s been such a line of people looking at your book, The Future of Work is Human. You gave a great talk, and it’s exciting to have you here. At the end, there was a big surprise for me. I heard you speaking pretty good Spanglish, and then I learned you’re Colombian.

Lisa Walden: Yes, I am.

Finance Colombia: Wow, that’s so cool.

Lisa Walden: Yeah, I think so too. I very much represent Colombian pride as much as I can. This necklace is actually from Colombia, so I wanted to be wearing it on stage with me.

Finance Colombia: Great. And we could talk for an hour about that, but I think we want to talk about your presentation today. You gave an interesting talk, and you also have a book about this: how to relate to people differently in the workplace.You talked about the Golden Rule, which is to treat people the way you would want to be treated, but then—

Lisa Walden: The Platinum Rule.

Finance Colombia: Yes, exactly. The Platinum Rule: treat people the way they would want to be treated.

Lisa Walden: Yes, exactly.

Finance Colombia: Which is all the difference in the world, isn’t it?

Lisa Walden: Yeah. We don’t live in a one-size-fits-all world. Being able to know how to customize your leadership approach for the people you’re leading is the way to do it better: to lead in a more human-specific, nuanced way.

I know that’s hard. It’s not easy to do that if you have a team of 20. But that’s why I always say micro moves are your best friends. Think about what micro adjustments you can make that will help you connect and lead more effectively.

Finance Colombia: Something else that you touched on was interesting: how leaders in businesses — and that doesn’t just mean managers and directors, but leaders of all types, no matter their title — interact with people from different generations.

In a way, this can become a stereotype when people talk about Baby Boomers, Gen X, and other generations. But I think the message is to understand the people on your team and relate to them in a way that makes sense and is productive for both the organization and the individual. Is that the gist of it?

Lisa Walden: Oh yeah, 100%. As you said, sometimes people use these generational names as stereotypes, and I really caution against that.

It’s more a lens that you see other people through. It’s one piece of information, one additional bit of texture and nuance to how you lead, but you have to do the work yourself as well.

You have to find out, as individuals, what their preferences are, how they like to receive feedback, how they like to be appreciated, and what their style of work is. When you gain all that information, that’s what really helps you be a better leader.

Finance Colombia: Now, your consultancy has a business partner, and you both do consulting aside from having written a book together.

Lisa Walden: We have it here!

Finance Colombia: The Future of Work is Human. We’ll link to it, of course. Beautiful cover, by the way.

Lisa Walden: Thank you. We worked really hard on that. The first few we received were a no, but we landed on something good.

Finance Colombia: Great. My question is: what do you do as partners in your consultancy? What’s the purpose of the business, and what type of clients do you serve?

Lisa Walden: Our very tongue-in-cheek mission is to help people create workplaces that don’t suck.

We used to work together at an organization as generational consultants, and everyone would say, “Oh, we love your job. It’s so awesome. How do we work for you?”

We identified the gaps where people could focus more on the humans in the workplace and decided to make it our mission to help people create workplaces that don’t suck — but even better, make awesome workplaces.

The work that we do is focused on that people-first lens. We look at generations at work: Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z. We look at building psychological safety and trust, communication, and compassionate leadership.

Mostly, we deliver this content at meetings, associations, and events. But we also go into organizations. We do team building, workshops, and consulting engagements when a client comes to us with a very specific ask.

Our mission is simple: helping people create workplaces that don’t suck. The way we disseminate that information and pursue that mission is pretty varied.

Finance Colombia: That’s fascinating. Is there a website or a way people who might need that service can get in touch with you?

Lisa Walden: Absolutely. You can find me on LinkedIn. My name is Lisa X Walden, and you can find me easily with the X Walden. The X is for my middle name, Ximena, which is very common here in Colombia.

You can find us on Instagram at @goodcompanyconsulting, and you can also find our website at www.goodcompanyconsulting.com.

Finance Colombia: Lastly – and you’ve been very generous with your time – I love seeing the interest. We’ve been standing here and people keep coming up to you, which is amazing.

Lisa Walden: It’s cool.

Finance Colombia: I’ve been coming to this event for about 15 years, and I’ve never seen that kind of response. I’ve seen other popular people, but not like that. That’s really impressive for the keynotes.

Lisa Walden: Wow. Thank you for saying that.

Finance Colombia: What are the takeaways that people in the BPO industry specifically can use and apply?

Also, you talked about life-defining events and the things we remember — whether it’s 9/11 or other major events. It’s fascinating because you look at the parallels and differences between Colombia and other generations.

I think about the older generation when they think about the Bogotazo, when the presidential candidate was killed and everything that happened afterward. Were there differences that you found, or any surprises as you prepared for this and unpacked that?

Lisa Walden: I focused mostly on Gen Z because that was my ask. It sounds like for many BPOs, a vast majority of their employees are within that generational age range.

Gen Z right now is between 16 and 30, so I really focused on them in my interviews and research for this event.

I’ll also say that when we look at generations, the way we talk about them is through events and conditions during formative years — roughly your teenage years. Of course, a different country is going to have different formative events for different generations.

For Gen Z, there is so much that’s similar because of globalization, the internet, COVID, and technology. We have access to the same types of things, so they are showing up much more similarly across the board than older generations.

Of course, there are some uniting events. For example, I asked the room, “What is an event or condition you remember from your formative years?” I want to say there was a Millennial in the room who said 9/11, and a Colombian Millennial who said a Colombian event.

There are shared events and conditions globally, but for Gen Z, there are so many of them. I went in knowing that, but I was surprised to find the level of similarity between how that is shaping them at work.

Things like really prioritizing mental health, prioritizing their own wellness, and pushing for work-life harmony — that’s what we call it. It’s not balance, but it’s about getting resources from work that make them better people outside of work and then being able to unplug after work so they can be better at their work when they come back.

They also have a different association with people in positions of authority and a different kind of work ethic, I would say. It can push some people because it’s different from what they’ve seen in the past.

We see that cyclical conversation: “Oh, this generation doesn’t want to work anymore.”

What really surprised me was the similarities and how many there were. It was truly shocking, even as a generational researcher, to say: “Wow, the similarities across these countries are pretty staggering.”

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. We’re all on the same internet and connected. If you look at globalization, Colombians consuming US content and people in the US being able to access channels from Uzbekistan and Bangladesh on their cable systems now — it’s a different world.

Lisa Walden: Yep, exactly. You can see the whole world now. So yeah, it makes sense.

Finance Colombia: Great. You’ve been so generous with your time. Thanks so much. It’s an honor to talk to you, and it’s been a lot of fun.

Lisa Walden: Thank you for having me. It’s such a pleasure. I’m just happy to be here.

Finance Colombia: Great.

