Hello {{first_name}},
It’s been a minute. We’ve been busy deploying Claude Code, migrating to BeeHiiv, launching a couple of DTC brands, and (cautiously) testing OpenClaw.
Recently, a computer science student’s AI agent created a dating profile for him. Without asking. Then it started screening matches.
That's OpenClaw — the open-source AI agent that went from zero to 247,000 GitHub stars in six weeks. It doesn't just chat. It acts. Email, CRM, scheduling, lead gen, content — 24/7, for about $50/month in API costs.
Seven thousand miles away, many of the two million Filipinos working in the BPO industry do similar work in call centers and co-working spaces across Manila, Cebu, and Iloilo. The $42 billion question: what happens when the lobster meets the call center?
Here's what I think most people are getting wrong. The industry press says AI will "augment" the workforce. The boosters say everything's fine. But even the BPO sector's own rebranding — from "call center agent" to "AI pilot managing 5–10 AI instances" — suggests that one person now does the work of five to ten.
The commodity layer shrinks. That part's inevitable. What survives is the judgment, the relationships, and the people who can read between the lines — skills AI agents haven’t figured out (yet), including the one building rogue Tinder profiles.
We mapped the full picture — 30 years of BPO history, where OpenClaw actually works (and where it spectacularly doesn't), and what small businesses should do right now → Read the full post on our blog →
Until next time,
Harry
Further Reading
The Number That Should Keep the BPO Industry Up at Night
One-third of Philippine jobs are exposed to AI — but 61% of those roles are also rated as highly complementary, meaning augmentation is more likely than outright replacement. The IMF's working paper is the most rigorous data available on what's at stake.
3 AM in a Manila Tower: What the AI Transition from the Inside
The shift from labor arbitrage to intelligence arbitrage looks like from inside the workflows — the small changes that are adding up to something big.
$25 Million a Year to Outrun a Lobster
IBPAP's 400 member companies are investing serious money to reskill the workforce — pivoting from accent training to AI literacy and data analytics. A look at the institutional response and whether it can keep pace with how fast the landscape is shifting.
The AI Agent That Made Its Own Tinder Profile
The full story of how an Austrian programmer's side project became the most talked-about AI agent of 2026. CNBC traces the journey from Clawdbot to OpenClaw, including the security concerns, the viral adoption, and what IBM researchers think it means for the future of personal AI.