From Business Reviews to Sprints: How We Rebuilt Customer Collaboration for the AI Era
TL;DR
We didn’t plan to ditch business reviews — CX just moved too fast to keep waiting. So we started sprinting.
Sprints helped us replace static updates with real-time collaboration, shift from vendor to partner, and actually move the needle — together with our clients. But to make it work, we had to rebuild the way we structure CX: integrating AI tools like Smart Agent Assist and VOC, embedding strategic leads into the day-to-day, and aligning around outcomes, not just KPIs.
The result? Faster decisions. Real ROI. And a model that feels more human — even as the tech gets smarter.
The Shift Is On: From Reviews to Real-Time Collaboration
We didn’t set out to redesign how we work with clients. But the pace of modern CX — especially with AI in the mix — forced our hand.
The old rhythm wasn’t working. Business reviews became a static exercise, focused on past KPIs, often disconnected from the client’s broader goals. We could see it: too many slides, too little movement. Things were happening too fast for the conversation to still be about what happened last month.
At the same time, client expectations were evolving. They wanted to build, not just be presented to. They needed partners who understood their business, not just reported on delivery.
And we needed a model that helped us move faster, stay focused, and connect every action to real outcomes.
What started as a subtle tension — a feeling that something was off — quickly became clear: the way we were operating wasn’t built to support the kind of CX work we were being asked to do. AI tools were surfacing insights daily. Customers were evolving fast. Internal teams were growing across functions, countries, and tools. And still we were trying to fit everything into a monthly recap.
The shift wasn’t just about speed — it was about relevance and accountability. We couldn’t afford to stay stuck in reactive loops. Clients didn’t just want performance updates; they wanted partnership. They wanted help navigating the complexity, seeing around corners, and driving change upstream.
That’s how we ended up here — working in sprints, side by side with clients, solving real issues in real time.
Why Sprints Are Changing the Way CX Gets Done
Before we started working in sprints, most client interactions followed a familiar pattern: Business Reviews. These were structured, scheduled, and mostly retrospective. The focus was on performance — what worked, what didn’t, which KPIs were hit, and where we fell short. These sessions were useful in theory, but often limited in practice.
They were about reporting the past, not shaping the future.
We’d spend hours building slide decks, aligning on numbers, and revisiting issues we had already lived through. And by the time the conversation started, the business had often already moved on.
That’s where sprints made the difference.
Unlike business reviews, Sprints are Dynamic. They happen in real time, with real goals. They give us space to review, yes — but more importantly, to act. Instead of being locked into a quarterly or monthly cadence, we could move when the business moved — adjusting plans mid-week, testing ideas live, and making decisions based on what we were seeing now, not what happened 30 days ago.
Sprints helped us:
• Cut through noise and prioritize across dozens of data points.
• Replace static check-ins with real conversations about what matters this week.
• Bring client teams, delivery, and AI leads into tighter alignment — fast.
Some clients were on monthly cadences, others weekly. There was no common rhythm. Sprints gave us a framework to operate with urgency, while still staying grounded in client-specific needs.
“Some accounts had weekly touchpoints, some monthly, but there wasn’t a clean way to drive the core of the business. Sprints gave us that clarity — they helped us standardize without losing what made each client unique.” — Mike McCreery, CPO & Co-Founder at XtendOps
It wasn’t just the rhythm that changed — it was the mindset. Our teams went from reacting to KPIs to proactively driving outcomes. We weren’t just answering questions — we were helping ask the right ones, together with the client.
It also made us better at navigating complexity. CX teams today are juggling dozens of tools, metrics, contact types, and processes — often across geos. When you’re scaling fast, it’s tempting to treat everything the same. But that never works. What sprints gave us was a way to focus in, adapt per client, and move fast without losing precision.
This shift from reporting to co-building — from static updates to shared momentum — is what made the difference. And we’re not going back.
AI Accelerates the Shift
The real tipping point came when AI tools entered the mix.
Suddenly, we had live insights into what agents were doing (Smart Agent Assist), what customers were experiencing (VOC), and where friction was happening in real time. But with that visibility came a challenge: how do you act on it fast enough to make a difference?
The answer was clear — static planning couldn’t keep up. Sprint-based collaboration became essential.
“When you kick off an AI campaign with a client, you’re trying to optimize what’s driving the biggest impact. Your timing is key. You need to move fast to test changes, shift behaviors, and show results. AI makes that possible — sprints make it actionable.” — Mike McCreery, CPO & Co-Founder at XtendOps
We weren’t just reviewing metrics anymore — we were adjusting workflows, iterating prompts, experimenting with nudges inside Smart Agent Assist to influence behavior on the floor. On the other side, VOC was surfacing patterns in customer intent and revealing upstream problems clients hadn’t yet seen. Alone, those tools were powerful. But without the sprint model, they risked becoming just another data layer no one could take action quickly enough.
Sprints created the bridge between insight and execution. A change surfaced on a Monday? By Tuesday, it was in discussion. By Friday, it could be tested live. That rhythm allowed us to drive real behavior change and measure real business impact — faster than ever before.
And the benefit wasn’t just operational. It elevated the role of the BPO itself. We weren’t just agents or account managers anymore. We were advisors, operators, and AI translators — helping clients see clearly, act decisively, and evolve quickly.
