We need to talk about accent bias—the hidden productivity killer

Customer and employee experience leaders must rethink how they approach the ‘challenge’ of the accents we naturally speak with. Attitudes and biases toward accents are a productivity barrier and risk restricting your talent pool.

Sanas, the Palo Alto-based speech-to-speech innovator, is aiming to break down barriers related to accents by reframing them as a relatability challenge rather than some kind of human deficit. The vision is to use technology to open the door to a more equitable, productive, and confident global workforce. The firm argues that how you speak is part of your identity—and that there should be no need to change your accent to speak to the world—and now AI can help.

AI converts accents in real-time for communication clarity and empathy

Sanas converts spoken English in one accent (e.g., Indian, Filipino, Spanish-accented English) into another (currently a neutralized ‘North American’ accent) as it’s being spoken. This doesn’t require any change in the speaker’s natural delivery—it simply adjusts how the listener hears what you say.

Sanas also includes an industry-leading, bidirectional noise cancellation engine, which filters background noise on both the call center agent’s and customer’s side (for example), reducing miscommunication due to environmental factors.

The possibilities go way beyond helping offshore teams connect with Americans.

The hidden cost of being misunderstood

Sanas emerged as a concept from Stanford’s AI Lab (SAIL) with a singular mission: eliminate the understandability gap that undermines millions of workers every day.

There is value in difference—and rather than accepting bias, perhaps we should challenge it. Sanas insists their solution is not intended to be censorship, assimilation, or cosmetic polish. Instead, they argue that if we can’t solve for bias in the immediate future, we can at least remove the cause. By doing so they seek to improve the daily experience of millions of people on the wrong end of such bias.

The consequences of accent bias are real. Misunderstandings spiral, creating frustration and outbursts of misdirected anger at contact center teams. The negative impact on individuals is one reason why contact center attrition remains among the highest in enterprise operations—with average quarterly churn often cited between 30% and 50% in offshore markets such as India and the Philippines. quality (see Exhibit 1).

Exhibit 1: Leaders identify the empowerment of employees as the most significant driver of CX improvement

Source: 15 CX leaders—HFS Research roundtable delegates

Churn is linked not just to low pay but also to low empowerment, poor tooling, and emotional fatigue. HFS stresses that elevating the role and experience of the human agent through better augmentation (such as with Sanas) is essential to break the churn cycle.

Sanas is building a human-to-human bridge, translating accents in real-time to match the listener’s ear while preserving the speaker’s authenticity and intent. That’s the differentiator: confidence + clarity = better customer outcomes and happier employees.

From call center add-on to strategic workforce infrastructure

Sanas started in CX, where the pain is acute and the ROI immediate. It now supports over 250,000 agents across major BPOs such as Teleperformance and Alorica, and its growth trajectory is clear. The platform enables 20%–37% increases in eligible hiring pools across the Philippines and India, unlocking talent previously excluded due to accent bias.

But here’s a potentially bigger opportunity: enterprise collaboration and team productivity.

Imagine integrating Sanas into Teams, Zoom, or Slack voice calls—where today’s multilingual teams may struggle to collaborate across dialects. Sanas can potentially become core infrastructure for international team performance and communication equity.

Why this isn’t just another voice tech

Speech-to-speech AI is a new category. Not speech-to-text. Not text-to-speech. Real-time accent translation that preserves individuality while enhancing mutual understanding. Sanas built and patented this from scratch—no transcription, no data capture, fully edge-deployed for privacy and speed.

More than that, it’s redefining how we think about communication as infrastructure. Its use cases include:

• Healthcare: Elderly patients better understanding foreign-accented nurses and doctors.
• Education: Professors in emerging markets getting heard on Coursera and Khan Academy.
• Podcasting: Breaking down accent-based silos to democratize global voices.

The Bottom Line: It’s time to tackle the hidden barrier accents place between your people and your customers.

Accent isn’t a cosmetic issue. It’s an enterprise barrier—limiting talent, trust, and innovation. Sanas offers a fix that simultaneously uplifts workforce engagement and business outcomes. CX and EX leaders must enable more of your people to be heard.

• Consider to what extent accents may exclude talented team members from active collaboration across global teams.
• Rethink inclusion and productivity through the lens of communication equity.
• Find ways for customers and employees to understand each other with more clarity—and ultimately with more empathy.