Customer experience outsourcing is entering a new phase—one where AI augmentation, global talent networks, and governance frameworks must work together rather than operate as separate strategies.

Atento, a major provider of customer experience (CX) and business transformation outsourcing (BTO), is leaning into that shift with a new three-way collaboration aimed at reshaping how global CX delivery is built and scaled.

The company announced a strategic partnership with Sanas, a provider of real-time speech understanding technology, and Thrivin, a Kenya-based impact sourcing platform focused on developing high-quality talent pipelines. Together, the companies say they are creating a unified delivery model that blends AI-enabled communication tools with a disciplined outsourcing framework and a rapidly growing African workforce.

The move reflects a broader industry trend: outsourcing providers are increasingly combining artificial intelligence with distributed global talent pools to meet rising enterprise demand for scalable, high-quality customer engagement.

Atento describes the approach with a simple premise: CX augmented by AI but driven by people.

A New Operating Model for BTO

At the core of the collaboration is a unified business transformation outsourcing model that integrates governance, AI enablement, and workforce development.

Atento will act as the orchestrator of the overall framework, overseeing security, compliance, performance management, and enterprise transformation processes across the delivery network.

Within that structure, the other partners contribute specialized capabilities.

Sanas provides an AI layer designed to improve communication in voice-based customer interactions. Its real-time speech understanding technology helps agents overcome accent barriers and communication friction, making it easier for international support teams to interact with customers in markets like the United States.

Thrivin contributes a talent pipeline built around highly educated, English-proficient professionals in Kenya, a country increasingly recognized as a rising hub for digital services and outsourcing.

By combining these capabilities under Atento’s governance framework, the partners aim to create an outsourcing model that supports global expansion while maintaining enterprise-grade operational standards.

The Rise of AI-Augmented Customer Experience

Customer experience outsourcing has traditionally been driven by geography—companies moved operations to lower-cost regions while attempting to maintain service quality.

But the equation is changing as enterprises adopt AI technologies that can enhance agent performance, automate repetitive tasks, and improve communication across global teams.

Sanas’ technology plays a key role in that transformation.

Its speech understanding system works in real time during voice interactions, helping reduce misunderstandings between agents and customers. By smoothing communication barriers, the technology allows companies to expand support operations internationally without sacrificing customer experience consistency.

In practice, this means organizations can tap into broader talent pools while maintaining the clarity and responsiveness customers expect from voice-based support.

The approach aligns with a growing industry trend toward AI-augmented agents, where human representatives remain central to service delivery but operate with AI tools that enhance speed, accuracy, and communication.

Operationalizing Impact Sourcing

Another major element of the partnership is impact sourcing, a workforce development model that prioritizes creating economic opportunities in emerging markets while delivering enterprise-quality services.

Thrivin specializes in building talent pipelines across Africa, focusing on recruiting and training professionals who meet the technical and linguistic requirements of global enterprises.

Through the collaboration, Thrivin’s talent network will integrate directly into Atento’s global delivery framework, operating under the same governance and performance management standards used across the company’s existing operations.

This approach allows enterprises to expand into new delivery geographies without the operational uncertainty that can sometimes accompany new outsourcing locations.

It also reflects the increasing strategic importance of Africa in the global outsourcing market.

Countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa have invested heavily in digital infrastructure and education programs aimed at positioning the region as a competitive destination for business services and technology operations.

Total Experience as the Organizing Principle

The partnership is also built around the concept of Total Experience (TX)—an operational model that aligns customer experience, employee experience, and operational efficiency.

Rather than treating customer satisfaction, workforce engagement, and cost management as separate priorities, the TX framework attempts to optimize them together.

Within this model:

• Customer experience improves through AI-enabled communication tools and trained support agents.

• Employee experience benefits from structured career pathways and performance frameworks.

• Operational efficiency increases through standardized governance and automation.

By aligning these elements, Atento aims to create a delivery model that is both scalable and sustainable over the long term.

Africa’s Growing Role in Global CX Delivery

Africa’s emergence as a new outsourcing frontier is a key element of the strategy.

The continent has one of the world’s youngest populations, along with a rapidly expanding pool of digitally skilled, English-speaking professionals. For global companies seeking to diversify their support operations beyond traditional outsourcing hubs, this workforce represents a significant opportunity.

However, scaling operations in new regions also requires strong governance and operational frameworks—areas where established outsourcing providers like Atento play a crucial role.

By integrating Thrivin’s local talent development capabilities with its own transformation methodologies, Atento aims to create a model that balances expansion with operational discipline.

Enterprise Governance Still Takes Center Stage

Even as AI and new talent markets reshape the CX outsourcing landscape, governance remains a critical factor for enterprise buyers.

Large organizations must meet strict requirements around data security, regulatory compliance, and performance management—particularly when customer interactions involve sensitive personal or financial information.

In the new collaboration, Atento maintains responsibility for those enterprise-grade standards.

The company’s global delivery framework ensures that all participating partners operate within established security and compliance guidelines, giving enterprise clients confidence that expansion into new geographies won’t introduce unnecessary risk.

Industry Shift: From Cost Optimization to Transformation

The partnership also reflects a broader shift underway across the outsourcing industry.

For decades, business process outsourcing was largely defined by cost savings. Companies moved operations to lower-cost locations while attempting to maintain service quality.

Today, the conversation is increasingly about transformation rather than cost reduction.

Enterprises want outsourcing partners that can help them modernize operations, integrate AI technologies, and deliver better customer experiences.

By combining AI augmentation, workforce development, and governance frameworks, Atento is positioning its new model as an example of that evolution.

Brent Bush, executive vice president of sales and business development at Atento, said the collaboration brings together complementary strengths across technology, talent, and operational expertise.

“Together, we’re creating new opportunities to deliver AI-augmented customer experience at scale while helping enterprises expand into new markets with the governance, performance, and quality they expect from Atento,” Bush said.

Chris Condon, president and general manager of Atento’s U.S. Nearshore operations, added that the approach demonstrates how responsible global expansion can coexist with enterprise performance standards.

“By integrating AI-enabled voice technology with a disciplined, governed impact sourcing delivery model, we’re demonstrating that global expansion, operational rigor, and workforce development can coexist within a high-performance BTO framework,” he said.

The Future of CX Outsourcing

As customer expectations rise and AI technologies reshape service delivery, outsourcing providers are under pressure to rethink how their operations work.

The next generation of CX delivery models will likely rely on a combination of:

• AI-enhanced agents

• globally distributed talent networks

• enterprise-grade governance frameworks

• integrated customer and employee experience strategies

Atento’s partnership with Sanas and Thrivin represents an early attempt to bring those elements together into a single operating model.

If successful, it could provide a blueprint for how outsourcing firms evolve in an era where AI and human expertise are increasingly intertwined.

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