“I am of the opinion that AI can already do all of the jobs that we, as humans, do. It’s just a question about how we apply it and use it,” Sebastian Siemiatkowski, chief executive at Klarna, said in an interview with Bloomberg. 

Siemiatkowski has been candid in his views about the advanced technology swiping jobs from workers. His honesty clashes with CEOs like Jensen Huang and labor experts, who say that AI will be used to help most workers be more efficient, rather than take their jobs outright. 

But it may be difficult to quell those fears when 41% of employers plan to reduce staff whose skills are becoming less relevant by 2030, according to a new survey from the Work Economic Forum. And younger workers—digital natives who are more aware of tech’s abilities, and may be more vulnerable to job cuts—are especially afraid. About 62% of Gen Z staffers think AI will replace their roles within the next decade, according to a 2024 survey from General Assembly. 

Klarna’s chief executive validates those concerns, but doesn’t share a doomsday mentality about the situation. In fact, he’s putting his AI philosophy into practice at the $14.6 billion payment service company. Klarna’s workforce has been shrinking for years as AI comes into the fold—and Siemiatkowski is even willing to substitute himself with the tech.

AI is quickly taking over human jobs at Klarna

Siemiatkowski wasn’t present on an earnings call last year. Instead, the CEO opted to send in an AI version of himself to announce the company’s third quarter results. He said the stunt proved that even the most senior jobs aren’t impervious to the impact of AI.

“Look, a lot of the jobs are going to be threatened. And what are the jobs that people like the least? It’s lawyers, CEOs, and bankers, and I happen to be both CEO and banker,” Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg. “So I said, ‘Let’s replace our jobs first.’”

The Klarna leader figured that by proving AI can even take over the top role, that job-domination concerns would be more contained. But the company is also using the tech in much broader strokes beyond the CEO function. In the interview, Siemiatkowski said Klarna stopped hiring late in 2023. At that time they had about 4,500 staffers—and citing a natural attrition rate of 20% of workers leaving each year—by 2024 they were whittled down to 3,500. The business said it has saved about $10 million annually using AI for its marketing needs, cut back on in-house lawyer time, and optimized its communications roles. The company’s chatbot does the job of 700 customer service agents, resolving cases nine minutes faster than humans. 

Siemiatkowski relayed this information without hesitation or concern. And when questioned if Klarna staffers feel as nonchalant about these changes, the CEO emphasized one major upside. 

“By not hiring we’re simply shrinking, and what we’ve said to our [workers] is that what is going to happen is the total salary cost of Klarna is going to shrink. But part of the gain is that is going to be seen in your paycheck,” Siemiatkowski said. “People internally at Klarna are rallying to deploy as much efficient AI as they can, cause it just means it has direct implications on their equity and cash compensation.”

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He added that there is a “core group” of 200 Klarna employees across many departments who have successfully taken up AI-optimized work. Siemiatkowski said the technology is used to improve automation, generate images and videos, produce marketing material, run financial analyses, develop products, and interpret customer demands. 

AI isn’t set to take over one specific job or industry, Siemiatkowski said, but will be a sweeping force across all roles. 

Worker pushback amid the AI optimization push

Understandably, many human workers aren’t keen on the idea of an algorithm taking their jobs. Klarna’s AI push has been met with harsh resistance. 

“When we did a tweet later on about the marketing things we were doing [with] AI, where we have less need for photographers—[but] we still need them, predominantly for the creative stuff and less for the day-to-day stuff—that had a violent reaction online,” Siemiatkowski said during an interview with Sequoia Capital. “And I can understand why. Because people emotionally resonate a lot with that.”

Klarna isn’t the only employer to be met with fierce scrutiny for using AI in lieu of people. Last summer, software company Lattice announced that they would be giving digital workers, or AI, official employee records. Online critics blasted the idea that technology was being treated like a human being, exacerbating anxiety of an AI takeover. Less than a week later, the company retracted its plan. 

Even frontline workers are feeling the sting. Unionized dockworkers staged a three-day walkout last year, picketing against the looming threat of automated technology taking their jobs. AI was also notably on the docket during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, as those in entertainment protested the use of the technology to replicate their likeness. If AI was allowed to simulate their image or creative talents, it’s a slippery slope to getting replaced.

While both white and blue collar workers are wary of AI’s capabilities, Siemiatkowski predicted that knowledge jobs will be hit hardest. Desk staffers will be most vulnerable to the tides of the technology, while physical jobs like driving a truck are more safe. He said that proper robots will take a little more time to develop—but today, AI is already in the workforce.