THE 25-year-old umbrella organization of contact centers in the country has rebranded itself as the industry shifts toward higher-value, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled services while maintaining a strong focus on human talent.
The rebranding from the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) to the Customer Xperience Association of the Philippines (CXAP) was unveiled during Contact Islands 2026 at the Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu, where industry leaders said AI is helping transform — not replace — the Filipino workforce.
“With AI reshaping the industry, our identity also needed to evolve,” said Haidee C. Enriquez, chief executive officer of MicroSourcing and Beepo, and president of CXAP.
“Today, we are delivering sophisticated, AI-enabled, multi-channel customer experience solutions to the world. Our people are no longer simply handling transactions. They are solving problems, building relationships, and creating value,” Enriquez said.
Industry position
The rebrand reflects the industry’s transition from traditional call center operations to a broader customer experience (CX) sector powered by AI, digital tools and human expertise.
According to Enriquez, the new CXAP logo symbolizes the intersection of people, technology and customer experiences. The “X” is formed by two interlocking “C” shapes, representing the sector’s roots in the contact center industry and its transformation into a modern CX ecosystem.
She stressed that while AI is becoming central to service delivery, human empathy and creativity remain critical.
“No matter how advanced technology becomes, it is still human empathy, connection, and ingenuity that will continue to define exceptional customer experience,” Enriquez said.
Industry leaders said the sector is positioning itself for another growth cycle as companies globally adopt AI-driven customer support and business services.
“The Philippine CX sector has positioned itself for the next phase of growth as AI transforms global service delivery and creates new opportunities for higher-value, human-led work,” said Benedict Hernandez, president and founding board member of CXAP.
Growth targets on track
Data presented during the conference showed the Contact Center-Business Process Management (CC-BPM) sector grew revenues by 6.94 percent to US$33.9 billion in 2025 from $31.7 billion in 2024.
The sector is projected to further expand by 5.31 percent to $35.7 billion in 2026 despite geopolitical tensions, policy uncertainties and AI-related workplace disruptions.
The CC-BPM industry accounted for 84.12 percent of the Philippine IT-BPM sector’s total revenue of $40.3 billion in 2025.
Mitch Locsin, chairman of CXAP, said the industry remains on track to meet the IT-BPM sector’s 2028 roadmap targets.
“The figures reinforce continuous progress and long-term transformation of the sector,” Locsin said.
Employment in the industry also continued to grow. The sector hired more than 60,000 agents in 2025, increasing total full-time employees to 1.68 million, equivalent to nearly 89 percent of total IT-BPM industry employment. Workforce numbers are forecast to reach 1.73 million in 2026.
New roles
As AI integration accelerates, companies are expanding into higher-value services such as customer journey mapping, CX consulting, AI-augmented business processes, and supply chain and marketing support.
New roles are also emerging, including prompt engineers, AI trainers, AI maintenance officers, CX AI solutions architects and AI ethicists.
Locsin said traditional high-volume customer support services are evolving toward more specialized and domain-driven functions.
Results of the CXAP Executive Survey 2026 showed that 52 percent of respondents are in the moderate stage of AI adoption, while 43 percent are already scaling AI technologies across operations.
The most widely adopted technologies include generative AI, predictive analytics, chatbots, agentic AI and robotic process automation.
The survey also found growing demand for AI and automation skills, digital and IT capabilities, customer relationship management and data analytics.
“AI is expanding what Filipino CX professionals can do and earn,” Hernandez said. “The country is truly living its next era of CX, making the sector remain an important growth driver of the national economy.” / KOC