Klarna Cut Ties with Salesforce to Go All-In on AI – Now They’re Hiring Humans Back
By Thomas Morgan
May 15, 2025
Last year, Klarna made the decision to cut ties with Salesforce as part of a complete overhaul, creating equivalent systems through the power of AI. Fast forward to now, and the pivot looks to have backfired.
The company is now admitting that their strategic cost-cutting approach “has gone too far”, and that the company’s commitment to AI has significant limits. They are now piloting a new approach that will see remote workers assist with customer queries and complaints.
Did Klarna Go Too Far, Too Fast With AI?
In 2023, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski had a plethora of positive things to say about AI, going as far as to say he wanted his company to become OpenAI’s “favorite guinea pig”. A hiring freeze at Klarna was then put in place, as the optimistic CEO looked to replace as many humans on the payroll as possible with an amicable AI agent.
But in the past few months, the sentiment from Klarna’s CEO changed drastically. It was only in March when Siemitatowski took to X, detailing that he was “tremendously embarrassed” by having to explain Klarna’s fallout with Salesforce.
Now, this all-in approach can be largely attributed to the financial pressure that has been mounting on the company since the fintech boom. In a fundraising round in 2022, its valuation plunged as low as $6.7B, down from a peak of $45.6B the previous year. Shrinking the headcount like they have saved the company around $50M in annual savings – which is a significant motivator for the AI approach.
But the promise of faster resolution times and high customer satisfaction levels solely thanks to AI has fallen short, and the money they are saving doesn’t compensate for the poor quality that their AI tools are responding with.
What Is Klarna’s New Strategy Going Forward?
If the failed “all-in AI” approach has taught Klarna anything, it’s that customers should always have a human assistant available when necessary. In hopes of reintroducing this, the company are piloting a new strategy where employees can log in and work remotely, described as an “Uber-type of setup”.
The ambition is to tap into underrepresented talent pools, such as students or individuals in rural areas. This approach not only helps expand access to meaningful employment opportunities but also offers a cost-effective and sustainable hiring strategy.
“As cost unfortunately seems to have been a predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality,” Siemitatowski explained, speaking with Bloomberg. “Really investing in the quality of human support is the way of the future for us.”
Klarna still remains enthusiastic about AI, but plans on using it efficiently and incorporating it where necessary to rebuild the company’s tech stack.
Final Thoughts: Why AI Is Not Good Enough to Replace People (Yet)
Klarna’s AI failures show the real problems with using untested AI technology to replace humans. There are, of course, significant financial upsides – but the performance you get back could hurt the business even more.
This also points to the wider problems related to the “AI will replace many human jobs”. I have personally seen this conversation spark conversation and debate across many industries. Popular entrepreneur and podcast host Steven Bartlett recently released an AI podcast with “industry experts” telling the masses that their jobs could be gone within two years.
Whether the basis of the argument is true or not, I have concerns about how far this falls into scare-mongering, especially as a lot of the AI tools that are seemingly going to replace us aren’t up to scratch yet.
Personally, I see this most recent case with Klarna as an important case study as to why the human element of many jobs is vital. The company has admitted their mistakes and not only backtracked with a thoughtful plan, but also set in place potential jobs for people who need them most.
AI is great. It’s powerful, it’s capable, and it’s ready to do some repetitive work. But it’s not ready to take over and take your job. Not yet, anyway.
