Emapta is a fast-growing global outsourcing company that’s redefining how businesses build and scale teams. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Emapta founder and CEO Tim Vorbach about how he went from running a cleaning business in Australia to founding a B Corp–certified staffing firm that serves over 1,000 clients across 30 countries.
First Job And Learnings From That
Let’s start with your early days. What was your very first job and what did it teach you? Vorbach said:
“I’ve had an entrepreneurial streak, sometimes to a fault, since early on. I’ve always worked for myself in one way or another. I didn’t take the traditional path; I left high school before graduating. But instead of letting that define me, I let it fuel me. I built my own opportunities, learned on the job, and carved out a career driven by curiosity, grit, and an unrelenting belief that there’s always a way forward. That foundation shaped the leader I am today. My first business was carpet cleaning, then commercial cleaning. Leveraging the fact that I had no capital and could be the product itself, the first thing I learned is that everything is about customer experience and quality. In hindsight, the great thing about beginning my business career as a cleaner is that you learn very quickly that you have very little control over the relationship, or at least this was my experience in the earliest years.
“My success or failure was completely in the hands of the customer, including whether they paid and, of course, whether they continued with the service. In later years, I have been surprised by how different businesses are able to secure more control in their relationships with customers, but in all my formative years, the business I was building was entirely dependent on the sentiment of every customer, and equally their subjective views of what they regarded as good service. I think those early lessons gave me a maniacal focus on service quality and customer experience, and I’ve carried that into every business I’ve built since.”
Motivation For Launching The Company
You’ve built businesses in different industries. What motivated you to shift from running a cleaning business to starting Emapta? Vorbach shared:
“While running an adjustable bed company in Australia, I experienced firsthand the limitations of traditional outsourcing. Our sales team in Australia initially relied on lead generation from a BPO partner in the Philippines. While that setup worked well for a time, it quickly broke down when I tried to expand into other back-office and knowledge-focused roles such as accounting and finance, marketing and dedicated support staff. The traditional model couldn’t keep up. It was riddled with conflicts, a lack of transparency, inflexibility, and ultimately, an unsustainable lack of control.
“By this stage, I knew that the skilled, high-quality talent I needed was in the Philippines at a fraction of the cost versus comparably skilled and experienced talent in Australia. But there was a fundamental flaw in the legacy outsourcing model: it didn’t work for me.
“What I required was complete control and full transparency. I needed to build my team with 100% say over how they would be trained and onboarded, how much I would be paying each person including incentives and bonuses, and the assurance that they’d be 100% dedicated to my business and not shared with other accounts. I also wanted the best IT equipment, quality working environments, and long-term career opportunities to ensure top talent would stay and grow with the company.
“It was through this frustration that I saw the opportunity to build something better: A model that puts business owners back in control. One that is transparent, flexible, and grounded in real partnership where offshore teams don’t feel distant but deeply connected to the companies they support.”
Gap Being Solved
When you founded Emapta, what gap in the outsourcing industry were you aiming to solve? Vorbach explained:
“I saw a gap between the promise of outsourcing and the reality that many businesses were experiencing. Too often, companies must choose between quality and cost, while also navigating limited visibility into how their offshore teams operate. I wanted to build a model that gave clients full visibility and ownership over their teams, while creating a world-class environment for top talent. Emapta was designed to remove the friction from offshoring by building trust and offering the flexibility and people-first focus – not as optics or a tagline – but as a business principle.
“Not to mention, the experience for candidates was – let’s face it, not great. They have traditionally been treated as a low-cost commodity. We are very proud of our people-first philosophy that continues to garner industry recognition and acclaim. Emapta has been named a “Best Company to Work For” by HR Asia for four years in a row and ranked 13th in JobStreet’s Employee Job Happiness Index.”
