Klarna, one of the early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI) in Europe, is currently reversing her course on the active use of the technology. According to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the company could potentially cut costs too much with AI at the expense of its services and product quality.“We probably indexed a bit about it, and we've been trying to get the course right over the last six months,” news outlet Reuters quoted CEO Sebastian Siemiatkovsky. He said the company cut thousands of jobs, dropped vendors like Salesforce and turned its eye on AI. This saved millions for the company, but he said the company now realized it went too fast.
Why is Kralna hiring humans again?
“Buy now, pay later” lenders have previously cut thousands of jobs and dropped vendors like Salesforce in favor of AI-driven solutions. For example, the company's AI chatbot was reported to be working with 700 employees, significantly reducing customer queries resolution time. In May, Klarna used the CEO's AI avatar to present quarterly revenue and another interactive AI avatar to talk to customers on the hotline.He said investors are more interested in the growth and quality of their client and merchant services than cost savings from AI.The company's focus is now shifting to improving productivity and product improvements. This is a move that coincides with the company's decision to start hiring new employees. Currently, Klarna's job portal has dozens of open positions, Reuters said.
Klarna is complete US IPO
Klarna recently completed a successful US IPO, with its stock increasing by 30% in its hot, expected New York debut, valued Swedish Fintech at $196.5 billion. The company's shares opened at $52, compared to an IPO price of $40 per share.
