Fintech company Klarna, known for its “buy now, pay later” services, is going back on its decision to replace human workers with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The company has previously claimed that its AI assistant was completing the work of 700 employees.
CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has claimed that the move doesn’t signal a reversal on AI, but rather a shift in priorities as the company focuses on providing high-quality and human customer support. The CEO has praised AI in the past and claimed that it has the ability to take all jobs, including his own.
The reversal suggests that AI technology is yet to compete with the nuance and emotional capabilities of human workers, particularly in cases such as customer service, where a sense of empathy is needed.
Fintech Giant Klarna Goes Back on AI Replacements for Customer Service Jobs
Swedish fintech company Klarna is reversing a decision to replace human workers with Artificial Intelligence (AI), within its customer services. The company previously partnered with OpenAI in order to improve overall efficiency and reduce costs.
Klarna’s AI shift began in 2022, when it laid off around 700 employees to make way for the new technology, cutting about 10% of its workforce. By February 2024, the company claimed its AI assistant had taken on 75% of customer chats, accounting for about 2.3 million conversations in more than 35 different languages.
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However, following reports of customer dissatisfaction and poor quality support, Klarna is now inviting humans to return to the company. They are looking to hire remote customer service roles, in particular, targeting students, rural populations, and dedicated Klarna users.
Lack of Payoff Following AI Replacement Workers
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has been quick to praise AI in the past, and has previously claimed that AI has the ability to take everyone’s job, including his own. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case as the CEO told Bloomberg that Klarna’s AI-focused path of the past few years wasn’t the right one.
Siemiatkowski claims that the decision to bring back human workers comes from the discovery that, most of the time, humans would rather speak to other humans.
“From a brand perspective… I just think it’s so critical that you are clear to your customer that there will always be a human if you want.” Klarna CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski.
Siemiatkowski continued to say to Bloomberg that the “quality of human support” is now the focus of the company, suggesting that perhaps AI was not able to deliver in this regard.
Is AI Ready to Enter The Workplace as Support Agents?
A previous study of AI vs. human judges in courtrooms found that the AI made decisions purely based on legal precedent, rather than considering the emotional elements of a case. While not entirely the same environment as customer service, there is still a sense of emotional responsibility and support that needs to be offered to customers who are in distress.
There is, therefore, the possibility that AI has not yet developed enough in this field. While it is inviting human workers back into the company, Klarna has claimed that the move doesn’t signal an entire reversal on AI itself:
“The pilot reflects a dual-track approach – combining scalable AI with high-quality human support – not a step back from automation.” Klarna
As a result, the company’s new setup could be similar to the one outlined in Microsoft’s recent Frontier Firm report, which predicts a future of companies with humans and AI agents working alongside each other.
