(Maire Clayton, Headline USA) The largest call-center operator, Teleperformance SE, is using artificial intelligence to help reduce the accents of English speaking Indian workers, according to Bloomberg.
Teleperformance aims to use the technology in real time as well as using background noise cancellation. The new technology is dubbed accent translation.
The operator provides services to Apple, TikTok and Samsung. However, Teleperformance did not disclose which companies would be implementing the AI technology.
Palo Alto-based startup Sanas developed it after Teleperformance gave the company a $13 million investment, according to Techspot.
Today, in dystopia:
The world's largest call center operator is using AI to make its staff sound less Indianhttps://t.co/kDnNbhidxC
— Olivia Solon (@oliviasolon) February 27, 2025
“During the conversion, the software modifies intonation, stress patterns, and phoneme pronunciation to align with the target accent,” the outlet stated. “The system employs text-to-speech (TTS) technology to synthesize the phonetic pattern and convert the text into a synthesized voice that maintains the speaker’s original tone, emotion, and identity.”
The startup said its goal while creating the technology was to reduce “accent-based discrimination.”
“When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard to hear, to understand,” Deputy-Chief Executive Officer Thomas Mackenbrock told Bloomberg. “[This technology can] neutralize the accent of the Indian speaker with zero latency, [creates] more intimacy, increases the customer satisfaction, and reduces the average handling time.”
Mackenbrock described it as “a win-win for both parties.”
The technology is also being used for Filipino accents with other accents soon to follow.
“AI will be ubiquitous, it is already today,” Mackenbrock told the outlet. “But in order to build connections, customer experience, branding awareness, the human element will be incredibly important.”
Teleperformance expects to invest up to $104 million in AI technology during the course of 2025, Techspot reported.
The call-center operator is the exclusive reseller of the product Sanas created.
