Latest news with #AdolfoHernandez
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Outsourcer Capita earmarks cost savings for AI war chest
Capita has outlined plans to reinvest cash saved during recent cut backs into artificial intelligence-powered tech. It came as the outsourcing giant, which administers the BBC licence fee, told shareholders it expects 'broadly flat' sales this year, but with stronger margins thanks to cost cutting efforts. After expanding its cost-cutting target by £90million to £250million last December, Capita said it had now achieved £185million in annualised savings. It is ploughing much of the spare cash into artificial intelligence products, such as the recently established Capita AI Catalyst Lab, which has already identified over 200 use cases across the company. Capita has also become one of the first businesses across Europe to use Salesforce's Agentforce to help recruit new staff more quickly. Adolfo Hernandez, chief executive of Capita, said interest in agentic AI solutions has 'grown exponentially'. He added: 'We are reinvesting a portion of our efficiency savings into new technology solutions, particularly those underpinned by AI, and we are focused on bringing these technology solutions to more clients.' Capita's adjusted turnover declined by 4.5 per cent in the five months ending May. Sales rose by 2.3 per cent in its public service division, thanks to central government work and by 6.4 per cent in the firm's regulated services business, partly due to a one-off termination exit fee. But they slumped by 21.1 per cent in its contact centre arm owing to weaker volumes on telecommunications-related contracts. Nonetheless, the London-based group won £969million worth of contracts during the period, a 24 per cent jump on the same time last year. These included a £97million deal from the Royal Navy to provide training services, a £92.4million extension with Southern Water, and a £107million contract for IT services in Northern Irish schools. Capita is known for managing the London Congestion Charge scheme on behalf of Transport for London and running recruitment campaigns for the British Army. Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, said: 'Growth remains elusive, and competitive pressures in public sector outsourcing are intense. But with sentiment at a low base, Capita may now offer contrarian appeal. 'And with early signs of operational discipline and tech investment bearing fruit, investors may want to revisit this long-overshadowed name.' Capita shares were 4.6 per cent higher at 261p on Tuesday morning, taking their gains over the past year to approximately a quarter.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Capita using cost savings to invest in AI push
Outsourcing giant Capita has revealed plans to reinvest some cost-cutting efforts into artificial intelligence (AI) as it looks to 'future proof' the business. The group said it had so far stripped out £185 million of costs as part of its plans to save £250 million a year by the end of 2025 and will put some of the savings into new technology as it rolls out new AI offerings to clients. Capita has launched several new AI products, including Salesforce's Agentforce for large-scale recruitment, while it has found more than 200 use cases for AI across the business, and launched five new products with five more in the detailed testing stage. The group is putting faith in the new technology to help drive savings within the business as well as offering customers new services. Adolfo Hernandez, chief executive of Capita, said customer interest in so-called AI agent technology had 'grown exponentially'. 'We are reinvesting a portion of our efficiency savings into new technology solutions, particularly those underpinned by AI and we are focused on bringing these technology solutions to more clients,' he said. It comes as the group is looking to improve its profitability, while sales have also come under pressure, down 4.5% in the five months to May 31. Capita said: 'We are making good operational progress to future-proof the business in line with our expectations.' The group added: 'Our first priority is to improve the group's operating margin, while maintaining cost consciousness. 'We are building a leaner organisation, reinvesting in the technology core of the business and deepening our own AI skills, developing products and forging new partnerships.' Its latest trading update showed sales in its contact centre outsourcing business slumped 21% in the first five months, hit by contract losses and lower demand in the telecoms sector. This was partially offset by 2.3% growth in sales across its public service arm and a 6.4% rise for its regulated services division. Capita hiked its cost reduction target in December last year to £250 million by the end of 2025, up from £160 million, revealing it was aiming to drive savings from the use of AI and staff turnover. Capita – a major contractor for the Government and local authorities which also manages the licence fee for the BBC and runs recruitment for the British Army – has been accelerating the use of AI and generative AI to speed up certain tasks, such as recruitment. Last year, it announced plans to cut around 900 jobs as part of the cost-reducing plan, but is also looking to deliver some of the extra savings through staff turnover, which was at a rate of 21.7% at the end of last year. Sign in to access your portfolio
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Capita using cost savings to invest in AI push
