Grassroots Startup Celebrates 8,000 Staff & 20 Years in Business with Michael Bian of SixEleven

Michael Bian, CEO of SixEleven BPO, returns to the Outsource Accelerator Podcast for another appearance as the company marks its 20th anniversary.

From a 20-agent operation in Davao to an 8,000-strong workforce across 10 offices in the Philippines, Michael reflected on what it takes to scale a BPO over two decades — and how his playbook is holding up against the AI wave.

SixEleven

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Davao City, SixEleven BPO delivers a full spectrum of BPO services:

• Inbound voice
• Email and chat support
• Outbound lead generation
• Telemarketing
• Appointment setting

It’s also developed a fast-growing back office division handling content moderation, customer onboarding, and AI data annotation. All 8,000 agents work from one of the firm’s ten Philippine offices.

“SixEleven, we’ve been in business for twenty years now… that is a milestone for us that shows our stability and also our reliability as a company.

We do a full spectrum of services… and right now, we already have ten offices located in various parts of the Philippines.”

From 20 agents to 8,000 in 20 years

SixEleven launched in 2005 with 20 agents in Davao. Two decades later, it operates 10 offices and is targeting the 10,000-agent mark within two to three years.

“When we initially started our company, we started with around 20 agents, and we were able to grow year over year.

We used to have smaller clients, but right now we already have big name brands that are recognizable who are working with us and rely on our services for their daily operations.”

The company still takes on small accounts — five or 10 agents — alongside its enterprise logos. Michael said that openness is core to how the firm grew.

“This is how we started. So despite you being a smaller client, you are most welcome to work with our company. We will still exert the same amount of effort versus a big client.”

Why Davao works

Michael was direct about why Davao — the Philippines’ third-largest city — became SixEleven’s home base.

“Davao is the third largest city here in the Philippines in terms of population count. So after Metro Manila and Cebu, Davao is the next with the most number of people here.

So there’s really no problem in terms of talent availability… In terms of cost, we are slightly less compared to Metro Manila. In terms of skill level, I think it’s the same.”

That talent pool has supported SixEleven’s expansion beyond Davao to Cagayan de Oro, Digos City, General Santos City, and most recently Cebu (a deliberate spread away from the Manila-centric BPO map).

Homegrown leadership — 90% from within

A defining feature of SixEleven’s culture is its promotion-from-within model.

“A lot of our management people are actually homegrown. They started as agents but they moved up the ladder. They became our team leaders, our QAs, our operations managers. Ninety percent of our management staff are actually homegrown.

We always prioritize internal growth and internal promotions — that way they embody the company culture and values.”

That same long-game logic, Michael said, applies to clients. SixEleven’s longest-standing relationship is 15 years.

“We tend to maintain clients for more than five years… We are also very flexible. If they need something, we are able to adjust and adapt.

And lastly, we are very open-minded — we don’t impose our own rules, but it’s more of a consultative approach.”

The 60-day observation playbook

Michael’s approach to new client engagements is deliberately slow on the front end.

This is how he describes SixEleven’s onboarding philosophy:

“The first 30 days, 30 to 60 days, it’s an observation period and learning period for us. Before we even try to give any suggestion, we have to have a very good understanding of your product or your service — not only from the big picture perspective, but also from the day-to-day operations.

After the 60-day period, that’s the time we can move to optimize and contribute based on our experience.”

Once trust is established, clients tend to act on SixEleven’s recommendations and adjust their own workflows in turn. That posture, Michael argued, is what separates retention-led BPOs from vendor-style ones.

AI on the ground — 60–70% accurate, not 100%

Michael’s AI take is grounded in operating reality. SixEleven uses AI inside many client engagements but pushes back against the “AI fixes everything” pitch.

“AI is only sixty to seventy percent accurate. That’s something I try to explain to my clients — that AI will not solve all your problems, but it’s a really good tool to augment and help productivity. A human in the loop is still needed to counter-check its work.”

When clients propose all-in AI migrations, Michael counters with a structured pilot.

“I always tell clients not to do a hundred percent migration — just do a twenty percent migration. Let’s compare apples to apples, the result of the human versus the AI.

Let’s refine the AI, then let’s gradually adjust our staffing once this new form of technology is ready and we are sure that it is accurate.”

AI has also been a net job creator for SixEleven’s back office division, which now annotates factory machine movements and scientific research data for client AI training pipelines.

“AI is lessening the headcount on some projects, [but] the good thing is it also creates jobs in other verticals, and we are able to cater to such.”

Even with their high growth rate, Michael keeps looking forward. When asked about possibly hitting 10,000 staff, he says:

“I’m trying to keep things conservative. I’m always hopeful that we are able to grow. I’m thinking maybe in two to three years we hit that milestone, hopefully.”

To learn more about SixEleven BPO or discuss a partnership, email info@sixelevenbpo.com or visit sixelevenbpo.com.

If you’d like to learn more about what we do in the outsourcing space, send us an email at ask@outsourceaccelerator.com.