An interview with Karim Bernoussi, CEO of Intelcia Group
Intelcia is a global outsourcing specialist, with expertise in customer experience solutions, global enterprise solutions, IT, as well as Innovation Consulting. The company has been a trusted partner to its clients for over 20 years, offering tailor-made solutions by combining talent, technology, and processes. The group has 35,000 employees serving clients around the world through 85 centres in 16 countries across Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
The European caught up with the CEO of Intelcia Group Karim Bernoussi to find out how the company has weathered the Covid storm, and what motivates the firm to achieve.
The pandemic has affected businesses in many ways – what did it mean for Intelcia?
Karim Bernoussi: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, customer service centres have become the main, if not the only point of contact between customers and brands. In these testing times, delivering an exceptional customer service experience is more important than ever. That is why at Intelcia we are so committed to ensuring that our core business is as efficient and customer-friendly as possible. In addition to hiring the very best people, ensuring quality training and nurturing talent among our staff, at Intelcia, we are also committed to adopting the latest cutting-edge technologies to ensure a seamless customer service experience.
The crisis has completely reshaped the customer service industry, ushering in new trends and expectations. In the years to come, businesses in the industry will be defined by how they have reacted and responded to this new environment, and at Intelcia, we will use the lessons learned from the pandemic to propel us towards an exciting future.
Tell us more about your global, multisector services. Intelcia offers global onshore, nearshore and offshore solutions through our main customer-relationship management services. In addition to our key offerings, we also propose consulting and support services ranging from IT development to HR and financial solutions, so that our clients can focus on their core business.
We are also in the midst of consolidating our digital transformation and consulting services thanks to our recently integrated technology-driven products, Evoluciona and Smart Analytics Hub. We offer innovative solutions such as artificial intelligence and smart automation, which complement and further enhance the customer service experience.
Where are your key markets globally?
All the markets we cover and the clients we serve are important to us. It is true that today we have a fair amount of expertise in the French-speaking market, and we are in a comfortable position to serve it successfully. We are on the right path to becoming a global player in the outsourcing sector, with the ultimate goal of serving the development needs of our clients, wherever they are and wherever they want. And in order to become that global player, we need to be present in other markets. As a result, we have been focusing more on the English and Spanish-speaking markets as of late. For the English-speaking market, Intelcia relies on its presence in the Americas (US, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Colombia), but also on its partner in Egypt to serve the large US market on a far-shore basis, and to prepare for the Middle East markets. For the Spanish-speaking market, we have already made a big leap with our establishment in Spain and Latin America following the acquisition of Unisono. Today, we are in a strong position to become a multilingual player with 40% of our capabilities serving the non-French speaking markets.
Your core values are to dream, care, and do. What makes these words special?
Our dreams are our main driving force. That is why we do not hesitate to defy conventions and to break down all psychological barriers to achieve our ambitions. Our dreams allowed us to grow from a company with 200 employees to the multinational that we are today with 35,000 employees. Moreover, our corporate culture is based on sharing; generosity and cohesion. We care first about people – our employees, our customers and our partners – and we care also about our local communities and environment. Finally, we are results-driven; we take the initiative and always look for creative solutions. This is what allows us to respond with agility to the demands and needs of our customers.
What is your vision for Intelcia going forward?
Within the past decade, our group has encountered unprecedented rapid development thanks to organic growth and a targeted acquisitions plan. Our ambition is to reach €1.5bn in sales by 2025, to be a global player and to be ranked in the world’s top 10 outsourcing companies. Leveraging local skills and mobilising our people towards the same objective can achieve this. We have the means to do so because we have clients who believe in us. And we have highly committed employees, and shareholders who are aligned with management to guide the company in this direction.
For further information:
www.intelcia.com