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.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Brad Cleveland. It’s great to see you again, Brad. I’ve known you for a long time and been an admirer, as the founder of ICMI. I’ve been kind of an outside affiliate for a lot of years, as a judge for the awards that you all have. We’re here in Cartagena, Colombia, at the CX Summit put on by BPrO, which is the industry association here in Colombia. And it’s quite a nice surprise to see you here. Is this your first time at the CX Summit here in Colombia?

Brad Cleveland: It is, Loren, and great to see you. I know we’ve run into each other at a bunch of other events, and to be here in Colombia — yeah, this is my first time, and I’m really enjoying it.

Finance Colombia: Wonderful. I hope that after the event, whatever you do, you take a couple of days to go out and enjoy it and see things. We’re here in Cartagena, which is a beautiful, historic city. There’s so much to see.

I always try to do that when I’m here on business. But let me ask you: yesterday, you talked about leadership in customer experience, and I believe you also have a book that’s recently come out on that topic. Leadership is such a broad topic. Every industry talks about how important it is. LinkedIn is flooded with posts on leadership — but what is it about customer experience that prompted you to write this latest book? You talked about that yesterday, and that’s why I want to touch on it, because it’s a theme that is obviously very important and that you’ve given a lot of thought to.

Brad Cleveland: Yeah, well, thanks for the question. You’re on the right track. I would say there’s so much on leadership. I felt that customer experience needed more structure in terms of leadership. So Leading the Customer Experience covers the 10 pillars, starting with: what’s your vision, and the values behind that? And then it goes chapter by chapter. The second is that we’ve got to get our team on board. We really need them on board as we establish our vision, right? So these things do work together. And then there’s the customer engagement, the customer service, and the customer advocacy that we put in place as a culture; the budget — that’s a chapter. How do we budget for this? So the idea was to really lay this out step by step — not the customer experience cookie cutter. It’s big. It’s everything. It’s products, services, processes, our brand, our reputation. But I felt like there was a place for a little more structure in how we lead this.

Finance Colombia: You know, you bring up several good points right there, because a lot of times companies… And you see the companies that — not to overuse the word — lead in this area get it, and they integrate the customer experience into the whole fabric of who they are as a company.  And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a consumer products company like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Smucker (NYSE: SJM), or Nike (NYSE: NKE) that doesn’t necessarily interact with its end user on a day-to-day basis, or those companies that do. We both got here on airlines.

And the airline industry is going through a lot of changes, and people are trying to figure out how to get it right. One of the things — when we talk about leadership — that I see and that concerns me is how AI, which I think overall is a good thing, is being implemented into CX, and how the decisions are being made around that. And my concern is not like a lot of people’s: “Oh, it’s going to replace all the jobs, it’s going to replace everything.” It’s not so much that. But if you remember — I’m old enough to remember — back in the ’90s when IVRs came out, everybody, especially the telecom carriers, went to replace everything with interactive voice response (IVR) systems. And you’d get into a loop. First they tried to have voice — that rudimentary voice recognition — and it would say, “I don’t understand. Can you repeat that?” And you’d get into this loop and you could never get out; you could never reach anybody. They just thought they could turn on this IVR system, fire everybody, go home, and everybody would be happy. It didn’t quite work out that way. I feel like it’s déjà vu all over again. Is there a breakdown in leadership, or what do you see that could be precipitating this?

Brad Cleveland: Well, there were predictions out of the World Economic Forum in Davos back in the 1990s that the internet was going to take over customer service. That proved to be exactly wrong. I mean, the internet grew the need for customer service. We’re seeing much the same with AI. It is a powerful, powerful capability, but we can’t make the same mistakes we’ve made in the past. There are three levels of value, and here’s how I like to think about this. The first level is efficiency. We’ve got to be efficient at what we do. A second level is customer experience: are we making things easier and better for our customers? The third level is strategic: what are we learning in the course of serving our customers that can help us improve products, services, and processes? This is a goldmine of insight. So right now, much of the industry is focused on, “Well, we’ve got this work — how can AI help with it?” Oh, and then there’s agentic AI, and there’s this and there’s that. We’ve got to think of all three levels and really put ourselves in our customers’ shoes: what’s going to work best at all three levels, where AI can be a partner with us — and a powerful one — if we use it right.

Finance Colombia: I think that’s key. People look at it too much as a line on a spreadsheet and say, “Hey, this can reduce these costs.” And yes, it can, but you can do it the right way and you can do it the wrong way. It’s just like there’s nothing at all wrong with running a BPO in India, for example — not to pick on India. There’s nothing wrong with doing that in itself, but so many people did it wrong. India wasn’t the problem; the way they implemented it was the problem.

Brad Cleveland: Well, right. And the same with our team, the same with technologies. It’s really all a matter of going back to our vision and values, and then the support behind that to make it work. Steve Jobs once said — and we’ve all heard this quote, but it’s a good one, and there’s a reason we repeat it so often: “You’ve got to start with the customer and then work back to the technology.” And the same thing is true with anything. You’ve got to start with the customer and then work back to our standards, our objectives, the processes we’re putting in place, the technology — everything to support that.

Finance Colombia: You know, I just had a problem at home with our fiber internet to the house, and I was so upset. I said, “Well, I’ll just change to the other company.” So I went to the other company’s sales channels, and they had tried to implement these automated chatbots. And I was ready — I was so mad at the other company that I was ready to buy. And I got put into a loop. I can show you — I can pick up the phone and show you where they never answered their own system that they had implemented. So that’s a failure on their part. And I sat there thinking to myself: if there were a third telecom option, an additional option, that would charge me more money but give me somebody to handle a problem when I have one, I would pay 20% more, maybe even 30% more. You can’t get ridiculous, but I would pay more.

Brad Cleveland: And the surveys all say that we all want it to be easy. Here’s the irony: it costs less internally to do a great job and to really involve humans where humans are best, because we’re going to get your business, right? And we’re going to have those problems solved so they don’t come back over and over. You put a pencil to that, and it doesn’t cost more to provide better service. It’s very rewarding to the budget side of things.

Finance Colombia: You can charge more, too. I’m not a rich guy, but I did not fly in the budget economy here. I paid more. I didn’t fly first class or anything, but I paid more to get the extra legroom and the free boarding and those little things. So you can charge more, too. Don’t be afraid to do that. There are people out there who will pay. There’s always going to be the bargain basement, but there are people who will pay for that experience. Now, I don’t want to take up too much time, because I see lunch is starting — I don’t want us to starve here. But I do want to mention that ICMI’s Contact Center Expo is coming up, I believe, October 27th to 30th. It’s always at the Loews Royal Pacific in Orlando, unless it’s been moved or something.

Brad Cleveland: Yes, it’s there this year again.

Finance Colombia: Okay, I’ve got to make my reservations. I always make my reservations early. So if you could — is there a website? I know ICMI is part of Informa. And if you don’t have it, don’t worry, we’ll add it in the lower thirds.

