Teleperformance, the world’s largest call centre operator, has implemented artificial intelligence technology that alters the accents of its Indian customer service agents in real-time during calls with Western customers, according to a report in The Telegraph. The French multinational, which employs approximately 90,000 people in India, says the technology aims to enhance clarity and improve customer interactions.
How the Technology Works
The AI-driven solution comes from Palo Alto-based startup Sanas, in which Teleperformance has taken a financial stake. The technology processes speech in real-time to modify accents without storing any conversation data. Beyond accent modification, the system also includes background noise cancellation capabilities that filter out disruptive sounds such as office chatter, sirens, or even crowing roosters to improve overall call quality.
“It’s a technology that allows [us] to neutralize accents in real time without any data storage,” explained Teleperformance executive Markus Schmitt during a recent investor presentation. “You have obviously the issue we talked about human connection, human empathy. We have first implemented Sanas with clients in India. And sometimes, there is a difficulty people in India talking and vice versa with clients from the US.”
This partnership arrangement will also benefit Sanas, as Teleperformance’s vast volume of calls will be used to further train and refine the accent-modification software.
Balancing AI and Human Connection
Despite embracing this AI technology, Teleperformance’s leadership emphasizes that human elements remain essential to their business model. CEO Thomas Mackenbrock stated: “In a world that is ubiquitous with AI, the element of the human… will be also equally important because it’s about building human connection and having this element of human empathy, connectivity will be something that will be equally valuable in the future.”
The company’s investment in accent-modification technology comes at a time when traditional call centers face increasing pressure from AI chatbots capable of handling multiple customer queries simultaneously. This technological approach appears to be part of Teleperformance’s strategy to evolve its services while maintaining human agents.
Mixed Public Reactions
The news has generated varied responses on social media, with some users expressing a preference for authentic interactions regardless of accent:
“I don’t mind Indian accents. I’m just glad to be talking to a real person who wants to help, and usually can,” commented one user.
Another person remarked: “I’d honestly like to talk to the real person with the real accent.”
Some responses focused more on service quality concerns than accent issues: “I don’t know if it solves any problem. I just don’t want to be scammed.”
Sanas, for its part, positions its technology as a tool for “reducing accent-based discrimination” rather than erasing cultural identity, suggesting the company sees its solution as addressing a form of communication barrier.
Teleperformance serves numerous high-profile clients in the UK, including government agencies, the National Health Service (NHS), Vodafone, and eBay, making the potential reach of this technology quite extensive across various customer service interactions.
