Why I Attended CCW25 (and What I Was Looking For)

I went into CCW 2025 with a mix of curiosity and caution. This was my first time attending. To be honest, I avoided it like the plague historically, mainly due to not wanting to fall into the trap of traditional BPO. Pushing my bias aside, I went in hoping to find fresh ideas, but also ready to challenge the noise.

AI dominated the conversation. And I get it. But I wanted to see whether those conversations were grounded in strategy or just chasing tools for tools’ sake. I was also there to see what other outsourcing providers were saying, and whether anyone was pushing beyond legacy models to offer real innovation.

Spoiler alert: there’s still a long way to go.

Everyone’s Talking About Value. But Are They Delivering It?

From the moment I stepped onto the floor, one theme was impossible to miss: value creation. It came up in breakouts, workshops, hallway conversations, everywhere. But here’s the thing: most of the value talk wasn’t about success stories. It was about confusion.

People weren’t saying “Look how much value we’ve unlocked.” They were asking “Where is the value supposed to be coming from?”

That gap between what’s promised and what’s delivered was front and center.

Companies pitched AI tools like they were enterprise-ready, but once you looked under the hood, many were still in proof-of-concept mode. We even overheard a customer say, “They know this is just for show.” That level of transparency (or lack of it) says everything.

You can’t skip the hard work and still expect meaningful outcomes. Strategy must come before tools. And if a provider can’t show how their offering maps to your goals, they’re just adding noise.

Clients Are Confused and Looking for Guidance

Optimism was everywhere, but so was uncertainty. Booth after booth showcased voice agents and AI platforms, many claiming to solve the same problems. Agentic AI was a popular buzzword. But when you scratched the surface, most buyers couldn’t articulate what differentiated one from another, or even how to integrate these tools effectively.

The deeper issue wasn’t the tools themselves. It was the lack of strategy and enablement. Clients are being told they need AI, but they’re not being shown how to align it with their strategic goals and workflows, measure outcomes, or protect the customer experience.

And that’s where outsourcing providers are supposed to step up.

Unfortunately, most aren’t. We heard it firsthand from attendees, CX leaders who wanted more than flashy software demos. They wanted guidance. They needed strategic partners who could help them navigate the noise and understand what AI would look like inside their ecosystem.

That’s why we’ve built SupportNinja to operate as an integrator, not just a vendor. The tech alone won’t fix anything. You need systems, people, and processes working together to make it count.

The Future Isn’t Labor Arbitrage, It’s Co-Creation of Value

On the flight home, I kept thinking about something that came up over and over again — quality. Not just quality of the output, but quality of partnership.

Clients aren’t just asking for cheaper. They’re asking for better. They’re scrutinizing the performance of their vendors, questioning whether they’re getting real outcomes, and looking for partners who can prove their impact.

That echoes what we uncovered earlier this year in our 2025 CX Outsourcing Report. The market is still growing, but FTE count is flat. That means expectations are rising. Clients want more value per agent, more integration, more strategic collaboration.

The future of outsourcing is about co-creating value; creating solutions that actually improve the customer experience. And that only happens when you have a partner who can flex with your needs, align with your goals, and help you build something better together.

Strategy First, Always

CCW 2025 made one thing crystal clear: the outsourcing industry can’t keep hiding behind AI hype or legacy models. Buyers are smarter, expectations are higher, and the bar for value has moved.

That’s good news for those willing to meet the moment.

At SupportNinja, we’re doubling down on the fundamentals: real strategy, responsible AI, and customer experiences that are built to last.

We left CCW energized and more committed than ever to building the kind of value our clients are looking for.