Brad Cleveland: Yeah, you can find it easily just by going to ICMI.com and looking for events — it’ll drop down. And, yeah, I’ve got to make my reservations as well. It’s coming up. It’s going to be a great conference. It’s an important time right now, with all the developments taking shape.

Finance Colombia: And ICMI — I’m there almost every year. It’s so important. It’s worth it. It’s a great conference, just like this one. It’s not a huge convention like something in Las Vegas, but it’s where you interact with your peers. Just like here at the CX Summit, there’s always a lot of thought put into the keynotes. You always leave not just inspired, but having learned something. And it’s big enough to be worthwhile, but small enough to really interact with people — not just the vendors, but colleagues. And I think that colleague interaction is a lot more important. Last question for you: what’s your impression — not just of your first time in Colombia, which I know you haven’t really seen outside of the lovely Hilton — but of the Customer Experience Summit put on by BPrO?

Brad Cleveland: I have loved it so far. It’s a great event, very focused on not just the technology and not just the management part, but the heart of customer experience — how it’s impacting our cultures, our future, our families. There have been some really great sessions that give a comprehensive view of where things are going and how important customer experience is to all of us. And just while we’re here — the food, the people are great. It’s just been a fun experience.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. Just like with Informa, just like with ICMI, they’ve got great leadership at BPrO and CX Summit, and I think that makes a difference.

Brad Cleveland: Yeah, what a great team. What a great team they have.

Finance Colombia: Great. Brad, see you in October.

Brad Cleveland: Thanks, Loren. See you soon. Thank you.

The Asociación Colombiana de BPO (BPrO) has scheduled the 2026 CX Summit to take place in Cartagena, Colombia. The event, marking the 25th anniversary of the gremio, will gather more than 1,300 business executives and international specialists to analyze the evolution of the customer experience industry. The summit occurs as Colombia solidifies its position as a regional hub for knowledge-based services, a sector that currently represents approximately 3.5% of the national gross domestic product.

Scheduled for May 6 and 7, 2026, at the Hotel Hilton Cartagena, the conference will operate under the theme The Age of Intelligent CX. Discussions will focus on the integration of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and human empathy within digital economies. According to Ana Karina Quessep, executive president of BPrO, the integration of technology and human talent has become a critical factor for corporate and national competitiveness in demanding global markets.

“The organizations that manage to integrate intelligence, technology, and human talent are those making the difference in increasingly demanding markets.” — Ana Karina Quessep, Executive President of BPrO.

The speaker lineup includes Brad Cleveland, a strategist in customer experience; Tricia Wang, an ethnographer focusing on the intersection of data and human behavior; and Lisa X. Walden, an author specializing in workplace culture. Other confirmed participants include Efrén Martínez and Nicolás Uribe, who will address organizational well-being and digital transformation in Latin America.

On May 5, prior to the main summit, BPrO will host the GBS Experience. This session is designed to examine Colombia’s role as a strategic platform for Global Business Services and shared service centers. In collaboration with Chazey Partners, ProColombia, and Invest in Bogota, BPrO is developing a comprehensive study of the 2026 industry figures. This research aims to serve as the official reference for the Centros de Servicios Compartidos (CSC) and GBS sectors in the country, providing updated data on their economic impact and operational reach.

The event will include networking sessions and a commercial exhibition featuring representatives from the technology, financial, telecommunications, and retail sectors. Registration and the full agenda are available through the official event website. BPrO currently represents over 100 member companies specializing in customer relationship management and the broader service value chain in the US and Latin America.

In this interview, Loren Moss, executive editor of Finance Colombia, spoke with Esteban Carril, Managing Director for Latin America at Chazey Partners, about the company’s latest innovative offering: FlexBPO. This unique service delivery solution is designed to provide organizations with flexibility and agility in outsourcing key support functions such as Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, and IT.

With Chazey Partners’ deep expertise in guiding companies in establishing and optimizing shared services centers, particularly in the Latin American region, FlexBPO presents a novel approach to the outsourcing landscape. The conversation explores the benefits and unique aspects of FlexBPO, delving into when this model is most appropriate for organizations looking for a more adaptable and efficient outsourcing strategy.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Esteban Carril. We’re here in Bogotá at the Four Seasons, lovely Four Seasons Casa Medina. You just had an event, and it’s interesting because I’ve known you for about 15 years, and to see how Chazey Partners has grown and evolved… However, one of the things I wanted to discuss is that you have just introduced something truly unique in the sector, called FlexBPO. Could you tell us a little bit about FlexBPO?

Esteban Carril: Well, thank you very much for the time, Loren. Yes, absolutely. I mean, given our experience, our track record in implementing captive organizations across the different countries in Latin America, we found out that there are a number of companies, especially in the US, that are looking for more flexibility when it comes to BPO. And we’re offering a kind of captive organization, but being managed by us and empowered by our intelligent automation team, including our transformational background, so this is unique in terms of the value offer, right?

Finance Colombia: Yeah, I was going to say because we have traditional BPO and then Chazey has such a track record in consulting with shared services, companies that possibly are migrating away from BPO and setting up their own shared services operation, especially in Latin America; strong, of course, here in Colombia, places like Costa Rica, Mexico, even Brazil. But this FlexBPO, it really is kind of a new concept. And when is it appropriate for an organization to explore? I don’t want to say hybrid model because hybrid already kind of has a meaning in our industry.

But when is it something that you think makes sense for a company?

Esteban Carril: There are two different types of targets, right? Some companies already have BPOs, and they are not very happy, especially when it comes to analytical work or when it comes to real-time processing or customer-facing roles. So there are several companies, especially in the US, that are not very happy with the existing performance of their BPO providers, and that’s where it becomes an opportunity to move to this FlexBPO model.

There are other companies where you see various mature GBS organizations that they already captured a lot of benefits and a lot of efficiencies, and there is an opportunity to get additional value through transformation and intelligent automation through FlexBPO. So I would probably say both, right? I mean, we have both types of companies where we’re currently targeting this service.

Finance Colombia: I think that it’s an innovative model. I know that you guys are going to have a lot of traction. But I want to shift gears a little bit as well, because Chazey has gone through a lot of growth and evolution, so if we talk more broadly, I think you guys have something like over 150 consultants now, but over 3,000 people altogether on your team. And I know that you guys went through a kind of structural change, you guys took on a strategic partner. Give us a little bit, because we haven’t had a chance to talk for a while, you know…

So maybe give us an update on what’s happening with Chazey Partners.

Esteban Carril: Absolutely, so our company was acquired back in the year 2022 by a big BPO provider called QX Global Group, and this group was looking to provide services, especially in Latin America and the Americas in general. So we’re bringing the transformation and consulting arm that most of the BPO providers currently don’t have, and at the same time, we are leveraging all their experience and practices for the BPO environment, so we can offer them through our FlexBPO model. So this is really a very interesting model, because we mix our consulting background with our BPO background from our parent company to come up with a unique offer to our clients.