Outsourcing giant Capita has revealed plans to reinvest some cost-cutting efforts into artificial intelligence (AI) as it looks to 'future proof' the business. The group said it had so far stripped out £185 million of costs as part of its plans to save £250 million a year by the end of 2025 and will put some of the savings into new technology as it rolls out new AI offerings to clients. Capita has launched several new AI products, including Salesforce's Agentforce for large-scale recruitment, while it has found more than 200 use cases for AI across the business, and launched five new products with five more in the detailed testing stage. The group is putting faith in the new technology to help drive savings within the business as well as offering customers new services. Adolfo Hernandez, chief executive of Capita, said customer interest in so-called AI agent technology had 'grown exponentially'. 'We are reinvesting a portion of our efficiency savings into new technology solutions, particularly those underpinned by AI and we are focused on bringing these technology solutions to more clients,' he said. It comes as the group is looking to improve its profitability, while sales have also come under pressure, down 4.5% in the five months to May 31. Capita said: 'We are making good operational progress to future-proof the business in line with our expectations.' The group added: 'Our first priority is to improve the group's operating margin, while maintaining cost consciousness. 'We are building a leaner organisation, reinvesting in the technology core of the business and deepening our own AI skills, developing products and forging new partnerships.' Its latest trading update showed sales in its contact centre outsourcing business slumped 21% in the first five months, hit by contract losses and lower demand in the telecoms sector. This was partially offset by 2.3% growth in sales across its public service arm and a 6.4% rise for its regulated services division. Capita hiked its cost reduction target in December last year to £250 million by the end of 2025, up from £160 million, revealing it was aiming to drive savings from the use of AI and staff turnover. Capita – a major contractor for the Government and local authorities which also manages the licence fee for the BBC and runs recruitment for the British Army – has been accelerating the use of AI and generative AI to speed up certain tasks, such as recruitment. Last year, it announced plans to cut around 900 jobs as part of the cost-reducing plan, but is also looking to deliver some of the extra savings through staff turnover, which was at a rate of 21.7% at the end of last year.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Capita using cost savings to invest in AI push
Outsourcing giant Capita has revealed plans to reinvest some cost-cutting efforts into artificial intelligence (AI) as it looks to 'future proof' the business. The group said it had so far stripped out £185 million of costs as part of its plans to save £250 million a year by the end of 2025 and will put some of the savings into new technology as it rolls out new AI offerings to clients. Capita has launched several new AI products, including Salesforce's Agentforce for large-scale recruitment, while it has found more than 200 use cases for AI across the business, and launched five new products with five more in the detailed testing stage. The group is putting faith in the new technology to help drive savings within the business as well as offering customers new services. Adolfo Hernandez, chief executive of Capita, said customer interest in so-called AI agent technology had 'grown exponentially'. 'We are reinvesting a portion of our efficiency savings into new technology solutions, particularly those underpinned by AI and we are focused on bringing these technology solutions to more clients,' he said. It comes as the group is looking to improve its profitability, while sales have also come under pressure, down 4.5% in the five months to May 31. Capita said: 'We are making good operational progress to future-proof the business in line with our expectations.' The group added: 'Our first priority is to improve the group's operating margin, while maintaining cost consciousness. 'We are building a leaner organisation, reinvesting in the technology core of the business and deepening our own AI skills, developing products and forging new partnerships.' Its latest trading update showed sales in its contact centre outsourcing business slumped 21% in the first five months, hit by contract losses and lower demand in the telecoms sector. This was partially offset by 2.3% growth in sales across its public service arm and a 6.4% rise for its regulated services division. Capita hiked its cost reduction target in December last year to £250 million by the end of 2025, up from £160 million, revealing it was aiming to drive savings from the use of AI and staff turnover. Capita – a major contractor for the Government and local authorities which also manages the licence fee for the BBC and runs recruitment for the British Army – has been accelerating the use of AI and generative AI to speed up certain tasks, such as recruitment. Last year, it announced plans to cut around 900 jobs as part of the cost-reducing plan, but is also looking to deliver some of the extra savings through staff turnover, which was at a rate of 21.7% at the end of last year. Sign in to access your portfolio
The Star
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Capita to roll out AI-powered recruitment this summer
Capita's logo is pictured on a smartphone in front of an electronic display showing the same logo in this illustration taken, December 4, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration LONDON (Reuters) -Capita, a British outsourcer that works with government, armed forces and companies, said it was using AI to cut recruitment from weeks to just hours, and it would roll out the service, developed with Salesforce Inc, this summer. "We hire about 10,000 people for multiple operations and multiple contracts every year because of the nature of the transient workforce in some of our markets," Chief Executive Adolfo Hernandez said in an interview. Salesforce said Capita was the first business-to-business company in Britain to deploy its Agentforce AI, using it to automate more than 200 tasks, including recruitment, where it speeds up hiring from job specification to shortlisting. Hernandez said the tool, built in the first three months of the year, could produce a qualified pipeline of candidates that had been matched to the job, leaving recruiters more time to dedicate to final interviews and bringing new staff onboard. "We're going to tune it and then when we've got it ready, we'll go to market," he said. "High volume recruitment will probably be going to market this summer." (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)
