company

Klarna

Fintech / Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) / Digital Payments
ScorePending
Awaiting crowdsourced evidence
Confidence
ApplicationHeavy
high
ImpactUnknown
low
OpennessUnknown
low
Klarna has been one of the most aggressive adopters of generative AI among global fintech companies, deploying OpenAI-powered tools across customer service, internal operations, and workforce productivity. The company's AI assistant handled two-thirds of customer service chats within its first month of launch, equivalent to 700 full-time agents, and 87-96% of employees use AI daily via tools including a bespoke internal assistant called Kiki. However, after significant workforce reductions through attrition and a high-profile AI-first strategy, CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski publicly acknowledged over-indexing on AI and initiated a course correction in 2025, including a recruitment drive for human customer service agents to ensure customers always have access to a real person.
Application
How is AI being used?
Heavy
high
Impact
How have people been affected?
Unknown
low
Openness
Company honesty about AI use.
Unknown
low
AI Tools & Platforms Detected
OpenAI ChatGPTOpenAI LLMs (via API)Klarna AI Assistant (customer-facing, powered by OpenAI)Kiki (internal AI assistant, built on OpenAI LLMs)ChatGPT plugin (first European company to launch)Proprietary in-house AI systems (replacing SaaS tools)Graph databases (e.g., Neo4j) for business intelligenceAI-driven fraud detection and risk assessment models
AI Hiringmoderate
4AI roles/ 39 total
Junior Machine Learning Engineer (referenced in Glassdoor interview data)AI/ML-related roles (4 of 25 US postings mention AI/ML/LLM skills)
Key Evidence (11)
Klarna's AI assistant handled 2.3 million conversations (two-thirds of all customer service chats) in its first month, equivalent to 700 full-time agents, with a 25% drop in repeat inquiries and $40M estimated profit improvement for 2024.
2024-02-27
web searchSource ↗
87% of Klarna employees use generative AI daily; Communications team at 93%, Marketing at 88%, Legal at 86%. Internal assistant Kiki (built on OpenAI LLMs) has answered over 250,000 employee questions.
2024-05-14
web searchSource ↗
Klarna was the first European company and first fintech globally to launch a ChatGPT plugin.
web searchSource ↗
CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski admitted Klarna 'probably over-indexed a little bit' on AI and has been trying to course-correct, including rehiring human customer service agents.
web searchSource ↗
Klarna reduced its workforce by approximately 50% (from ~5,000 to ~3,000) through natural attrition since 2022, coinciding with AI adoption; revenue per employee rose from $300K to $1.3M.
web searchSource ↗
Klarna eliminated over 1,200 SaaS tools including Salesforce and Workday, replacing them with proprietary AI-built internal systems.
web searchSource ↗
What insider reports could clarify
  • Exact nature and rigor of human review processes for AI-generated outputs in fraud detection and lending decisions
  • Specific AI model versions or fine-tuning details beyond 'OpenAI LLMs'
  • Current customer satisfaction scores comparing AI-only vs. human-assisted interactions post-course correction
  • Details of internal AI governance or responsible AI frameworks beyond public advocacy statements
  • Extent to which proprietary in-house AI systems have replaced OpenAI dependency
  • Outcome metrics from the 2025 human agent rehiring initiative
  • Whether SEC/regulatory filings (S-1) contain specific AI risk factor language beyond what is publicly reported
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