CEO of company that fired 700 people for AI on why he is now hiring humans again: 'We probably over indexed…'
Klarna , one of Europe's early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI), is now reversing course on its aggressive use of the technology. According to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski , the company may have gone too far in cutting costs with AI, potentially at the expense of its service and product quality.
“We probably over indexed a little bit on that, and then in the last six months we have been trying to course correct,” news agency Reuters quoted CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski as saying. He said that the company cut thousands of jobs, dropped vendors such as Salesforce and turned to AI. While this saved millions for the company, he said that the company has now realised that it went too fast, too soon.
Why Klarna is hiring humans again
The "buy now, pay later" lender previously cut thousands of jobs and dropped vendors like Salesforce in favour of AI-driven solutions. The company's AI chatbot, for example, was reported to be doing the work of 700 employees, drastically reducing customer query resolution times.
In May, Klarna even used an AI avatar of its CEO to present quarterly earnings and a separate interactive AI avatar to speak with customers on a hotline.
He stated that investors are more concerned with growth and the quality of customer and merchant services than with cost savings from AI.
The company’s focus is now shifting toward boosting productivity and improving products, a move that coincides with the company's decision to begin hiring new employees. There are currently dozens of open positions on Klarna's job portal, Reuters said.
Klarna completed US IPO
Klarna recently completed a successful US IPO, and its shares jumped 30% in their hotly anticipated New York debut, valuing the Swedish fintech at $19.65 billion. The company's shares opened at $52, compared with their IPO price of $40 per share.
“We probably over indexed a little bit on that, and then in the last six months we have been trying to course correct,” news agency Reuters quoted CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski as saying. He said that the company cut thousands of jobs, dropped vendors such as Salesforce and turned to AI. While this saved millions for the company, he said that the company has now realised that it went too fast, too soon.
Why Klarna is hiring humans again
The "buy now, pay later" lender previously cut thousands of jobs and dropped vendors like Salesforce in favour of AI-driven solutions. The company's AI chatbot, for example, was reported to be doing the work of 700 employees, drastically reducing customer query resolution times.
In May, Klarna even used an AI avatar of its CEO to present quarterly earnings and a separate interactive AI avatar to speak with customers on a hotline.
He stated that investors are more concerned with growth and the quality of customer and merchant services than with cost savings from AI.
The company’s focus is now shifting toward boosting productivity and improving products, a move that coincides with the company's decision to begin hiring new employees. There are currently dozens of open positions on Klarna's job portal, Reuters said.
Klarna completed US IPO
Klarna recently completed a successful US IPO, and its shares jumped 30% in their hotly anticipated New York debut, valuing the Swedish fintech at $19.65 billion. The company's shares opened at $52, compared with their IPO price of $40 per share.
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