Last year, Klarna announced a significant initiative to leverage its internally developed AI systems, powered by OpenAI, across its operations.
This wasn’t empty talk for the buy now, pay later giant. The company not only ended its pricey contract with Salesforce CRM, but also curtailed its hiring efforts, allowing AI to do some of the work previously performed by humans.
Klarna announced Monday its reliance on AI is driving significant efficiency for the company, and it’s on track to reach $1 million in revenue per employee, up from $575,000 per worker a year prior, according to the company’s latest financials. While the company claims most functions became more efficient thanks to its AI efforts, the largest financial impact was the significant reduction in customer service costs.
Klarna said last year it planned to replace nearly 700 full-time customer service contractors with AI chatbots. However, last week, the company said customers would again have the option to speak with a human agent.
In March, the Swedish company filed paperwork for its highly anticipated U.S. IPO. Klarna postponed those plans last month due to the volatility in the stock market triggered by President Trump’s tariff announcement.
Despite a 13% revenue increase to $701 million in Q1 2025, the company provided no timeline for resuming its IPO plans.