Swedish fintech firm Klarna has revealed nearly all of its 5,000 employees use generative artificial intelligence tools in their daily tasks.
The company is known for allowing customers to split purchases into interest-free installments.
It reported over 87 percent of its workforce use AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Klarna’s own AI assistant, Kiki.
It includes non-technical departments like communications (92.6 percent), marketing (87.9 percent), and legal (86.4 percent).
This high adoption rate surpasses the broader corporate trend.
A Deloitte survey showed 61 percent of computer-based workers use generative AI programs in their daily work.
This is often without their managers’ knowledge.
Klarna’s internal AI assistant, Kiki, is used by 85 percent of the staff, handling an average of 2,000 queries daily.
Generative AI has become integral to Klarna’s operations.
The communications team employs ChatGPT to assess the sentiment of press articles about the company.
The legal team uses ChatGPT Enterprise, the business-grade version of OpenAI’s technology, to draft common contracts.
According to Selma Bogren, Klarna’s senior managing legal counsel, this reduces the time needed to draft a contract from an hour to just ten minutes.
Klarna credits AI as a significant factor in its recent financial turnaround.
During the tech boom of 2020 and 2021, Klarna experienced rapid growth fueled by ample capital.
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However, economic challenges in 2022, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, led to a 10 percent reduction in Klarna’s global workforce.
AI has replaced 700 jobs at Klarna
The company’s valuation also dropped by 85 percent to $6.7 billion.
Despite these challenges, Klarna’s strategic job cuts and AI integration have paid off.
In the September quarter, the company reported its first quarterly profit in four years, attributing the success to reduced credit losses and AI investments.
Klarna’s AI chatbot has replaced the equivalent of 700 full-time customer service jobs, saving the firm $40 million.
This news caused shares of French outsourcing giant Teleperformance to drop nearly 20 percent, as investors feared AI could disrupt the call center industry.
