Amidst AI’s Threat, PH BPO Industry to Remain Indestructible

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of buzz that artificial intelligence will ultimately take over the Philippines’ business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. However, multinational antivirus and cyber security provider, Kasperky Lab, thinks otherwise. The company believes that AI couldn’t disrupt the country’s call center industry in a threatening way.
Director of Great APAC Kaspersky Lab, Vitaly Kamluk, stated in an interview that amidst AI’s influx, the country needs to focus on developing the skills of its workforce.
“There will always be a difference between humans and machines. Machines will always have its constraints. It will be fast in searching information, pulling out data from its database, so it may surpass human assistance. But there will always be a difference when talking to a real human,” Kamluk stated on the 3rd Asia Pacific (APAC) Cyber Security Weekend.
“What may help the Philippines, if they really want to protect their call centers and other businesses, is to invest and improve the quality of the people working on this area. So that when it comes to comparison of machine versus human, there will always be a better quality,” Kamluk added.
However, he stands firm that human-based contact centers are here to stay.
“After all, there will always be difference. Humans are not like robots. They (Philippine government and private sector) should focus on making this difference visible. Because if you have less skilled workers, they will be comparable to silly machines,” he further stated.
Last week, it was reported that he PH’s BPO sector is now starting to feel the need to boost their efforts to tackle the impact of “disruptive technological headwinds” – such as AI, robotics, and automation – to the country’s manpower.
President of Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Rey Untal, earlier stated that along with the “looming threat of AI and automation” to the BPO industry, their group decided to prioritize the conversation relating this issue moving forward.
Local business process outsourcing company, Coefficients Co. Ltd, is aware of this issue and make sure that their staff carry out tasks that AI can’t match. They’ll make sure that their client’s business processes are done effectively and efficiently without breaking their bank.
As part of 3rd Asia Pacific Cyber Security Weekend in Thailand, Kaspersky Lab also unraveled last Wednesday the puzzling threat of cyber-espionage against various countries, critical infrastructure, and businesses in the region.
Having thorough histories of cyber espionage attacks against different countries in the Asia Pacific, Kaspersky Lab uncovered the present state of cyber espionage threat in the region.
“While modern hackers are not keeping records of their attacks, cybersecurity researchers are thoroughly documenting their tracks to understand their techniques and predict their next moves. After the infamous Stuxnet worm in 2010, Kaspersky Lab experts have witnessed a significant number of high-profile cyberespionage attacks singling out countries in the Asia Pacific region,” Kamluk stated.
Cyber espionage attacks all through the Asia Pacific and the Far East regions involve digital spies tainting a wide range of mobile handsets and slowly aiming to target businesses and infrastructures.
“Cyberespionage, a subset of intelligence activities in cyberspace, is covert in nature. The new generation of spies is not doing physical James Bond-style operations anymore – they are regular software developers and system operators. Their achievements remain in the darkness until researchers like Kaspersky’s GReAT discover and document their activities,”stated Kamluk.
“The attackers are not writing the history of cyberattacks, but researchers do. And it doesn’t come as easy as making documentaries or writing memoirs. The work of researchers requires high concentration and solving of multiple difficult logical problems on the way, which is why these stories are so valuable,” Kamluk added.
As per Kamluk, as majority of Asia Pacific countries like the Philippines are in the early stage of improving their defenses against more complex online threats, The cyber security company persuades the public and private institutions to collaborate in expediting cyber security laws and measures that will protect their cyber assets.
“A cyber espionage is borderless. It is no longer a question of possibility, it is now a question of when and how worst an attack will be,” advised Kamluk.
As per the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), PH’s government is now putting in work to build its digital infrastructure in connection to their preparation to fight the rising number of cyber attacks.
As a matter of fact, the government just launched the National CyberSecurity Plan 2022 (NCSP), which was put together to boost the country’s cyber security capabilities.
During the yearly summit, Kaspersky Lab gathered their top security professionals, industry experts, and journalists across 11 countries in the Asia Pacific.
“Cyber espionage is a dangerous and costly threat targeting nations and corporations around the world, including nation’s right here in the Asia Pacific region. Kaspersky Lab today aims to sound the alarm louder about this imminent danger so we can step up our efforts to strengthen our infrastructure and protect the public,” Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director at Kaspersky Lab APAC, added during the summit.
There are a lot of threats when engaging to digital aspect of marketing a business. Coefficients Co. Ltd. guarantees that their client’s data analytics and sensitive information are protected while delivering top notch results. If you are looking for an outsourcing partner to carry out your business processes, Coefficients Co. Ltd. offers free consultation. Rest assured that your business in good hands should you decide to partner with them.