From Reporting Results to Co-Owning the Roadmap
This shift toward sprints didn’t just change what we do — it changed how clients see us.
In the old model, we showed up with metrics. Reviewed performance. Explained the numbers. But we were still operating on the outside — reacting to targets, not shaping them. With sprints, that changed. We moved into the core of the business. Instead of reporting outcomes, we started co-owning them — working alongside clients in shared cycles, solving the problems that matter now, and aligning on what comes next.
This means moving from status updates to roadmap conversations. From performance reporting to upstream problem-solving. And from "vendor management" to true strategic partnership.
"Clients trust us more now because we’re not just summarizing the work — we’re building it together. With the right framework, we can actually move things forward, not just track them. That’s a huge shift in the relationship." — Lauren Eaches (Gigante), VP of CX Ops at XtendOps
That trust wasn’t a result of more meetings — it came from how we show up day to day. Asking better questions. Bringing real-time insight from AI tools. Flagging blockers the moment they surface. And not just delivering a service — but helping drive the business forward.
We’re no longer a vendor in the room. We’re a partner at the table, shaping the roadmap together.
Speed, Alignment, and Trust: The Real ROI of Sprints
Sprints didn’t just help us move faster — they helped us become more valuable.
Because when you operate in real time, you stop just optimizing metrics — and start solving real problems. Not just for your operation, but for your client’s entire ecosystem.
That’s where the real ROI of sprints comes in.
In a traditional model, BPOs are expected to hit targets. But in an AI BPO model, hitting a KPI isn’t enough. You need to show how automation, data, and human performance come together to drive outcomes — not just cost reductions.
And sprints are what make that possible. They give structure to the speed. They connect insights from AI to actual change on the floor. They make collaboration between teams — client, product, ops, and AI — not just easier, but continuous.
“If we don’t have integrations or access to the right systems, it slows everything down — but now we can trace those pain points with data. That helps clients go back internally, influence stakeholders, and actually fix what’s hurting their CX.” — Mike McCreery, CPO & Co-Founder at XtendOps
With tools like Smart Agent Assist and VOC in place, we’re surfacing issues at both the agent and customer level — fast. But sprinting is what lets us act on them just as quickly. We can spot a problem Monday, align on it Wednesday, and test a solution by Friday.
And here’s the key: many of those issues aren’t just on the BPO side.
We’re helping clients identify broken upstream journeys, legacy processes, or internal silos that create avoidable volume. We’re seeing how CX connects to churn, onboarding, retention, even product feedback — and bringing that full picture back into the sprint.
That’s how we help clients:
➡️ Reduce unnecessary contact volume → Contact rate drop across key customer journeys
➡️ Improve agent efficiency and experience → Improve first contact resolution
➡️ Make smarter decisions with real data → Lower overall cost to serve
➡️ Free up internal teams from repetitive escalations → More bandwidth for strategic CX work
➡️ Prioritize and act on high-impact changes faster → Influence internal changes they couldn’t justify before
➡️ Enhance existing delivery with AI → Free up budget to reinvest without losing expertise
The impact of that work isn’t just operational — it’s financial. Fewer repeat contacts mean lower cost to serve. Early fixes reduce escalation pressure and unnecessary workload across internal teams. And when CX data feeds into broader functions like onboarding, product, or marketing, it opens up faster paths to savings, retention, and growth — well beyond the support function itself. And for many CX leaders, that unlocked efficiency creates something even more valuable: room to reinvest — into better tooling, smarter workflows, and AI initiatives that once felt out of reach.
This is what a modern AI BPO does. It doesn’t just lower cost. It brings together humans, tools, data, and structure — and uses sprint-based collaboration to unlock impact across the business.
That’s the kind of ROI CX leaders actually need — measurable, cross-functional, and built to last.
What This Unlocks in Outsourcing & Service Delivery as a Service
Sprints aren’t a surface-level fix. They only work when the foundation changes too — and for us, that meant rethinking the whole way we structure CX.
The old setup had strategic directors on the sidelines — focused on high-level reviews, removed from the day-to-day. But that model couldn’t keep up with what clients actually needed. So we shifted.
Now, CX leads aren’t just owning delivery —They’re driving the partnership End to End. They’re shaping how we collaborate, leading AI adoption, and making sure that what we do in sprints translates to real outcomes for the client’s business.
“Before this model, it was easy to get lost — for us and for the client. Now there’s clarity, shared priorities, and space to actually solve things together. That’s what’s made the difference.” — Lauren Eaches (Gigante), VP of CX Ops at XtendOps
We built around agility — but we also made it scalable. We designed for flexibility across accounts while still keeping a consistent rhythm for sprints. That’s what made this work not just for one client, but across the board.
We also brought AI and ops into the same loop. With tools like Smart Agent Assist and VOC in play, our CX leaders became connectors — matching what the tech sees to what the operation needs, and translating both into value for the client. No more handoffs. No more silos. Just one team, running the business together.
If you want to see how we built that team and structure from the ground up, we broke it down here:👉 Forget Old BPO Models — Here’s How We Built an AI CX Org

Because it turns out — if you want to move fast, deliver value, and build something that lasts — you need more than a new method …You need a new model.
If any of this sounds familiar — or like where you’re headed — let’s keep the conversation going - Connect with XO