A Human + AI BPO (also called an agentic BPO) is an outsourced contact centre where AI voice agents make and take the calls, in 14 Indian languages on our platform, and a trained person steps into the same call when the customer needs one, on the same queue, measured as one floor. The AI finishes 60 to 80% of calls at maturity. You pay for the AI by the minute and for the people by the seat, and the handover between them is free. It is not a bot vendor, which has no people, and not a traditional BPO, which has no AI first.
The words in the definition
"Outsourced" because we run the floor as well as the software. "AI voice agents make and take the calls" because the AI is first on every call, not an assistant whispering to an agent. "A trained person steps into the same call" because a callback is a different product. "On the same queue" because the AI and the people share one record and one disposition. "Measured as one floor" because the number you read is the floor's number, not the bot's containment rate.
Some of the press calls the broader shift agentic process outsourcing; some buyers say agentic BPO. We use Human + AI BPO because a head of collections hears the two halves of it and knows what each does.
The two things it is not
It is not a voice-bot vendor. A bot vendor sells software; when the bot runs out, the call goes back to your floor, your queue, your problem. There is nobody on the vendor's side to take it, and the automation rate on the slide counted the calls the bot kept and ignored the ones it dropped.
It is not a traditional BPO with a bot bolted on. A traditional BPO bills per seat (Rs 28,000 to 35,000 a month per agent in India) and its economics improve when more people sit longer. A Human + AI BPO's economics improve when the AI finishes more calls, which is the opposite incentive, and the pricing follows it: minutes for the AI, seats for the people.
The five tests
- Handover. When the AI brings a person in, the person sees the transcript and the context as the call arrives, not after.
- Continuity. Same conversation, same call. The customer is not asked to verify again or repeat the problem.
- Floor. A human bench on the queue from day one, and your KPIs as the floor: nothing you measure today is allowed to drop.
- Outcome. The money is on one page (AI per minute, people per seat, setup once, handover free) and part of the fee can be tied to the metric you choose once a baseline exists.
- Proof. A live call on your number, in your language, in the first meeting, not a slide.
Use them on us as well. The category page scores the three models against all five; the handover page shows the first two on a real call.
Where it fits
It fits a floor of 50 to 200 agents running renewals, support, lead qualification or collections, where the volume is large enough for the AI share to matter and the hard calls are frequent enough to need a person on the queue. It fits less well where a long CCaaS contract makes the dialler untouchable; the AI can still take calls over SIP and hand to your own desk, but the floor economics are smaller. And it does not fit a queue under a few hundred calls a week, where there is not enough volume to measure anything.
Questions people ask
What is a Human + AI BPO?
An outsourced contact centre where AI voice agents run the calls and a trained person steps into the same call when it matters, on one queue, measured as one floor. Also called an agentic BPO.
How is a Human + AI BPO different from a voice bot vendor?
A bot vendor sells software and has no people; when the bot runs out the call returns to your floor. A Human + AI BPO runs the floor, so the hard call goes to a person on the same queue.
How is it different from a traditional BPO?
A traditional BPO bills per seat and puts a person on every call. A Human + AI BPO puts the AI first on every call, finishes 60 to 80% of them at maturity, and bills the AI per minute and the people per seat.
What are the five tests of a Human + AI BPO?
Handover, Continuity, Floor, Outcome and Proof: the person sees the context as the call arrives; same call with no re-verification; a human bench from day one with your KPIs as the floor; a money construct you can read; a live call in the first meeting.