“I was surprised by the English skill sets that the new generations are bringing, especially when it comes to near-shoring operations.” – Esteban Carril

Finance Colombia: Now, here at today’s event that you guys sponsored for shared services, you talked about the impact that AI is having. What are the types of challenges that you see with your clients when it comes to adopting, you know, you’ve got some name brand clients here, I don’t want to necessarily name them without permission, that’s, you know, some companies are proud of it, some companies have different reasons… But still, I remember, if you remember back five years ago with the pandemic, everybody was talking about technological debt and the ability to be agile and move from an on-premises to a remote modality, and that was kind of the big thing, and now we look at generative AI. And where are you finding the need and the ability to help your clients, and what are the pain points that they’re coming to you to help them navigate?

Esteban Carril: So there are several challenges right now, right? When we’re thinking about intelligent automation, the first challenge that comes to mind is mainly to build internal capabilities when it comes to, you know, trying to build an internal team to develop bots and maintain bots, etc., etc. So that’s number one. I think there’s a unique requirement in trying to build the capability internally within the companies.

Number two is when it comes to master data management. Most of the companies, they don’t have the right data to scale intelligent automation, artificial intelligence, so I think one of the key challenges that the companies have right now is mainly trying to clean their data, to set up some clear governance models, and trying to have the clean data so they can explore, empower, and scale the artificial intelligence functionalities.

So I mean, I would probably think that GBS is kind of very well positioned to, you know, to drive these initiatives, not only because they have the right skill sets when it comes to talent availability, problem resolution, data analytics; but also when it comes to the number of volume transactions that are coming through the GBS operations. So right now, if you combine intelligent automation and processes, you can really start enhancing your client experience by making sure that you can provide predictive analytics, provide proactive recommendations to internal clients.

Finance Colombia: Great, and I’ll let you go pretty soon. You’ve been generous with your time. I think we both have planes to catch, but last question. You guys have a presence, I know, in over 20 countries. Here in Latin America, you guys are extremely strong. You run the Latin American operations. You guys selected Bogotá, Colombia, for this FlexBPO concept. Of all the places you could have chosen, a lot of places are powerhouses and shared services, and BPO. The Caribbean, Mexico, and Costa Rica, throughout the Americas. Why, of all places, Bogotá?

Esteban Carril: So I probably think that right now, when we look at the landscape in Latin America, and Colombia, especially Bogotá, it brings several advantages. Talent availability. I was surprised by the English skill sets that the new generations are bringing, especially when it comes to near-shoring operations. It’s also in terms of labor costs. Right now, Colombia is probably bringing the most competitive labor costs in the region. So there are a number of factors. The country, or the city, is currently not really saturated when it comes to the number of GBS organizations. So there are a number of factors why we believe that Colombia, especially Bogotá, is very well-placed today to bring more near-shoring operations.

Finance Colombia: Wonderful. Well, congratulations. I know that it’s going to be a successful stage of growth for you guys.

Esteban Carril: Absolutely. And you’re invited next time to come here. Next year, we’re going to have the same breakfast, and you will be invited to come here as well.

Finance Colombia: Count on it. Absolutely.

FlexBPO is a solution purpose-built for today’s dynamic business environment, delivering greater transparency and flexibility than traditional business process outsourcing models. It features a customizable nearshore collaborative model that integrates seamlessly with both onshore captive client operations and offshore outsourcing locations. This location-agnostic approach empowers enterprises to align delivery capabilities, whether nearshore, offshore, or onshore, aligned to their strategic goals and evolving business needs.

“FlexBPO doesn’t replace traditional BPO — it enhances and complements it.” — Shaji Farooq, CEO, Chazey Partners

The attributes of FlexBPO that make this possible are:

•  A nearshore location aligned with US time zones.
• Collaborative decision-making and shared control.
• Flexibility through client-specific customization.
• A Strong focus on transformation.
• An end-to-end, process-oriented approach rather than a task-based one.
• Seamless integration as an extension of the client’s operations.

“FlexBPO doesn’t replace traditional BPO—it enhances and complements it,” said Shaji Farooq, CEO of Chazey Partners.

“Our clients seek more agile, transformative approaches to outsourcing, and FlexBPO delivers exactly that by embedding transformation from day one, tailored specifically to each organization’s unique requirements. While traditional BPO works well with ~80% of the processes, it struggles with a subset of more complex, time-sensitive processes where the cost of failure is high (both financially and reputationally) – It is these gaps that FlexBPO addresses,” Shaji added.

“The root cause of problems associated with executing more challenging processes lies in delivery from far-shore locations (with their associated large differences in time zones). Since work has to be executed during US working hours, offshore teams, by definition, must operate during local night-shift hours – there is no real fix to this. This, in turn, poses ongoing challenges related to the low availability of high-quality talent willing to work night shifts, leading to high attrition rates, constant knowledge erosion, and the associated need for retraining. When it comes to simpler, task-oriented processes, the industry has managed to meet or exceed service levels despite these challenges, but not so when it comes to the ~20% of the more challenging processes,” adds Shaji.

Central to FlexBPO’s approach is its practitioner-led model that moves beyond standardized lift-and-shift operations. Chazey’s experts collaborate closely with clients to create tailored solutions that evolve alongside their business objectives. This unique flexibility ensures rapid scalability, seamless transitions, and optimal cost management without the burden of long-term constraints. The bottom line, emphasized Shaji, is, “We will work with you, and not force-fit a solution that is not tailored to your specific needs.”

“Chazey has gained extensive operational experience in designing, establishing, and optimizing global business services and shared services operations in Latin America, serving the US market. The strength of our capability is grounded in hands-on experience, and our FlexBPO solution addresses operational roadblocks, enabling enterprises to scale rapidly while maintaining high-quality delivery,” said Esteban Carril (above photo), executive partner, LATAM at Chazey Partners.

“Organizations no longer need existing infrastructure or local experience in Latin America — Chazey provides the facilities, the team, and the operational expertise to enable growth, particularly in strategic nearshore delivery centers like Latin America. Furthermore, availability of high-quality talent is not a constraint across LATAM locations – day-shift operations only make it easier,” Esteban added.

A recent case exemplifying FlexBPO’s value involved a large multinational company that leveraged the FlexBPO model to transform its finance operations. By repatriating services from an India-based outsourcer and establishing a nearshore delivery center in Bogotá, Colombia, the company achieved a rapid three-month launch, significantly enhanced operational efficiency by 30%, and laid the foundation for further expansion into HR, IT, and procurement functions, as well as additional finance functions.

FlexBPO is particularly suited to enterprises aiming for enhanced agility, reduced attrition, in-time-zone support, and higher client engagement. It’s an ideal solution for companies looking to transition context-sensitive processes that require deep business expertise, manage evolving operational needs effectively, and reduce the complexity of offshore management.

Photo credit: Chazey Partners.

