Teleperformance, a major player in the call center industry, saw a huge 20% drop in its stock prices. This decline comes amid rising worries about how artificial intelligence (AI) might affect its business activities, but its CEO Daniel Julien pushes back against it.
Despite the major loss, Julien remains resolute in his belief that human interaction holds indispensable value that AI cannot fully replicate.
In his recent statements to CNBC, Julien emphasized the critical importance of integrating AI into Teleperformance's services while maintaining the reassurance and empathy provided by human interaction.
"AI helps to increase the accuracy of our employees ... which is great, but at the end of the day we are here to reduce the friction between the citizens, or the customer, and the companies they have bought a product and service from."
Julien recognized that AI can help improve employee accuracy, but he emphasized the importance of human trust and empathy in dealing with customers. With this, investors are worried because they fear that AI could disrupt Teleperformance's business model, especially as more companies start using AI technologies.
Despite the stock plunge, Teleperformance reported higher revenue in 2023 and remains actively engaged in numerous AI projects and partnerships.
To reassure investors again, Julien remarks that even one of their best clients is inclined towards artificial intelligence. "Even the most high-tech or the most AI-involved companies are clients of Teleperformance. We chose that there is a complementarity and not separation,"
Julien's perspective also coincides with a recent VCPost report that says that not every industry that uses artificial intelligence can keep up ahead. A call center industry is likely included in it.
Ultimately, Teleperformance envisions a future where AI augments productivity and quality without replacing the essential human touch in customer interactions.
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