BPO Economist & Independent Researcher

MSc Finance · Executive MBA · Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH)

Jens R. Voigt

I research the economics of outsourcing, AI-driven business model transformation, and customer value creation. My work examines the structural forces reshaping service industries — and the commercial frameworks organisations need to adapt. Drawing on two decades of senior leadership at eBay, Yahoo!, and Lexmark, I write for practitioners, investors, and industry leaders navigating these transitions.

BPO & Outsourcing Economics AI & Business Model Design Customer Lifetime Value Value-Based Pricing Outsourcing Strategy Commercial Model Design

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Research & Publications

White papers and working papers on BPO economics, AI strategy, and customer value frameworks.

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About & Experience

Two decades of senior leadership across eBay, Yahoo!, and Lexmark in outsourcing and strategy.

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Podcasts & Media

Podcast appearances, video interviews, and speaking engagements on industry topics.

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Contact & Follow

Reach out via email, LinkedIn, or Substack to connect or follow my latest writing.

The Customer Value System

A unified theory of customer operations and outsourcing. Every idea in my research connects to a single system of value — generated in customer interactions, flowing through relationship quality into economic outcomes, measured, allocated, operationalised, captured commercially, and reinvested to compound the loop. Click any node to explore that layer of the framework.

Click any node to explore that layer of the framework in depth

Research & Publications

White Paper · August 2026

Escaping the Commoditization Trap: How the BPO Industry Can Build a New Business Model in the Age of AI

Independent Research — 74 pages · BPO economics, AI disruption, value-based pricing, business model transformation

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White Paper · 2025

Rethinking Customer Service Outsourcing: The Value Operating Model for Value Driven, Customer-Centric Partnerships

Independent Research — Value Operating Model, outcome-based outsourcing, customer-centric partnerships

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Working Paper · 2025

Customer Lifetime Value and Relationship Quality in the Customer Service Industry

Independent Research — CLV–RQ framework, customer operations, enterprise value creation

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White Paper · July 2025

Service Design and Sourcing Decisions through a Customer Value + RQ Lens

Independent Research — 14 pages · CLV & RQ segmentation, sourcing strategy, cost-to-serve analytics, channel design

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From the Newsletter

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About

I am a BPO and customer operations leader operating at the intersection of strategy, commercial design, and industry thought leadership. Based in Berlin, I currently serve as Director of Strategic Partnerships and Solutions at eBay, where I lead the global outsourcing organisation across a substantial global partner portfolio.

Over the past several years I have developed and published frameworks on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), Relationship Quality (RQ), and value-based outsourcing models — contributing to the evolving discourse on how customer operations create measurable enterprise value. My research examines the structural forces reshaping the BPO industry, particularly the mismatch between how value is created and how it is commercially captured.

My work draws on more than two decades of senior operational and commercial leadership across eBay, Yahoo!, and Lexmark, spanning strategy, outsourcing design, contract negotiation, and global partner governance across EMEA, APAC, and North America.

I write regularly on Substack about outsourcing economics, AI strategy, and customer value frameworks, and engage with senior leaders across the global BPO and CX industry.

Selected Achievements

Contributing to development of a value-based CX strategy introducing CLV and RQ as core design principles, repositioning customer operations from cost centre to revenue driver. Currently implementing at eBay with a target of substantial incremental revenue in 2026.

Conceptualised and operationalised a Value Operating Model (VOM), evolving traditional input-based outsourcing toward outcome- and value-based partnerships with commercial constructs linked to retention, CSAT, and cost efficiency.

Redesigned the global outsourcing portfolio strategy across EMEA, APAC, and NA, delivering significant sustained cost efficiencies across a substantial global portfolio annually.

Developed and negotiated innovative commercial models including performance-based and value-linked mechanisms, achieving meaningful improvements in CSAT and relationship engagement scores.

2022 – Present

Director, Strategic Partnerships & Solutions / MD eBay Support GmbH

eBay · Berlin, Germany

2021 – 2022

Director, EU, Global Strategy & Contracts / MD eBay Support GmbH

eBay · Berlin, Germany

2019 – 2021

Director, Global Partner Management iRegion & Global Functions

eBay · Berlin, Germany

2018 – 2019

Director, Partner Management & WW Contracting & Pricing

eBay · Berlin, Germany

2012 – 2018

Head of Partner Management (DE → EU/NA → Global)

eBay · Berlin, Germany

2011 – 2012

Operations Manager Europe

Yahoo! · Dublin, Ireland

2001 – 2009

Technical Support → Process Design → Professional Services Partner Manager EMEA

Lexmark ISSC · Dublin, Ireland

2009 – 2010

MSc in Finance — Second Class Honors (First Division)

Trinity College Dublin

2007 – 2009

Executive MBA — First Class Honors

Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, UCD Dublin

1993 – 1998

Diplom-Betriebswirt (FH) — Bachelor in Business

Fachhochschule Anhalt