In “Beyond Outsourcing: How Strategic Partnerships Unlock Co-Creation and True Business Transformation,” TLCx Chief Commercial Officer Bryan Gray makes a warm but pointed case for rethinking outsourcing altogether. For too long, he says, it’s been treated as a simple transaction — hand off the work, hit the metrics, keep costs down. But the most forward-thinking organizations know better. True outsourcing today is about co-creation: a partnership where two teams blend strengths to reimagine processes, integrate technology, and drive outcomes neither side could reach alone.
Bryan Gray points to a real example to make the case. TLCx was originally brought on for billing support for a client in the consumer services industry. Since Q2 2022, that relationship grew steadily — TLCx became the client’s sole billing partner, expanded into chat support, and by Q2 2025 was named the client’s exclusive billing partner. That progression, Bryan Gray says, wasn’t luck. It was the product of financial discipline paired with consistent customer experience excellence.
The numbers back it up. The partnership now supports 250+ FTEs (77% nearshore, 23% offshore) handling 2.5 million-plus contacts annually across voice and chat. It has generated $3M+ in cumulative savings through ACH conversion initiatives and operational discipline, delivered over $500,000 in year-over-year credit spend reduction with more than 25% improvement in credits per call, and maintained an 81% First Contact Resolution rate in a complex billing environment — with monthly QA scores consistently landing between 94% and 98%.
One of the more interesting parts of the piece is how TLCx handled disruption rather than resisting it. When the client deployed its own AI-powered IVR system, billing inquiry and cancellation call volume dropped. Instead of treating that as a threat to headcount or scope, TLCx says it optimized around the shift — combining intelligent automation with human empathy and judgment to cut low-value volume while elevating the interactions that actually needed a person.
Bryan Gray breaks down what co-creation looks like in practice across four pillars:
- Shared ownership of outcomes — regular leadership cadences, real-time dashboards, and incentive programs aligned to the client’s priorities, turning agents into a true extension of the client’s own team.
- AI as a collaborative tool — optimizing around client-side automation rather than resisting it.
- End-to-end journey thinking — governance that spans channels and lines of business instead of siloed billing support, resulting in fewer escalations and stronger retention.
- Continuous transformation — a partnership that keeps expanding in scope because the results keep proving out.
He wraps up with a bigger-picture thought: in a time of AI acceleration, rising customer expectations, and constant pressure to do more with less, the organizations that treat outsourcing as a transformation engine — not just a cost line — are the ones set up to pull ahead. For TLCx, that whole philosophy comes down to three words: Human-First. Tech-Powered. Results-Led.
