Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski thinks so. Speaking at London’s SXSW, the head of the Swedish payments giant offered a nuanced take on the company’s evolving relationship with AI and human capital—one that reflects a broader shift across fintech and enterprise SaaS. Two years ago, Klarna made headlines for cutting roles and introducing AI agents that reportedly replaced the work of 700 staff. Today, its workforce has shrunk from 5,500 to roughly 3,000. That cost reduction, Siemiatkowski says, is being reinvested into employee equity and cash compensation. But in a twist, Klarna now plans to reintroduce human support—specifically as a premium service. “We think offering human customer service is always going to be a VIP thing,” he told the crowd. It’s a deliberate move, positioning human interaction not as a default, but as a luxury—much like bespoke tailoring in a world of mass production. Underpinning this shift is Klarna’s larger AI strategy. Internally, AI is helping Siemiatkowski and others make deeper inroads into areas traditionally siloed to engineers and data teams. “I’ll take a Slack thread, I’ll throw it in ChatGPT and say, ‘This makes sense, right?’” he shared, framing generative AI as a kind of “private tutor” for business leaders now engaging more directly with data and product decisions. The CEO also spoke candidly about Klarna’s recent decision to drop Salesforce and Workday in favor of consolidated internal systems—designed to streamline data flow and maximize AI readiness. “We realized the only way forward is going to be to consolidate,” he said, referencing the unwieldy complexity of navigating G Suite, Slack, Salesforce, and HR platforms just to extract actionable client insights. From an enterprise tech standpoint, Klarna’s approach is instructive: AI isn’t just reducing headcount—it’s reshaping roles, workflows, and even executive behavior. Siemiatkowski’s anecdote about business-savvy employees learning to code speaks to a broader trend of cross-functional AI fluency becoming a competitive edge in fintech. Still, there are risks. He acknowledged the rising threat of AI-enabled scams, particularly in high-trust societies like Sweden or markets such as Singapore, where fintech adoption is high. That risk, paired with the company’s ongoing ambition for a public listing, adds urgency to Klarna’s recalibration of tech and trust. So what’s next? Siemiatkowski hinted that Klarna’s IPO may be drawing closer—but gave no definitive timeline. As for geopolitics, he offered one final wish: “I’d make the U.K. part of the EU again,” he quipped, earning applause. Whether Klarna’s next act involves listing or leading a new category of AI-enhanced financial services, one thing is clear: The future of fintech will likely be driven by machines—but delivered, at least occasionally, by humans.
