Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are the two words that have scared many people, especially those who are working in the business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
Christian Lauron, a partner in advisory practices of SGV, told participants in the recent Data Brew forum that the Philippines could withstand the impact of the onslaught of AI and automation.
“The Philippines can be a good destination for middle office work. It has young people who are good coders, and have knowledge of financial instruments,” he said.
Middle office BPO services refer to services that are outsourced to the BPO companies. These services include, managing risk, calculating profits and losses of a financial services company.
Lauron said those who usually handles the middle office chores include groups heading the information-technology department.
With the anticipated of explosion robust data, compliance requirements, cost pressure and demand from external and internal stakeholders, Lauron said the middle office will experience an astonishing transformation.
The outsourcing spectacle, usually associated with back-office functions, has spread to middle-office functions, according to Lauron.
He said data privacy and regulation are the vital factors for the success of middle office BPO services. The middle office BPO services have become familiar names among asset managers, who are responsible to boost the investments of their clients.
With the growth of the middle office BPO services experiencing unprecedented degree, there was a rise in manual intervention, as the number of stakeholders got bigger.“We should promote the Philippines as the middle office capital of the world. This is another opportunity to make the country a powerhouse in the global market,” he pointed out.
Lauron said there is a substantial pool of skilled programmers for the job.
“The people should have at least competency in programming,” he said.
He urged the government to redeploy the country’s data scientists into the agriculture sector to uplift the sector from its lethargic state.
“The country has to tap our data scientists and assign them into the various sectors of the economy to develop the country,” he pointed out.Moreover, he said the country must democratize the access to data toward the capacity building of the country.
Although there are several changes happening in the workplace caused by several factors, Lauron said there will be lots of opportunities for Filipinos.
By developing capacity building measures, Lauron said the country and its work force could cope with the disruption.
“The government will play a big role in this undertaking,” he said.