Klarna's aggressive use of AI has led to a 27% increase in revenue in the first half of 2024, and CEO Sebastian Szymiatkowski has said the use of AI could help the BNPL giant cut its headcount in half.
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Klarna, which is preparing for a widely anticipated $20 billion IPO, reported first-half adjusted profit of $66 million, compared with an adjusted loss of $45 million for the same period in 2023.
In a letter to shareholders, CEO Szymiatkowski praised the impact of AI, revealing: “Our AI assistants are now doing the work of 700 employees, reducing average resolution times from 11 minutes to just 2 minutes, while maintaining customer satisfaction levels on par with human agents.”
The company cut its workforce from 5,000 to 3,800 through attrition last year, and Mr. Siemiatkowski expects further significant cuts.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he said: “Not only can we do more with fewer people, but we can do more with fewer people. Internally, we're talking about 2,000[employees]as a direction. We don't want to put a specific deadline on it.”
To achieve this, the company is using attrition rather than layoffs and has initiated a hiring freeze for non-engineers.
Klarna has also benefited from its expansion into the US, where it now works with a quarter of the top 100 retailers and has seen its US gross profits increase 93% year-over-year.
The company has recently expanded into retail banking, offering “accounts” where customers can deposit money and earn cash back rewards, in an effort to get more involved in their everyday spending and savings.
