BS People: Bhupender Singh

Sportsman Singh is BPO King

Bhupender Singh was recently appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Intelenet’s domestic BPO business. The announcement comes within two months of Intelenet being acquired by UK-based Serco.

By taking over the India business, Singh will be heading one of the largest BPO operations in the country. Prior to acquiring Intelenet, Serco had acquired Delhi-based Infovision for its capabilities in the domestic market. The combined business will be the largest entity in the domestic India BPO market with 26,000 employees and 27 delivery centres. As CEO of the combined domestic business, Singh will be responsible for managing and growing the businesses in the rapidly developing India market.

Over the past four years, Singh has led the creation and implementation of new operations for Intelenet including in the US, UK, Poland and Guatemala. These skills will also be put to test in India, as the company will now have to capture growth in a market which is price sensitive, margins are not comparable to global operations, clients want global innovation standards and there is competition from foreign players. Since he took over the mandate, Singh has been spending most of his time travelling across the country, visiting all of Intelenet’s 27 centres catering to the domestic business.

Singh, an avid sport enthusiast, has participated in the full and half-marathons in Melbourne and London. The 6ft 2inches Singh also plays volleyball and basketball. “I think this does help him in a way. He is always very calm and focused even at times of pressure,” says a colleague.

The Indian BPO sector is not new to Singh. He has worked with ICICI Firstsource (now Firstsource). He joined Intelenet through an acquisition the company made in 2007. He has also worked with consulting firms McKinsey & Company and Booz Allen & Hamilton among others. He is an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a B-Tech from IIT Delhi.