Klarna, a leading “buy now, pay later” fintech provider, has stopped employing humans and is relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to perform tasks once handled by hundreds of employees. The company stopped hiring more than a year ago, choosing instead to implement AI across its operations, CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg.
The company has cut its workforce by 22% through layoffs, and currently has about 3,500 employees, down from 4,500 last year. A key reason for this change is Klarna’s increased investment in AI, which Siemiatkowski claims has proven capable of handling many of the tasks previously performed by human employees. One of the most significant AI integrations included an AI assistant powered by OpenAI that took over the responsibilities of 700 customer service agents.
Despite the decline in headcount, Siemiatkowski assured existing employees that the company would share in the productivity gains from AI. “We’re going to improve some of the efficiencies that AI brings by accelerating the pace of employee pay increases,” he told Bloomberg.
Klarna’s move towards automation is also linked to its future growth plans. The company has confidentially filed a draft registration statement for an initial public offering (IPO) and is looking to expand its operations in the United States. “Krana is a European bank, but we want to be an American bank,” he said, adding that he was open to President Donald Trump’s offer to grant him an expedited banking license in exchange for a $1 billion investment. .
Simiyatkowski said AI has become integral to the company’s operations, replacing traditional roles and increasing productivity. But this raises questions about the future of human work, with experts like McKinsey & Company predicting that millions of workers could be displaced by advances in AI by 2030. It warns that there is.
Although Klarna is not actively expanding its workforce, it continues to hire people for key roles, particularly in engineering.
The trend of AI replacing jobs is not unique to Klarna. Another tech giant, IBM, has suggested that up to 30 percent of HR roles could be replaced by AI within the next five years, as CEO Arvind Krishna said in a recent Bloomberg interview. are. Earlier, Mr. Krishna also introduced new rules requiring managers to move closer to their offices or leave the company.
