Managing Change & AI Evolution in Offshore Staffing – with Ben Pullen of Outposter

In this week’s episode of the Outsource Accelerator Podcast, Derek is joined by Ben Pullen, Founder and CEO of Outposter.  

Ben is also connected to ZigZag Offshoring, which recently acquired Outposter. He talks about AI, changes in the outsourcing industry, and persisting through client challenges. 

Outposter and its place in outsourcing

Ben opens by introducing Outposter. 

“Outposter is an Australian-based BPO which specializes in managed services for SMEs. 

So businesses that are new to offshoring or outsourcing, businesses that may not have the resources or skill sets internally to investigate or manage, that’s where we find ourselves providing that last mile of extra help in a managed way.” 

Additionally, Ben has also been involved with ZigZag Offshoring for almost 10 years now. ZigZag featured prominently in the enterprise and software development space for Australian and US clients. 

Recently, ZigZag Offshoring acquired Outposter, a move which Ben sees as beneficial.

“The two didn’t really clash in terms of client base. Two separate missions. But after a while we sort of sat down and realized it made sense to put them all in the one house and offer more services to both clients.” 

Amidst the turbulence in the Western business sphere, Ben says that “It’s a great time to be looking at outsourcing [and] really manage that headcount cost base.” 

He acknowledges that it might be a scary prospect, but that brave businesses have a real chance to be successful. 

Ben refers to these companies as “progressive businesses.”

“[They] require some resources to manage the back end or manage to support. And I think they’re the businesses that look towards us first as an industry first before going locally.

[They’re] progressive enough to see that that’s the path forward.” 

A response to the proliferation of AI

Like many, Ben was overall curious about what new developments AI technologies could bring. 

“I’d be lying if I said that initially it came as a shocker, but I don’t think I was alone in that… But I think it only took a few months before we saw the benefits of it as an augmentation tool.” 

He’s already found a place for it within his company’s operations, specifically with helping his staff who are not as fluent in English. 

“Let’s go back to ChatGPT using that as a language tool to really improve the accuracy, to improve the verbosity of the staff here. I think it really gives us some confidence too around how they communicate.

So we’re using it as a way to boost the productivity of our existing staff. And because we are a services-based business, we absolutely integrate it into a lot of our solutions. We use it internally.” 

However, he also points out that overreliance on the tools have caused some businesses to become sloppy. He reiterates the importance of human intervention. 

“I think that’s going to come down to accountability as well. You’ve got the human decision-making. You’ve got human accountability.” 

For this reason, he’s not worried about it replacing his industry. 

“I think that while you’ve got access to great talent here at competitive rates, with great skill sets, with great attitudes, I don’t think that’s the worrying aspect of workers.” 

Challenges and competition

Ben sees a lot of noise in the modern outsourcing environment, particularly due to the low barriers to entry. 

“It [comes] to what we saw a few years ago when influencers became a huge thing, the advertising space. 

And the problem with that, it lost credibility because everyone knew a person with one million followers was only doing it for the ads.”

He thinks that it’s better to have an “impactful influencer.” 

“You do really good work for one client and that referral goes a long way.

So I think it’s really about driving your own networks on a much lower level. And it’s really going to come down to credibility.” 

There are plenty of other outsourcing companies now, but overall Ben focuses on keeping good relationships with his clients.

“We’ve maintained a personal relationship with all of our clients right across both businesses. We’ve had clients on board that value that as well.” 

You can get in touch with Outposter through their website. You may also visit ZigZag Offshoring’s website here. 

For any other questions, you may send an email to [email protected].