'Now, we've a seat at the high table with CXOs'

BENGALURU: Keshav Murugesh, group CEO of WNS Global Services and chairman of the NASSCOM BPM Council, talks about how India's BPM sector is morphing into a domain-focussed industry betting big on non linear growth. Excerpts:
Do you think the outsourcing industry has suffered from an identity crisis following the decision to rechristen it as BPM (business process management)?
I don't think so. It was a case of BPO lumped under IT services.The entire focus of all stakeholders was IT services and somewhere people focused on the negative impact of BPO. BPO to BPM has been a positive change.The whole of last year, we were working on how to position and communicate the rebranding exercise.
Is automation changing the narrative for the BPM sector?
The whole business is changing. Customers have got extremely comfortable with how we deliver services and want us to advise them on leveraging tech capabilities to create differentiators. Earlier, they thought of us as order takers. But now, with our adoption of agile, lean, Six Sigma programmes and the way we have leveraged robotics and process automation to enhance productivity, we have a seat at the high table, with CXOs.
We are helping customers deal with the digital disruption, the threats from new business models and competition that are coming from sources they have never seen before.
Are BPO companies taking the bold steps required to destroy their traditional models, and transform to what the new digital economy requires?
I don't know how many companies have gone down that path. We understand domain well, hence clients think of us as an extension of their enterprise. So I would say that a few of us have gone down that path and it's reflected in the numbers.
Tell us about the Become World Worthy campaign to attract talent.
The whole campaign is focused on destroying many of the myths and inconsistencies that have entered the BPM sector in the last ten years. As an industry, everyone seems to have focused on the positive impact of IT services alone, there's not been enough of effort to position what the BPM sector has done from a talent and client impact standpoint. The campaign is attempting to change this.