Finance Colombia: So we’re here in Medellín at your new facility. Tell me, first, let’s talk about why TaskUs chose Colombia. You guys haven’t been in Colombia very long, less than five years, but you’re already growing rapidly down here. What caused you to first look at Colombia and then kind of, you know, go ahead and jump in and commit to the market?

Stephan Daoust: Sure, as an organization, we realized that we wanted to be more global and expand our footprint. Although the company started in the Philippines, we knew that if we wanted to compete on a larger scale, we would have to be in multiple areas around the world.

Click on the above image to watch the video.

When we looked at LATAM, we had opportunities in several countries, but we narrowed the field by looking at the culture, the talent, the opportunity, what our clients may be looking for, as well as in terms of locations, we looked at real estate. So several factors come in when we start looking at where we’re going to establish. So when we came into Colombia, we decided to start in Cali and then expand from there.

But what we found in Cali was that the talent, the richness of the talent, the opportunity was very strong, and the demand from our clients became very strong. We see great performance, we see great opportunity, and the teams are well-educated and work well in terms of supporting. And they have this hunger for development and career, and this allows them to tie our rapid growth with their demands for growth, and it’s a great fit. And that’s why we’ve seen this success in Colombia, and that’s why we continue to invest in Colombia.

Finance Colombia: How do you find, as the senior vice president in charge of different regions, how do you find the ease of doing business in Colombia compared to the other areas, compared to the EMEA region, for example?

Darryl Hill: Yes, what I like about Colombia is that it executes flawlessly in the main, and we deliver a great product for our clients. The clients, when we get them into this part of our global business, they want to grow with us, and that’s important. There are cultural differences across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, and different clients have different needs, okay?

When I think about Europe, the needs are very different from what we have in LATAM. It’s predominantly around what we call multilingual hubs, where TaskUs provides the capability of around 30 languages in Europe. When I look at LATAM, it’s predominantly Spanish and English, and that gives us a different cultural alignment. We’ve got different requirements for our clients. But ultimately, we developed a culture that’s pretty consistent within TaskUs, so the cultural element, for me, is not any different. The client’s requirements are what make a change in terms of where we go next.

Finance Colombia: Yeah, I notice that culture is very, very strong in TaskUs. I noticed that even down in Cali. What do you guys do to nurture that unified culture among your different locations?

Stephan Daoust: Yeah, I mean, it starts with… The co-founders have started with this in mind, right? They started with an opportunity that’s focused on employees, and looking at respecting their needs. When you look at our structure and where we’re located, we’re predominantly located in Tier 2 cities. We do have some Tier 1 cities that we compete in, and the reason why we do that is because we need more specialized skills, or there’s a requirement from a client perspective. But from a TaskUs selection process, we start with looking at Tier 2 cities. Why?

Because we found tremendous talent, we find the opportunity to employ many, and we go to the locations where people are located. They don’t have to move to Bogotá, they can have a job in Medellín, they can have a job in Cali, they can have a job wherever they’re located, wherever they want to be located. So, it diminishes the movement and the pressure of having to try to move to find employment, and it allows people to just grow in the areas that they want to grow. May that be their homes and their families, and have that support as well as grow their careers

So, it starts at the foundation of how we’ve set up. When we look at our sites, we’ve built our sites with culture in mind, making sure that they have their own identity. The sites are named by the employees, not by the organization. So, the employees get to identify their own identity within the sites as well, and want to kind of contribute to growing. They feel more natural here, right?

I’ve heard many times this week, just having these focus groups with our people, that they talk about, you know, “We’re not a number,” right? “We’re treated like humans and it’s personal,” and that interaction. So, it starts at the top, in terms of driving that culture and that support, but the everyday function of our team leaders, our managers, our senior managers, they’re approachable. They support our teams. They have personal conversations, not just about work, but they’re looking to administer life. We look for both passion and purpose within their work, but outside of work as well. And that promotes this culture of, you know, being tied together, wanting to be successful together, rather than the individualism that we often see in this kind of industry.

Finance Colombia: And tell me about, we’re here in Punto Clave (‘Key Point’), and Punto Clave, and I don’t know how much you guys know locally from being in Medellín, but one of the reasons it has that name is because it’s kind of a nice area, but it’s also very central. You’re not really in downtown, but you can also reach both ends (north & south) of the city with the metro and everything like that. How did you guys come to choose the Punto Clave location?

Stephan Daoust: Yeah, I mean, once you come to the location and understand our culture, you know exactly why we picked it. Ease of getting here, right? Our teammates don’t have to travel two or three hours to get here. They don’t have to get into three different modes of transportation to be able to connect and come here. The station is just outside. So the selection process comes with the culture in mind, thinking about how we make this easier for people to come to us, rather than making it difficult, and being in a central location where maybe it’s great for business, and perhaps it looks posh and comfortable for a company. We’re not about that. We’re about the employee experience. So it was very easy to select this process or select this area because of the accessibility that they have to come to work every day, and making that, as much as possible, easier for them.

They have great shops in the area. They got great food. They want to run an errand after they’re done at work; they can do that, right? So there’s plenty of opportunity for them to be here and support. We would never be in a location where it’d be very difficult to get to and people would have to travel hours to get to, because that would just not be our DNA. That’s not who we are.

“So it is critical that we can hire the talent. The talent is here. In some cases, even if it’s a bit raw and we need to develop, that’s great.” – Stephan Daoust

Finance Colombia: What is it that you guys do in your talent process to ensure that you not only cultivate the right talent once you have it, but also select the right talent? You know, I told somebody the other day, talent is hard. Talent is the hardest part of, I think, any business, but especially in a business where… I think this place has a capacity of 800, when you need to hire a lot of people, and there’s competition in the city. What is the method or the ingredient that TaskUs has that sets it apart when it comes to recruiting and developing talent?

Darryl Hill: What’s important is that we align on the profile from the very beginning in terms of the job and the responsibility. And it’s so important that we continue to evolve that profile. So with all the clients that we have all over the world, there are very different requirements. So, for this particular environment that we have in Medellín, we’ve got a very young environment, I would say 20 to 25-year-olds, because I asked the question this week; they are conscious that the BPO industry is evolving, and they want to work somewhere where it’s a little bit different. And the TaskUs secret sauce that we have in Colombia is that we’ve created a perception in the open market that we look after our people.

And every time I ask the same question, what sets us apart? It’s about the culture and the people. And the only other thing I’d add to the last question is that when we select leadership, it’s all about humility. And the people who are most important in this organization are our teammates. And that is clear for all levels of responsibility. And we continue to drive that with our people. Very, very humble approach to how we hire, retain, and develop our people.

Finance Colombia: What is your evaluation? And this is for both of you, so please both of you chime in. As a company that operates globally from the APAC region to the EMEA region to here in the Americas, what is your evaluation of the talent and everything from management potential and technical literacy, and bilingualism of the workforce that you have in Medellín?

