Klarna is making it clear—it doesn’t just use AI, it wants to be known as an AI company. The Swedish fintech giant, best known for its buy-now-pay-later service, took a bold step this week by having an AI-generated version of CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski deliver its latest earnings presentation. The twist? Unless you looked closely, you might not have noticed the difference.
In a video uploaded to Klarna’s YouTube channel, the AI avatar calmly laid out the company’s quarterly results. The voice sounded almost like the real Siemiatkowski, and the facial movements were impressively synced—except for one small giveaway: the AI version barely blinked. Dressed in a familiar-looking brown jacket (eerily similar to the one worn in Klarna’s corporate photos), the avatar walked viewers through highlights of the company’s recent performance.
This AI-powered presentation wasn’t just a gimmick. Klarna used the moment to reinforce its narrative that AI is a core driver of its business success. In a blog post, the company credited artificial intelligence for helping it reach 100 million users and achieve its fourth straight profitable quarter. Klarna says AI helped it streamline its workforce by nearly 40%, pushing revenue per employee to almost $1 million.
CEO Siemiatkowski later clarified to CNBC that Klarna’s headcount had dropped from about 5,000 employees to just under 3,000—another reflection of the company’s AI-led shift.
He’s not alone in using AI theatrics to make a point. Artisan, the AI sales agent startup behind the viral “stop hiring humans” campaign, recently shared a spoof video for April Fool’s Day where its CEO was replaced by an AI counterpart. But the idea of AI CEOs is no longer just a joke.
A growing number of voices in tech are questioning whether artificial intelligence might actually outperform human executives. After all, a CEO’s key responsibilities—setting direction, analyzing data, and making strategic decisions—are exactly the kind of tasks AI systems excel at.
A Harvard Business Review study from last year even backed this up. Researchers used a GPT-4o-based model and found that AI could, in many scenarios, outperform traditional CEOs. The model demonstrated sharp decision-making skills and deep strategic analysis. However, it stumbled when faced with unexpected crises like a pandemic-induced market crash. In those moments, human intuition still came out ahead.
That said, these are still early days. And if Klarna’s AI experiment is any sign of what’s coming, we might be seeing more avatars like Siemiatkowski’s stepping up to the virtual podium in the near future.
