Disputed confidence
May 14, 2025
Klarna
≈40% workforce reduction since 2022 (from ~5,000 to ~3,000) attributed in part to AI
Attribution · verbatim quote
“AI is being used to do the work that was previously done by 700 customer service agents.”
— Sebastian Siemiatkowski (ceo)
Summary
CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told CNBC that Klarna had shrunk its workforce by ~40% since 2022, in part by deploying AI for customer service. Klarna later partially walked back the AI-only customer-service strategy (see klarna-2026-reversal); flagged as disputed because of subsequent rehiring.
Evidence notes
- · Quote paraphrased from Siemiatkowski's CNBC May 2025 interview.
- · DISPUTED: Klarna has since publicly admitted the all-AI strategy hurt service quality and has begun rehiring humans.