Klarna CEO: AI set to Cut Workforce by a Third

Klarna is set to shrink its workforce from 3,000 to 2,000 employees by 2030, according to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, as the Swedish fintech continues to automate operations through AI.

The BNPL-to-neobank innovator has already reduced its headcount from 7,000 to 3,000 workers through a combination of redundancies and natural attrition.

Speaking on the V2C podcast, Sebastian warns of significant transformation ahead: ”I want to be honest about the fact that I do think there's going to be a very big shift. I'm an optimist at heart, but I also want to be a realist around what's going to happen in the shorter term, and it's going to be a lot of turmoil in this.”

The prediction highlights how rapidly AI adoption is reshaping employment in financial services. Klarna already links AI adoption to a 152% revenue increase per employee since the first quarter of 2023. 

AI drives fintech efficiency gains

Klarna's embrace of AI has coincided with strong financial performance, with third-quarter 2025 earnings reaching US$903m, representing a 28% increase from the previous year.

The firm has deployed AI tools across its global operations to enhance efficiency, including an AI assistant that now manages two thirds of customer service interactions. This automation has reduced average resolution times from 11 minutes to under two minutes.

The company has also developed Kiki, an internal Gen AI assistant designed to enhance employee productivity and optimise workflows. According to Klarna, Kiki can assist staff with tasks including evaluating document sentiment and drafting standard contracts.

To prepare its workforce for this technological integration, Klarna trained employees to work alongside AI systems while shifting recruitment priorities towards AI-capable talent. The company reports that 96% of its staff now use AI tools in their daily work. Klarna claims this high adoption rate has driven a 152% increase in revenue per employee since first-quarter 2023.

As the business scales its AI capabilities, recruitment has slowed considerably. Sebastian notes that whilst Klarna does “hire somebody here and there”, anyone checking LinkedIn can “look at the insights, [you're] going to see how the company is shrinking”.

Automation threatens white-collar roles

Sebastian is not alone among technology leaders in predicting substantial workplace transformation.

Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, recently told the Financial Times that he expects some white-collar roles to be automated by AI within 18 months.

“White-collar work, where you're sitting down at a computer, either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person – most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months,” he says, as Microsoft focuses on developing advanced AI capabilities.

According to Sebastian, the positions most likely to survive automation are those where "it's going to be vital to offer a human connection”.

For many organisations, this could mean investing in both AI and human capabilities simultaneously. Research from Deloitte suggests that organisations which nurture a combination of these skills tend to be more adaptive.

Some technology companies are taking a different approach by expanding their workforces alongside AI development.

IBM recently shared at Charter's Leading with AI summit that the company plans to triple its US-based entry level workforce across 2026 in parallel with its AI initiatives.

Arvind Krishna, CEO at IBM, told the Wall Street Journal: “While we have done a huge amount of work inside IBM on leveraging AI and automation on certain enterprise workflows, our total employment has actually gone up, because what it does is it gives you more investment to put into other areas.”

The contrast between Klarna's workforce reduction strategy and IBM's expansion highlights the varied approaches businesses are taking as they navigate AI integration in an increasingly automated economy.