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Klarna’s AI replaced 700 workers — Now the fintech CEO wants humans back after $40B fall | Company Business News

2025-05-18 13:39:43 英文原文

作者:Written By Ravi HariPublished18 May 2025, 07:09 PM IST

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski admitted the company’s AI-heavy approach to customer service went too far, leading to a drop in quality. The fintech firm is now rehiring human agents through a remote, on-demand model, while continuing to integrate AI across operations.

Klarna is bringing back human customer support after its AI-focused strategy led to lower service quality. (Representative Image)
Klarna is bringing back human customer support after its AI-focused strategy led to lower service quality. (Representative Image)

Klarna Group Plc’s co-founder and CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, has admitted the fintech giant’s aggressive use of artificial intelligence in customer service has backfired. “As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality,” he said at Klarna’s Stockholm headquarters.

The company had halted hiring for over a year to focus on building AI capabilities, part of a broader cost-cutting effort. However, Siemiatkowski now says the shift needs recalibration. “Really investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us.”

Human touch returns to Klarna

In a strategic pivot, Klarna is launching a fresh recruitment drive for customer support roles — a “rare” move, according to a report in Bloomberg. The firm is piloting a new model where remote workers, such as students or people in rural areas, can log in and provide service on-demand, “in an Uber type of setup.” Currently, two agents are part of the trial.

“We also know there are tons of Klarna users that are very passionate about our company and would enjoy working for us,” Siemiatkowski said. He emphasised that from both a “brand perspective” and “company perspective,” it is critical to “always” give customers the option to speak to a human.

AI still central to Klarna

While scaling back its all-in AI push for customer service, Klarna remains committed to integrating artificial intelligence across its operations. The firm is rebuilding its technology stack with AI at the core to drive efficiency, and is working on a digital financial assistant to help customers secure better interest rates and insurance deals, the news outlet reported.

Siemiatkowski, 43, said Klarna’s relationship with OpenAI remains strong. “We wanted to be [OpenAI’s] favorite guinea pig,” he recalled, referencing Klarna’s early collaboration with the AI leader in 2023.

Post-boom course correction

Klarna’s renewed hiring comes after a period of turbulence. The company’s valuation plunged from a peak of $45.6 billion in 2021 to $6.7 billion during a 2022 funding round. It has since rebounded, with plans to raise $1 billion via IPO at a valuation of over $15 billion — though those plans were recently paused amid market volatility, according to the news report.

The company’s 2024 announcement that AI was handling the workload of 700 human agents shook the call center industry, sending shares of France-based Teleperformance SE down sharply.

Workforce still set to shrink

Despite the return to hiring, Klarna's headcount is still expected to shrink through attrition. “In a year’s time,” Siemiatkowski said, “we’ll probably be down to about 2,500 people from 3,000.” He added the pace of downsizing could increase as AI technology improves.

“I feel a bit like Elon Musk,” the Klarna CEO quipped, “always wanting to say it’s going to happen tomorrow, when it’s going to take a little bit longer. I think it’s very likely within 12 months.”

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摘要

Klarna's CEO admitted that过度依赖AI导致客户服务质量下降,公司现在正在重新招聘远程按需模式的人类客服代表,并计划重建技术栈以核心AI为基础提高效率。尽管如此,Klarna仍致力于在运营中整合人工智能。公司在经历估值大幅波动后,计划通过IPO筹集资金,但受市场波动影响而暂停了这一计划。预计到明年公司员工总数将从3000人减少至2500人左右。