Turning Point For The Vision For Emapta
Many founders talk about the “aha” moment. What was the turning point for you that solidified the vision for Emapta? Vorbach noted:
“The turning point for me was when I needed to quickly restructure the operations of an underperforming business and was forced to abandon the local teams to save the business from going under. I needed a wide range of much lower cost but equally capable and highly skilled staff in marketing, finance, compliance and customer experience. Although I had been working with Filipino teams for several years, I was amazed at how seamless and successful it was. We saved around $1.5M AUD in costs and the business operations, service standards and quality did not skip a beat. It was completely on par without any adverse impact on any of the business functions. There was no way any other form of outsourcing could have worked to deliver this result and the first-class outcomes we achieved. My only regret is that we hadn’t done this much earlier.”
Differentiation From Other Traditional Outsourcing Firms
Emapta’s model emphasizes flexibility, transparency and cost-efficiency. Can you explain how it differs from traditional outsourcing firms? Vorbach observed:
“Traditional outsourcing models often lock companies into rigid long-term contracts with hidden fees and one-size-fits-all solutions that leave businesses with little flexibility or visibility. At Emapta, our unique dedicated staffing model puts clients in full control with the flexibility to scale teams up or down as needed. We provide transparent pricing with no hidden markups on salaries, which gives clients complete visibility into their offshore operations. Unlike traditional BPOs that sit between the client and the team, we encourage direct engagement and real-time collaboration; Emapta-based offshore teams operate exactly like an extension of the clients’ local operations. Our clients choose the tools and systems that work best for them, while we handle everything else: sourcing and recruitment, employment law, employee engagement, facilities, data security, IT infrastructure and hardware, as well as IT supply and maintenance. This ensures seamless operations by delivering the appropriate infrastructure and maintaining compliance.
“What also sets Emapta apart is the power and reach of our 150+ team talent acquisition division and specialization of roles we support. We place highly skilled professionals in hundreds of distinct roles across dozens of functions, including accountants, mortgage brokers, financial analysts, legal assistants, paraplanners, healthcare administrators, IT engineers, digital marketers, software developers, and digitalization roles like annotation. We work across sectors such as mortgage, technology, fintech, finance, legal, real estate, healthcare, supply chain, retail and e-commerce helping companies build tailored, high-skilled, dedicated teams that bring deep industry knowledge and expertise.
“I see Emapta as a transformative force redefining expectations, experience, and value apart from the traditional BPO industry. We don’t exist just to save costs and offer limited low value roles – we build long-term, high-performing divisions and teams that have the potential to truly transform our clients’ businesses.”
Scaling Up The Company
Your company now supports over 1,000 clients in 30 countries with more than 10,000 team members. How do you maintain culture and quality at that scale? Vorbach told me:
“Tapping into the top 1% of global talent requires more than just a job board. The great thing about a strong culture is that it does scale well. We treat our employees as true partners and even like clients by truly valuing their needs, respecting what is important to them and staying committed to deliver on these priorities. It’s not tricky or difficult but requires consistency and conviction. Our model is very simple and extremely employee-friendly and client-friendly. We are 100% transparent, never marking up salaries, and giving our clients full visibility into the true cost of their employees. This approach is highly valued on both sides: employees love the opportunity to grow their income by delivering great value to clients, while clients gain confidence in knowing exactly what each employee costs. Our approach to complete transparency fosters trust and enables the best working environment for clients, employees and Emapta alike.
“Emapta also leverages a proprietary AI-driven talent platform, the Emapta Talent Marketplace, which connects us with over 300,000 pre-vetted professionals and attracts 125,000 new applications every month. The platform adds tremendous value for our clients, reducing the time-to-hire by providing information-rich profiles and streamlined workflows. Our 120+ recruiters specialize by industry and role type, allowing us to match candidates not only by skill, but by culture and potential.
“We go beyond resumes. Every candidate goes through a rigorous screening process including behavioral assessments and technical testing to identify professionals who consistently outperform. Once onboarded, our training ecosystem supports continual upskilling so that our clients get access to talent that’s not just the best today, but ready for what’s next.”
