Shares in Teleperformance plunged 20% on Thursday after the French call center and office services group missed its full-year revenue target and showed signs of an “unstable economic environment.”
As companies gain the ability to directly leverage artificial intelligence for their own benefit, investors are frightened by the potential impact of artificial intelligence on their business models.
Teleperformance shares rose by 16 in the last week after Swedish financial services company Klarna announced that its open AI-powered customer service assistant now handles two-thirds of customer service calls, according to LSEG data. % fell.
But Teleperformance CEO Daniel Julien said Thursday that while AI is a positive for the company’s business model, it cannot completely replace the value of human interaction.
“AI is part of the solution we provide to our customers,” Julien said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
“AI helps employees be more accurate…This is great, but at the end of the day, we’re here to help our people, our customers, and the products and services they buy. The aim is to reduce friction between companies that have
“This is not just a transactional relationship, it’s very much about comfort, trust and empathy. So while we recognize that AI will enhance the work of human employees, “It is in no way a replacement for human employees.”
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Teleperformance stock price.
Teleperformance reports 2023 sales increase of 2.3% to 8.345 billion euros ($9.091 billion), although net profit fell to 602 million euros from 643 million euros in the same period last year did. Diluted earnings per share fell from 10.77 euros to 10.18 euros.
The company said in its financial results that it is working with customers on 250 AI projects, including generative AI, and has expanded its portfolio with new partnerships in this area.
“Even the most high-tech companies and the most AI-involved companies are Teleperformance customers. We chose to have complementarity, not separation,” Julien told CNBC, adding that tech giants flagged a deal with AI giant Microsoft.
“They’re there to provide solutions that improve productivity and improve the quality of information they can provide to customers, but at the end of the day, customers are humans. It’s going to be robots, maybe AI. It may even replace humans.”
