VIPs Get Humans, Peasants Get Bots: Klarna’s New Service Model
The fintech giant famously replaced hundreds of roles with AI, shrinking its workforce from 5,500 to 3,000 and boosting revenue per employee.
Klarna is bringing humans back—but only for its VIPs. At London’s SXSW, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski explained the company’s evolving approach to customer service: automation for most, but human interaction for the select few.
The fintech giant famously replaced hundreds of roles with AI, shrinking its workforce from 5,500 to 3,000 and boosting revenue per employee.
But now, Klarna says it's reinvesting savings into employee compensation—and premium customer experiences.
“Two things can be true at once,” Siemiatkowski said. “AI can handle repetitive tasks, while human service becomes a premium perk.” He likened it to hand-stitched clothing—more expensive, but worth it.
Klarna plans to reserve live agents for top-tier users, while the rest chat with bots.
Last year, Klarna claimed it would shut down Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers like Salesforce and Workday and replace them with internally built AI.
However, earlier this year, Siemiatkowski revealed that the Swedish fintech company is hiring again after a hiring freeze that lasted over a year. He admitted that the earlier cost-cutting emphasis had affected service quality.