Keeping Talent Engaged And Committed
Emapta has an impressive 2.5% turnover rate. What’s your secret to keeping talent engaged and committed? Vorbach highlighted:
“Again, it starts with creating an environment where people feel seen and set up for success. One of the ways we do that is through full pay transparency; we don’t markup salaries, and team members know exactly what their clients are paying for. That transparency builds trust, and because our team members also have direct access to their clients, they know they have a real opportunity to prove themselves, grow in the role, and advance based on performance, not just tenure.
“Just as importantly, we’ve built a strong internal learning culture through initiatives such as our Emapta Academy, which offers access to over 80 courses covering leadership, IT, behavioral skills and soft skills. In the last year alone, we’ve delivered nearly 1,000classes to more than 10,000 attendees across our global teams. When people feel they’re continuously evolving in their careers, they’re more likely to stay and contribute.
“Beyond competitive pay and professional development, we invest in quality of life – from on-site gyms with professional fitness trainers, cafés and services to robust healthcare benefits and wellness programs. Our offices are designed to feel less like workplaces and more like communities. Emapta’s continuous focus on both quality of work and quality of life is a key reason our people stay and why our turnover rate remains at an industry-leading 2.5%.”
Using Business As A Force For Good
Being a Certified B Corporation is a big achievement. How does Emapta live its values of using business as a force for good? Vorbach emphasized:
“Becoming a Certified B Corporation wasn’t just a milestone, it was a statement of who we are and what we believe in and what our workforce cares about. We believe in using business as a force for good by creating lasting value for our clients, our people and the communities we serve. We are particularly proud of our RISE (Raising Individuals through Secure Employment) Program, a dedicated initiative aimed at providing employment opportunities to persons with disabilities. Our mission is to employ 1,000+ disadvantaged people and empower them with the necessary tools and training provided completely free of charge.
“To us, B Corp status means fair pay, inclusive hiring, continuous upskilling and providing a world-class work environment. As well as investing in local economies by prioritizing ethical governance and working hard to ensure our growth creates opportunity, not exploitation. Being a B Corp reinforces our commitment to balancing purpose and profit every day.”
Future Of Remote And Global Talent
How do you see the future of remote and global talent shaping the way businesses grow in the next decade? Vorbach reflected:
“The future of business growth will be shaped by access, not only to capital and technology, but to highly skilled global talent. Remote and distributed teams have unlocked levels of scalability, resilience and diversity that were unimaginable a decade ago. Over the next ten years, every high-growth company will need a global talent strategy – one that moves beyond cost efficiency to become a true source of competitive advantage. However, the companies that will lead in this area are those that embed culture and quality into every layer of their global teams.
At Emapta, we believe:
- Culture drives performance. In traditional BPO, teams can feel distant and transactional. But when each client’s offshore team is aligned with their values and mission, they’re more engaged, more integrated, and more committed, leading to lower attrition and faster onboarding.
- Quality isn’t just output, it’s ownership. High-performing teams aren’t built on low-cost execution, but on people who take pride in their work and feel a sense of responsibility for outcomes.
- Culture isn’t an add-on. It’s the operating system. We embed our clients’ tone, ways of working and values so that remote teams feel like a true extension of the business, not a bolt-on function.
Ultimately, the next era of growth belongs to businesses that can build borderless teams with a unified culture where talent, no matter where it sits, is empowered to think, problem solve, and lead.”
Advice For Entrepreneurs
Lastly, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs who want to build people-centric businesses in today’s fast-changing world? Vorbach concluded:
“Start by genuinely listening to the people you want to serve and the people you want to hire. A people-centric business isn’t built on power; it’s built with purpose. Invest in people and culture from day one, not as a branding exercise but as the foundation of how you operate. Be transparent, especially when it’s hard, and make decisions you would be proud of, as if they were splashed on the front page of a newspaper. And never forget that the quality of your business will always reflect the quality of your relationships. In this era of constant change, build for the people, and you’ll build something that lasts.”
