Fintech firm opts for AI over hiring

Can any job be replaced by AI? The #Klarna CEO thinks so. And he’s trying to prove it - by replacing his employees & himself. Klarna stopped hiring a year ago! They’ve reduced headcount by 22% through natural attrition- as people moved on from the business. Instead of replacing them, he gave more generative AI tools to his workforce. Are employees worried by this? Nope - he says. Because he pays them more. The productivity gains are reflected in their paychecks. He’s also replacing himself in certain ways. A generative AI avatar of Sebastian Siemiatkowski gave the financials presentation a few weeks ago. (check out the Klarna page) Read more on the story here https://lnkd.in/e_eik2Hh And I’ll post the video of our interview asap. Lmk what you think! (Especially if you’re a Klarna employee!) ✌️❤️ #tech #ai #generaticeai #ipo #bnpl #jobs #layoffs

Can any job be replaced by AI? The #Klarna CEO thinks so. And he’s trying to prove it - by replacing his employees & himself. Klarna stopped hiring a year ago! They’ve reduced headcount by 22% through natural attrition- as people moved on from the business. Instead of replacing them, he gave more generative AI tools to his workforce. Are employees worried by this? Nope - he says. Because he pays them more. The productivity gains are reflected in their paychecks. He’s also replacing himself in certain ways. A generative AI avatar of Sebastian Siemiatkowski gave the financials presentation a few weeks ago. (check out the Klarna page) Read more on the story here https://lnkd.in/e_eik2Hh And I’ll post the video of our interview asap. Lmk what you think! (Especially if you’re a Klarna employee!) ✌️❤️ #tech #ai #generaticeai #ipo #bnpl #jobs #layoffs

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said his company was able to stop hiring a year ago as it invested in AI that’s doing the work of hundreds of staff across the firm. Siemiatkowski has even published a financial update with his own AI-generated avatar https://trib.al/BnEhByt

In my latest for Inc. Magazine, I reported on Klarna's recent business update, delivered by an entirely AI-generated version of its CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski. For all the discussion about AI replacing jobs, there’s been less talk about AI taking the top leadership job at companies. In a 2023 survey of 800 C-suite executives, 47% said most or all of the CEO’s role could be replaced by AI. Exactly which parts of the job could be handled by AI isn’t yet clear. Perhaps earnings calls? Who can pull a stunt like this is also a matter of debate. A company like Klarna may be able to get away with announcing financial results with an AI-generated CEO, while a more "serious" company like Bank of America couldn’t. Generative AI is still just a toy to many, and institutions don’t want to be seen as playing around. If Klarna does go public in the near future (it filed for a U.S. IPO in November; its second try), the company may have to reconsider where it can get away with an executive doppelgänger.

Sharing with my Localization Industry peers... Gabriel Fairman, this post reminded me of our conversation about job retention and growth in our industry in context with AI. In the end, productivity drives value and technology is the enabler. -- "Are employees worried by this? Nope - he says. Because he pays them more. The productivity gains are reflected in their paychecks. *" * Klarna CEO -- I find this post by Caroline Hyde thought provoking. Your thoughts? Full disclosure, I want to be careful about generalizations and assumptions because there are different versions and angles on this topic impacting the localization industry.

Caroline Hyde is always all over the AI march…and this bit is super insightful. Wow things are moving fast and workers who can adapt to tech stand to win big!

Can any job be replaced by AI? The #Klarna CEO thinks so. And he’s trying to prove it - by replacing his employees & himself. Klarna stopped hiring a year ago! They’ve reduced headcount by 22% through natural attrition- as people moved on from the business. Instead of replacing them, he gave more generative AI tools to his workforce. Are employees worried by this? Nope - he says. Because he pays them more. The productivity gains are reflected in their paychecks. He’s also replacing himself in certain ways. A generative AI avatar of Sebastian Siemiatkowski gave the financials presentation a few weeks ago. (check out the Klarna page) Read more on the story here https://lnkd.in/e_eik2Hh And I’ll post the video of our interview asap. Lmk what you think! (Especially if you’re a Klarna employee!) ✌️❤️ #tech #ai #generaticeai #ipo #bnpl #jobs #layoffs

🤖 The AI assistant has had 2.3 million conversations, two-thirds of Klarna’s customer service chats 🏭 It is doing the equivalent work of 700 full-time agents 💯 It is on par with human agents in regard to customer satisfaction score Chatgpt plugin or not. “AI wrapper” or not. These stats are mind boggling, especially the last one. The level is at 100% satisfaction level. #AI #aiagents #aiwrapper