Stephan Daoust: Yeah, I mean, one of the selection processes, the level of education and opportunity for us to identify people who want to learn, want to grow, and can commit to growing their career, or want to commit to growing their career. The other part that we do quite well is that we also create our programs to develop people. So we have the academy, which looks at a range of businesses.

So if you want to do quality, there’s a program for that. If you want to do workforce management, there’s a program for that. You want to be a team leader, there’s a program for that, manager… So every position that we have within the business has a development program that’s attached to it. So, what we hire for from a leadership standpoint is really about the capability to learn, the capability to be adaptable, and the capability of caring for people. Those are probably the three fundamental areas that we look at when we look at our leadership.

Much of our leadership is growing internally. If you look at both Darryl and me, we both started as teammates. We won’t mention the years here. It’s been a couple of years, but ultimately, I started as a teammate taking calls. I’ve done every role within the operation. So we create this and we have our leaders understand what it means to be a teammate, what it means to be a team leader, and have some empathy and some compassion on what that role means, and also be able to support the future of that.

So it is critical that we can hire the talent. The talent is here. In some cases, even if it’s a bit raw and we need to develop, that’s great. That’s what we want. We want to be in a position where we create this culture and push that culture into them. And we teach them the rest. At the very end, we can teach them skills. If people want to learn and they’re adaptable, we will teach them whatever they need to learn to be successful in this environment.

Darryl Hill: Yeah. The only thing I’ll add is that our retention at the leadership level is phenomenal, which I have not seen before. And that is, again, going back to the culture, but also we have developed an internal strategy about how we keep those people interested in their current roles. And we give them the opportunities to grow. There is no particular part of my region that doesn’t continually grow. So there’s always an opportunity.

And when we get feedback around surveys, whatever else, one of the fundamental challenges I’ve seen in other organizations is, I have no opportunity to grow. But as we continue to do a good job and our clients appreciate what we’re doing for them, we continue to grow those clients, and people see those opportunities that they may not see in other places, which is important.

Finance Colombia: One of the things I noticed about TaskUs is that it has a very appetizing benefit package. And I hear that you guys give all of your employees, not just the mandatory EPS, but the same plan that the executives get, like the SURA plan, which is, you know, what I have that I pay for. And that’s kind of unheard of. That’s like for bank executives. Tell me about your philosophy. Is that true? And expand upon your philosophy when it comes to taking care of your teammates from the top to the very entry level.

Stephan Daoust: Yeah, and I think it goes back to the culture, right? The fundamental piece of the culture is that we don’t treat our C-suite level any differently than we treat our frontline. Yeah, there are some things that we need to manage, do, and support. But when it comes to benefits, we do provide additional benefits, not just the requirements in the country. And that is one of the reasons why some of the employees have been attracted to us because we’re providing that. There is no difference between the VP level in terms of what he has received in terms of a package at this site and the teammate level.

Why is that? Because the teammates are the most important. The frontline is the most important function. Without them, there’s none of us, right? So we provide them no distinction. We provide them the same access and the same support that we would provide our executive team for that reason alone, because at the very core, we’re about the people, caring about the people who take care of us.

Darryl Hill: Yeah, the only thing I’ll add to that, what I like about TaskUs is that we continue to reassess those benefits, right? In the main, it’s annually, but we get feedback locally. We get expert guidance from our leadership and our teammates in particular. And we take action on their feedback. So if something isn’t working out, we will make a change. We’re not afraid to do that.

Stephan Daoust: Just the interesting thing about that. Darryl and I both spend time in our locations. And when we go into locations, the most important meeting that we have is with our teammates. So we have focus groups. We meet with our teammates directly with no leadership in the room. And we ask them, “What do you love about us? What can we do better? How can we make this thing better for us and you, right? How can we take care of you so we can take care of our clients?”

So we don’t need a suggestion box. I mean, we formally do an opinion survey, but not only when we travel, but the leadership team is responsible for doing them regularly, and to report on them and identify what the opportunities are. Some things are easy to fix. You can do it the same day. Some will take a bit longer, and some will be challenged. But the reality is that’s why we exist. We exist here to make that life better. And our job is to get better every single day. That’s the motto.

Finance Colombia: Impressive. Is there anything that you wanted to mention that I neglected to ask?

Stephan Daoust: No, I think, I mean, ultimately, we want to continue to grow. I think we have a great opportunity to do that. It’s been fantastic so far in terms of Colombia’s support; our partners, when you talk about ease of doing business and supporting, we get media partnerships, we have government partnerships, we have non-governmental partnerships.

We’re just so happy with the support that we’re getting. I think everyone realizes the common ground that we are trying to create an environment of opportunity and careers, and they want to go on that journey with us, so we’re happy to take them along. TaskUs is growing faster than anyone in our space. We continue to grow at double digits. And that is because of the work that our teammates are doing every single day. So I can’t be more pleased with the story in Colombia, and we look forward to growing.

The CX Interaction Awards are given out by BPrO to recognize companies in “all sectors of the economy with customer interaction processes, which, in the implementation of projects, contribute to the success of the company, providing a better service and promoting company/client relationships.”

BPrO created the awards as a way of recognizing the kinds of exceptional performances and services provided by companies important to the BPO industry to their clients, and to encourage other companies to follow their lead in excellence.

The following is the full list of gold, silver, and bronze award winners in each category.

Best Customer Experience Strategy

• Gold: Nu
• Silver: DIAGEO
• Bronze: Concentrix Puntos Colombia

Best Human Capital Management

• Gold: DIAGEO
• Silver: BRM, Emtelco
• Bronze: TaskUs

Best Employee Engagement Strategy

• Gold: Lean Solutions Group
• Silver: Outsourcing S.A.S.
• Bronze: Konecta

Best Contribution to Social Responsibility

• Gold: Nexa Unicef
• Silver: Konecta
• Bronze: Concentrix

Best Inclusion and Diversity Strategy

• Gold: Konecta
• Silver: Emtelco
• Bronze: Almacontact

Best Data Analytics Strategy

• Gold: Emergia
• Silver: Emtelco
• Bronze: Intelcia

Best Technological Contribution

• Gold: Concentrix
• Silver: Almacontact
• Bronze: Konecta

Best Multichannel/Omnichannel Strategy

• Gold: Emtelco
• Silver: Konecta
• Bronze: Atento

Best Social Networking Strategy

• Gold: Konecta
• Silver: Outsourcing S.A.S.
• Bronze: Emtelco

Best Outsourcing Company Operation

• Gold: BRM, Mercado Libre
• Silver: Konecta
• Bronze: Atento

Best Internal Operation

• Gold: Nu
• Silver: Grupo ASD, IQ Outsourcing
• Bronze: DIAGEO

Best Collection Strategy

• Gold: Konecta
• Silver: Emtelco
• Bronze: DIAGEO

Best Shared Service Center Management for Customer Service

• Gold: DIAGEO
• Silver: Coomeva
• Bronze: Telecenter

Best Innovation Strategy for Shared Service Centers

• Gold: Spectrum Brands
• Silver: IntouchCX
• Bronze: DIAGEO

Best Export Management

• Gold: Konecta
• Silver: DIAGEO, Intelcia
• Bronze: BRM, Mercado Libre

Executive of the Year Award

• Juan David Adarve Vergara, Emtelco

Talent Award

• Juan David Romero, Emtelco
  

  Award Winners at Bpro’s 2025 CX Summit in Cartagena, Colombia

Organized by Bpro, Colombia’s BPO and contact center industry organization.

