Was that Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski on the display screen or an AI clone?
When “purchase now, pay later” fintech firm Klarna reported its first-quarter monetary outcomes this week via video, it positioned a practical AI clone of Siemiatkowski, 43, entrance and heart. The clone began the one-minute, 23-second presentation by admitting it was an “AI avatar, right here to share Klarna’s Q1 2025 highlights.”
Associated: ‘Not Necessarily Super Excited About This’: Klarna’s CEO Says AI Can Take Over All Jobs, Including His Own
In keeping with Klarna’s first quarter 2025 results, the corporate hit 100 million lively customers within the first quarter of 2025, a brand new file and the quickest development in two years. Klarna additionally delivered its fourth worthwhile quarter in a row, attaining an adjusted working revenue of $3 million. Income rose 15% year-over-year to $701 million for Q1, with the U.S. driving 33% of that development.
On the decision, Siemiatkowski’s likeness voiced that AI was the rationale behind the corporate’s development. Klarna stated that 96% of its roughly 3,000 employees use AI each day, leading to a 152% improve in income per worker because the first quarter of 2023. The corporate is aiming to finally attain $1 million in income per worker with the assistance of AI, up from $575,000 per worker final 12 months.
“AI helps us work smarter, scale quicker, and ship extra worth,” the AI clone said.
Regardless of being upfront with the admission that it was an AI clone giving the outcomes, Entrepreneur had a tough time telling the AI other than Siemiatkowski.
Associated: Duolingo Put Its Sarcastic Teen Chatbot to Work on Its Earnings Call
TechCrunch famous that the clone did not blink as a lot as a human would, and its voice did not sync up completely with its lip actions.
Siemiatkowski’s AI avatar stated within the presentation that Klarna is utilizing AI for advertising, product growth, buyer help, and insights.
“100 million customers, revenue, development, and AI is the engine driving all of it,” the avatar said.
Klarna leads the U.S. market as the largest “Pay in 4” mortgage firm and was named Walmart’s exclusive installment loan provider within the U.S. in March. Nevertheless, its net loss for the primary three months of 2025 was $99 million, greater than double the $47 million it reported on the similar time final 12 months.
The corporate first showcased an AI avatar of Siemiatkowski in December to speak about earnings for the third quarter of 2024. The voice of the AI avatar had a distinct accent, was extra robotic, and the voice sync lagged greater than the more moderen model, nevertheless it was capable of ship the ends in one minute and 22 seconds.
Klarna has labored for years to place itself as an AI-first firm, chopping its workforce by 40% since 2022, and asking staff to use AI to fill in the gaps. In February 2024, the corporate introduced a customer support AI that it claimed might do the work of 700 human customer service agents and deal with questions in additional than 35 languages.
Associated: There Are New Rules for ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Programs — Here’s What to Know
In keeping with Klarna’s first-quarter outcomes, AI has had probably the most profound affect on Klarna’s customer support division. AI slashed prices by 40% whereas sustaining buyer satisfaction charges, the corporate stated.
Nevertheless, AI alone will not be sufficient to deal with buyer requests. Earlier this month, Siemiatkowski reversed an AI-induced hiring freeze to rent human employees once more for customer support. He instructed Bloomberg that it was “so crucial” to supply human help for purchasers in the event that they wanted it.
Klarna filed for a U.S. preliminary public providing in March however paused its plans a month later as a result of market volatility. The corporate is now planning to go public later this year.
