Klarna’s AI Shakeup and the Future of Fintech Talent
Since its founding in 2005, Klarna has positioned itself as a leading player in the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and digital payments space, expanding its services to over 45 countries, supporting more than 150 million users, and partnering with 675,000 merchants globally. As fintech evolves, Klarna is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by artificial intelligence. This shift is not only changing how the company operates but also how it envisions the future of its workforce.
Klarna’s AI Evolution: From Risk Assessment to Revolution
Klarna’s journey with AI began between 2021 and 2022, focusing initially on areas such as risk assessment and fraud detection. However, by early 2023, the company significantly ramped up its AI integration. Klarna adopted GPT-4, launching a ChatGPT-powered assistant and introducing personalized product recommendations, reshaping the customer experience.
By the latter half of 2023, AI was no longer just a support tool but a key strategic asset. It was hailed internally as a game-changer that significantly enhanced productivity while reducing operational costs. The impact became even more pronounced in 2024. AI systems handled 2.3 million customer chats, accounting for 66% of all queries. The average resolution time plummeted from 11 minutes to just 2, and the company projected a $40 million improvement in profits.
Key highlights from Klarna’s AI rollout in 2024 include:
- The introduction of an internal AI assistant named ‘Kiki’.
- Company-wide rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise, with 87% of employees using AI daily:
- 93% of staff in Communications.
- 88% in Marketing.
- 100% of engineers using AI assistants.
- 93% of staff in Communications.
- A $10 million reduction in marketing costs in just six months.
A Bold Approach: Replacing Roles Instead of Augmenting Them
Unlike some of its competitors, Klarna’s leadership embraced AI not merely as a way to augment human roles, but as a direct replacement for many of them. CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski made it clear that the company’s thin margins necessitated aggressive automation. While firms like Stripe and PayPal focused on upskilling staff to work alongside AI, Klarna chose to cut costs by reducing its workforce. From a peak of 6,500 employees in 2022, the headcount dropped to 3,800—a striking 40% reduction. This drastic measure came amid financial pressures and in preparation for a public offering, following Klarna’s sharp decline in valuation from $46 billion to $6.7 billion.
Strategic Shifts in Hiring and Operations
Klarna’s transition to an AI-first model led to significant changes in hiring priorities. The company imposed a hiring freeze on most roles, focusing exclusively on AI engineers and machine learning specialists. In customer service, AI chatbots replaced approximately 700 agents, while more than 500 employees were moved to Klarna’s sister company, Foundever. Rather than implementing widespread layoffs, Klarna opted for an attrition-based strategy, where roles left vacant by departing employees were not refilled.
Marketing and communications also saw a major transformation. Over 80% of marketing content and design is now generated by AI, leading to a 10-15% reduction in team size. Despite these reductions, the efficiency gains were substantial, with an estimated $10 million saved in marketing expenses in just the first half of 2024.
Engineering teams have fully embraced AI copilots to boost productivity, while risk and credit underwriting have been entirely handed over to AI models. These systems are now responsible for credit scoring and fraud detection, leading Klarna to shift its recruitment efforts from traditional analysts to AI specialists.
Three Paths to AI Adoption: Klarna, Stripe, and PayPal Compared
Klarna, Stripe, and PayPal represent three distinct approaches to AI integration in fintech. Klarna has pursued the most aggressive transformation, using AI to replace human roles outright—cutting headcount by 40%, freezing hiring outside of engineering, and using its AI chatbot to replace ~700 customer support agents. This AI-first model has been key to slashing costs ahead of a potential IPO.
In contrast, Stripe has focused on augmenting its workforce, avoiding layoffs by helping employees upskill and integrate AI into their workflows. Stripe’s use of AI enhances creativity and productivity across teams, but does not result in widespread displacement. PayPal, meanwhile, takes a more cautious, process-optimization approach—rolling out AI gradually to improve efficiency while retaining human agents. Its 7% job reduction appears more aligned with long-term streamlining than rapid AI-driven restructuring.
Overall, Klarna illustrates the disruptive potential of AI on talent strategy, Stripe showcases AI as a partner to human creativity, and PayPal reflects the steady integration of AI into legacy systems without radical workforce change.
The Future of Fintech Talent: A New Landscape
As Klarna’s experience illustrates, AI is rapidly becoming the norm in fintech. Companies are moving toward leaner, AI-driven teams, and this trend is reshaping the nature of employment in the industry.
Key changes shaping the future of fintech talent include:
- More tech roles, fewer support jobs: Entry-level customer support positions are increasingly being replaced by AI-powered self-service systems.
- Job displacement vs. job augmentation: While some companies are retraining employees to work with AI, others, like Klarna, are using AI to directly replace roles.
- Intense competition for AI talent: Fintech firms and traditional banks are competing for AI engineers, data scientists, and AI product managers.
- AI as a must-have skill: Professionals in the sector must now view AI skills as essential to remain competitive.
As AI continues to redefine the industry, companies that fail to adapt risk being left behind. Klarna’s bold AI-first strategy offers a glimpse into what the future might hold—a future where efficiency, automation, and innovation are paramount, and where the competition for top AI talent becomes one of the most critical challenges for fintech leadership.
Want to get more insights into fintech hiring?
Contact us or reach out directly to PCN CEO Rogier Rouppe van der Voort, at rogier@teampcn.com.