With another 500 seats on tap in Medellín, the company is already looking to expand again, signalling the fast-moving outsourcer’s commitment to the Andean Nation.

Loren Moss, executive editor of Finance Colombia was able to sit down for a few minutes with Divisional Vice President Luis Barreto at the company’s Medellín grand opening celebration to speak about the early success TaskUs is experiencing in Colombia.

Finance Colombia: Luis, thank you for your time today. Congratulations. You guys are having your official grand opening. I know that you guys have ramped up operations here already. We’re in Medellin, at your facility here in Ruta N, these are lovely new facilities that you’ve had. Maybe if you can tell me a little bit about your footprint in Colombia, where you have operations already?

Luis Barreto: Yeah, absolutely. So first of all, thank you for the congratulations. It’s taken a while because we’ve been operating for a year now in Medellin. We’ve just gone, you know, we just hadn’t had issues with just getting the right people to be able to celebrate this special achievement. But we’re happy that a year in we’re able to do this because it’s double the celebration. Because we’re not just opening, but we’re celebrating success.

We’ve found tremendous success in Medellin. We’ve been able to ramp to fill the seats and we’ve been able to get some very successful clients who are very happy with the service. So Medellin has been great to us. In terms of the footprint, we currently have three locations in Colombia. We opened up our headquarters in Cali back in 2021 where we currently have about 1,200 teammates, that’s what we call our agents.

We just opened up our second site in Cali. This month was their first operating month and that site has 420 seats. It’s going to have about 600 teammates. Then Medellin, as I said, this site has 400 seats, and it’s going to have about 500. And because everything’s already been sold, meaning we already have committed the space to existing clients from here to the end of the year, we’re already branching out to looking at other options. So we are going to be opening up a fourth location which is going to be the second in Medellin, and then hopefully by Q1 of next year, we’re going to be able to announce our third city for our continued expansion.

Finance Colombia: Oh, amazing. You know, I visited your facilities in Cali a couple years ago. Actually, I think it was still during the pandemic, or when things were just starting to open up. Really impressive. You guys put a lot of thought and effort into making appealing workspaces.

I noticed that that seems to be a key part of TaskUs culture. Maybe if you can tell me, I know that it’s not always apropo to talk about individual clients, but if you can talk about the industries that you’re able to serve out of Medellin, or out of Colombia broadly?

Luis Barreto: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that’s the great thing about that diversity of professionals that we find in the country. You can service any industry, which is pretty much what we do. We currently have about 25 clients in Colombia, which was for four different industries. Most of them are tech innovation related. So fintech, as an example; we provide service for retail, some of the biggest retail brands, fashion brands in the world are serviced out of Colombia. We also have food delivery apps. So it’s really a blend, and we don’t have a specific target because, you know, through our recruiting process, we’re able to identify skilled skillsets and aptitudes within our candidates to be able to route them into what industry or what program they would do best.

So, because the servicing industry and the BPO industry is so diverse, you do need to be able to have that ability to be flexible in terms of the offering, because you can be in one industry, but that industry requires different skills. So you can use social media management, back office, chat, e-mail; or it could be all voice, customer service, billing, transaction.

So to say that we do one, or that we focus or that we have a strength on one, is difficult because we’re just a very diverse solution-oriented company and we’ve found quick success with being able to service everything out of Colombia. That’s why we keep growing.

Finance Colombia: So you do more than just customer contact, you’re doing back-office services and other types. Well, tell me about some of those other types of services. Aside from voice and aside from chat, what are the other services that you provide to your corporate clients?

Luis Barreto: Yeah. So I think an interesting thing that’s in the industry and, you know, just the level of services that the industry is going to, we’re seeing a lot of growth in the content moderation space, trust and safety space, which is really just protecting the social media platforms from bad intentions. So I would say that that’s one specific area where we’re focusing our growth, and that you’re going to see big growth from us in terms of the percentage of the work that we do currently to migrate into that.

But on top of that, we do back office like you said, we do messaging, we do e-mail, chat work… 50-60% it’s still voice because that’s still the preferred communication channel for most of our clients. But everybody is slowly migrating to more digital channels.

Finance Colombia: Right.

Luis Barreto: Which is a part of our strategy as well. You know, we’re a digital company. We take pride in being able to partner with some of the most innovative companies in the world. And as you know, we have a very entrepreneurial spirit, which means that we’re always going to be happy to work with a company, regardless of the size. If they have a desire to learn of the BPO and how to best service their clients, we’re going to partner, we’re going to put our technology forward, and our experience, to make sure that we build the best customer experience that they need for their companies.

Finance Colombia: I’ve noticed that TaskUs is kind of already a large company, global, you know, you’re in all sectors around the globe. But it still has kind of a startup feel to it. It has kind of a startup attitude to it, you would say.

Luis Barreto: Yes. We do, yeah. Absolutely. And I think it’s: 1—Our founders and CEO and president are very young. So they’re very well up to date with innovation, and they still consider themselves a startup because of the fact that it’s still growing, it’s still growing, still attracting.  And, you know, the fact that we help a lot of startups begin their journey into the CX experience is also the reason why we keep our vision, our mission, and our brand, similar and close to that. So, you know, not to say that we don’t focus on any specific market, but we do gravitate towards companies that are starting up, innovation, tech, instead of the larger, more traditional services like banking or telco. The majority of our footprint is in startups and tech companies.

Finance Colombia: You know, I remember talking to one of the huge traditional customer experience outsourcers one time, one of their top people told me that if it’s under 100 FTE (full-time equivalent seats), their salespeople don’t even get compensated on it.

Luis Barreto: Yeah [Laughs.]

Finance Colombia: Because they only want to talk to the giant—they are a giant multinational, they only want to talk to other giant multinationals. But it’s interesting how I’ve seen companies who start with startups, and some startups are going to fail and that’s just kind of how it is. But some…I know a company that started with Lyft, and they had five seats and now that’s a major client for them, for example. And so I’ve seen where…you know, it’s great to hear that you guys give an opportunity to companies that are scrappy startups and things like that and work. And by the way, I have no idea if you guys have Lyft, that was a company that’s not here in Colombia that I was mentioning. I know that they use multiple outsourcing partners, and so if they use you guys, you know, that was by coincidence, by the way.

