PANEL: In Face of Stagnating Favorability Ratings, What’s Next for South African Offshore CX?

When Ryan Strategic Advisory published the most favorable offshore location study last May, South Africa had dropped to third position, compared to more recently topping the poll.

This survey features feedback from over 800 CX decision-makers and is potentially the largest survey that explores where CX leaders will consider operations.

https://ryanadvisory.com/india-is-the-most-favored-offshore-cx-delivery-point-in-2025/

India and the Philippines are now the most popular destinations, but have these giant destinations just reasserted their postiion or is something going wrong in South Africa?

South Africa is still in the top three destinations, but is this slip from the top position a significant change or a blip?

Peter Ryan called together a group of three experts to talk about the change in favorability and what is next for BPO and CX in South Africa...

Lian Rowlands

Owner and Principal Consultant at Tayma Solutions

Liverpool, UK

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lian-rowlands-a26119/

Steve Weston

Founder of ApexCX

Baltimore, MD, USA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-weston-1843152/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/apexcx-customer-experience-support-services/

Mark Essey

CEO Custom Connect South Africa

Durban, South Africa

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markessey/

https://www.customconnect.com/

Summary:

In the CX Files podcast episode from July 3, 2025, hosts Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the recent Ryan Strategic Advisory survey on CX technology and global services, which ranked offshore destinations for favorability. India ranked first, the Philippines second, and South Africa tied for third with Poland. The conversation features experts Lian Rowlands, Steve Weston, and Mark Essey, who discuss South Africa's decline in favorability rankings despite maintaining a strong delivery system. They highlight the need for South Africa to reinvent its value proposition, focusing on data security, compliance, and advanced technology to regain its top position. The discussion emphasizes the importance of government support, industry cooperation, and forward-thinking strategies to enhance South Africa's BPO sector.

Pete Jones is the founder and CEO of Grypp. He is based in the UK between London and Birmingham.

Grypp is a visual platform that aims to help contact centers and the agents working within them see what their customers can see.

This can be a transformative technology for many support environments and it is low cost and proven - in contrast to many of the AI projects we have covered recently on the podcast.

Mark Hillary called Pete to get an ouline of the various ways in which a visual approach to CX can transform how the support process works and how this also creates opportunities for managing fraud and identity.

As the conversation suggests: we need humans In CX so why are we restraining them by not allowing them to see what the customer can see?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-jones-gryppcorp/

https://grypp.io/about-us/

Summary:

Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the evolution of visual customer experience (CX) with Pete Jones, CEO of Grypp. They highlight how visual CX, which allows agents to see customer issues in real-time, can reduce communication inefficiencies and enhance customer service. Jones shares that one in five enterprises now use visual CX, and Grypp has released 20 new innovations in the past two years. They also explore the potential of visual CX in fraud prevention and its integration with AI to improve customer interactions and operational efficiency. Jones emphasizes the importance of immediate value and the potential for significant cost savings and improved customer satisfaction.

Nicola Collister and Jerry Briggs talk to Peter Ryan about AI in CX

We have talked many times on this podcast about AI and the hype aound what it can do for CX designers and managers. But what can it really do? We are being flooded with AI-themed ideas on LinkedIn daily, but it is also clear that many AI projects are failing (Gartner says that 85% of AI projects are failing at present).

In this episode Peter Ryan aims to do some myth-busting. Where is AI in CX today? What are the real use cases and where is the hype?

Peter talked to two CX leaders - in the UK and US - to discuss their thoughts on the realities of using AI in CX today...

This episode features the guests:

Nicola Collister

CEO and Founder of Custerian - based in Bowden, near Manchester UK

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-collister-7b34ba2/

https://www.custerian.com/chat-to-us

Jerry Briggs

CEO and Owner of ApexCX - based in Washington DC, USA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerryhbriggs/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/apexcx-customer-experience-support-services/

Interview led by Peter Ryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-ryan-montreal/

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Summary

Mark Hillary and Peter Ryan discuss the hype cycle surrounding AI in customer experience (CX) with guests Nicola Collister and Jerry Briggs. They highlight the disparity between AI adoption in the US and China, noting that many US companies are still in the hype phase, while Chinese companies are using AI for practical applications.

The conversation emphasizes the need for strategic AI implementation aligned with business goals, rather than just adopting AI for the sake of innovation. They also discuss the importance of understanding AI's limitations and potential negative impacts on both customers and employees. The guests stress the need for clear communication and realistic expectations from AI vendors and consultants.