Hugo Named Outsource Partner of the Year at Excellence in Customer Service Awards 2026

Over the past 12 months, Hugo's work has driven measurable outcomes across financial services, gaming, healthcare, and back-office operations, including reducing average handle time by more than 50% for a peak-season financial services client and maintaining 100% SLA adherence with zero quality flags across a full year for a healthcare SaaS platform.

Across its portfolio, Hugo sustained 98% workforce retention against an industry norm of 30-40% annual attrition.

Orinola Gbadebo-Smith, Co-Founder and CEO, said:

"This recognition reflects what our teams deliver every day: faster resolutions for end customers, better economics for our clients, and service quality that holds up as teams scale. Traditional outsourcing asks clients to choose between cost, speed, and quality. We've spent the last few years proving you don't have to."

Workforce Development as Infrastructure

A core driver of Hugo's results is Hugo Academy, a proprietary talent pipeline that sources degree-holding professionals, trains them on client-specific workflows, and qualifies them before deployment. In 2025, Hugo Academy trained 2,083 individuals and placed 668 graduates into client-facing roles, giving Hugo a bench of pre-trained talent that can be deployed in days rather than the 45-90 day ramps typical of legacy BPOs.

Agents train on live client workflows before going into production, including AI-powered simulations for high-stakes scenarios, from tax-season inquiries in financial services to fraud detection and KYC compliance in gaming. The result is a workforce that reaches production-ready performance faster and stays longer.

A Global Delivery Model

In 2025, Hugo acquired Gold (Goldkurs) Mountain Communications, a US-based sales outsourcing firm, adding onshore capacity for highly regulated work. Combined with delivery hubs across Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, Hugo now offers clients a blended offshore-onshore model across customer experience, sales, fintech, eCommerce, healthcare, and AI/ML operations.

To learn more about Hugo Academy and its ongoing efforts to empower African youth through education and global opportunities, visit hugoinc.com.

View all 2026 Excellence in Customer Service Awards Winners at News | Business Intelligence Group.

About the Excellence in Customer Service Awards

The Excellence in Customer Service Awards recognize the companies, teams, and individuals who set the standard for what customer service can deliver when it is resourced, led, and measured with intention. Established by the Business Intelligence Group, the program evaluates performance across categories, including Organization of the Year, Transformation of the Year, Technology of the Year, Team of the Year, Outsource Partner of the Year, Manager of the Year, Front-Line Pro of the Year, and Executive of the Year. Judged by experienced business executives who provide detailed scoring and transparent feedback, the awards honor those who demonstrate that exceptional customer service is a measurable, repeatable, and commercially significant discipline.

About Hugo

Hugo is a next-generation business process outsourcing provider specializing in customer experience, sales, fintech, healthcare, and AI/ML operations, powered by exceptional global talent and innovative technology. Headquartered in Chicago with delivery operations across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and the United States, Hugo partners with forward-thinking companies across North America and Europe to transform their customer experience operations. Hugo has been recognized as the fastest-growing customer service BPO by Clutch for two consecutive years (2024, 2025) and was named Overall Impact Champion at the 2025 Outsourcing Impact Review.

To learn more, visit hugoinc.com.

About Business Intelligence Group

Business Intelligence Group (BIG) is an independent awards organization that has been recognizing outstanding achievement in business since 2012. Now in its 14th awards season, BIG operates more than 10 annual programs spanning innovation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, customer service, cloud computing, sustainability, sales and marketing, workplace culture, and women's leadership. Unlike popularity contests, BIG programs use professional judging panels and objective scoring benchmarks to identify organizations, products, and individuals making real, measurable impact.

For more information, visit www.bintelligence.com.

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