Luis Barreto: That’s fine.

Finance Colombia: But that’s an interesting thing, because you see a lot of times these become high-growth companies and also high-potential companies. And that’s kind of part of that entrepreneurial spirit.

And I think Colombia, especially Medellin, has some of that, Ruta N is a business incubator.

Luis Barreto: It is, yeah.

Finance Colombia: They welcome established businesses like you guys. But if we go over across the way into the other tower, you’re going to have startups with a single person and they’ve got something for those people, and they’ve got startups that have gotten their first parts of funding and things like that. And the city’s behind them. And then you also see here, the private sector is kind of behind the city. There’s quite a partnership.

And as you and I both…neither one of us are from Colombia. Tell me about your impression of what you’ve seen in Colombia broadly, as far as the business climate. And then specifically, I don’t want to get you in trouble knowing that you’re, you know, team Cali. So I know you can’t, you know, be too nice, but if you could maybe give your impression of the business climate in Colombia and then let’s say Medellin and Cali.

Luis Barreto: Yeah, absolutely. So first I want to tackle the startup common, which I think it’s… yes, the bigger players tend to have a standard of business size to which they agree to do business with. Part of what we do and we differentiate, because, you know, as I mentioned before, we are considered startup and we love being able to work with startups to build their CX journey. So it’s not that they come with five seats, maybe they have zero seats and they want to build everything from scratch with us. We will take it.

“And what I’ve seen is that the Colombian talent, the infrastructure, the political stability, the need for these kinds of opportunities has been tremendous.” – Luis Barreto

Finance Colombia: Wow.

Luis Barreto: We will partner and we will invest in a long-term relationship because that’s really how you gain long-term relationships, and that’s really how our founders built this business, working with startups like that.

The second is, yes, I’m a foreigner. And I do say that I’m a proud Colombian resident now because I love the country. It’s been tremendously good for me and my family because, you know, the industry, I’ve seen the industry grow so much. And what I’ve seen is that the Colombian talent, the infrastructure, the political stability, the need for these kinds of opportunities has been tremendous. When I first landed in Colombia, it was probably only 10 years (into) outsourcing. And when I mean outsourcing, to the US, because now this is their primary market. Now, it’s insane the amount of growth. And to me, Colombia has been an exceptional success story that is very rarely seen. I mean, at least in LATAM, you don’t see any other story like this. You might see stories, you know, in the Philippines and India, but not like this in LATAM. And I think again, it’s because Colombians are by nature, you know, very towards service, like it’s in their nature, it’s in their blood.

Finance Colombia: Yes. “¡Para servirle!” That’s the saying here.

Luis Barreto: “Para servirle,” yes. “Bien pueda.” It’s like, it’s very natural. So obviously the Tier 1 and just the soft skills that you need to be able to do this business are there from the get go. Everything else, the skillsets and everything, it comes. In other regions, it’s more difficult, right? You have to spend a little bit more time and effort to engrave some, you know, basic skills of communication and engagement, here is very flawless. And then from a city perspective, I think, you know, obviously I don’t have a preference. I think…I live in Cali, my wife and I prefer the city, but every city has its charm and every city has its business purpose. Cali is less mature in the market in regards to BPO. It’s actually relatively unknown for other companies right now.

Finance Colombia: Right.

Luis Barreto: We know TaskUs is the biggest BPO in Cali, which we only were able to achieve because we took a chance, we saw potential and we decided to invest and we’re now taking a lot of benefit from it. Because competitors try to come, they can’t match your offers, they can’t match your benefits. So it’s been great because it’s where we positioned this.

And you know, Cali right now is the headquarters for everything Colombia, and not just Colombia, but regionally, including Mexico, because my responsibility extends to Mexico. And because of the talent and I would say the need for better career opportunities has driven great talent towards our industry in Cali.

Now Medellin obviously, it’s a great success story as well on its own because this one is…I call it a more specialized, more complex work, more, you know, specific targeted clients. So when you talk about innovation, when you talk about these tech higher-paying lines of business, this is a better option. So obviously, we service everything out of all of our sites, but there is some kind of strategy towards what city fits best for the client, and that’s something that we want to build and continue to sustain as part of our strategy growth in Colombia.

Finance Colombia: Got it. You’ve been very generous with your time. And you’re right, Medellin kind of sees itself, it kind of wants to be the Silicon Valley of Latin America. And I think it to a large degree deserves that. There’s competition with places like Costa Rica, places like Uruguay, but really there’s an established tech scene here. I’m always reading about companies or writing about companies that have gotten funded, that have gone on to greater things when it comes to tech and innovation. My last question for you is, I would imagine that a large percentage of your business requires bilingual skills, in terms of the agents. I would imagine that, I mean there’s always some agents that can do everything in Spanish, but I would imagine that TaskUs being a US-based company, a lot of the skills need to be bilingual. How easy or difficult has it been to hire bilingual talent here in Colombia?

Luis Barreto: Yeah. Great question. Obviously, the BPO industry has grown in Colombia mostly because of nearshoring support, we’re supporting mostly companies in the US, which means that it’s got to have an English component. Right now 90% of the work that we do in Colombia is English. We have about 8% Spanish and then 2% Portuguese, French. So we do still have a little bit of a blend now. In terms of the quality and the quantity of the English, it’s been great. I mean, I think the country has recognized the need for English, that English skills is something that needs to be built-in from a younger age. And we’ve seen a lot of the programs that I started hearing about back in 2016, 2017 when I first came, starting to materialize and starting to really give, you know, candidates to our funnel, which is fantastic. So it is a challenge because obviously the industry is now huge. There’s… Over 700,000 Colombians work in the sector, probably 200 – 300,000 work in US work. So the talent pool is reducing. But what’s great is that every single city that I’ve seen, or that we work with and that we partner with, has a clear path towards strategy to help, you know, put candidates and build candidates so that they can benefit from the opportunities of growth, opportunities of a job. So we feel confident that we are going to be able to continue to grow, not by butchering: Meaning, not by going and stealing talent, but by benefiting from the different growth pools that every region is building now. You know, there’s a reason why we’re not involved with that. We feel Bogota is a little bit more complex, a little bit more saturated. It’s a different quality of life. So we prefer the Tier 2, Tier 3 cities, where we’ve found more success or more appealing offers, and attracts the talent that we need.

Finance Colombia: It makes sense. I mean, if you were going to open up a contact center in the US, you probably wouldn’t go to Manhattan or Los Angeles, but you would look at other places maybe, you know, upstate New York or somewhere in Eastern California, of course, obviously the Heartland and different places like that. So that strategy makes sense. You’ve been wonderful with your time. I know that there’s a party going on downstairs and I don’t want to keep you from it and I don’t want to keep myself from it either. So, you guys, the hospitality is amazing. So thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

Luis Barreto: It’s been a pleasure, thank you very much for having me.