Klarna is continuing to incorporate artificial intelligence into various aspects of its business, with recent reports indicating that a majority of its employees are utilizing the technology to enhance productivity, aiming to extend these benefits to its customers.
According to Klarna, 90% of its employees use generative AI on a daily basis, including ChatGPT and the company’s internal virtual assistant, Kiki. In fact, 85% of employees regularly interact with Kiki, asking the virtual assistant 2,000 queries per day.
The high level of adaptive internal communication has boosted productivity, and the company is optimistic about transferring this performance to its customers. Just one month after the January launch of its customer-facing AI Assistant, Klarna reported handling 2.3 million, or about 66%, of the company’s customer service chats.
Personal Financial Assistant
Klarna hopes to leverage AI Assistant to keep BNPL customers on track. The company envisions the app as a “personal financial assistant” capable of providing users with real-time data on their payment schedules and outstanding balances.
While one of the immediate use cases for AI Assistant will be to prevent customers from missing their payments, the app will also be able to settle disputes, issue refunds, and perform invoice reconciliation.
Informed and Steady Stewardship
The company estimates that its virtual assistants can do the work of 700 full-time agents, which may raise concerns regarding AI’s impact on the workforce. Like many tech companies, Klarna laid of 10% of its employees in 2022.
In conjunction with an optimized workforce, Klarna estimates that its AI immersion will save it $40 million this year. It also attributes its switch to profitability in late 2023 to technology. While the fintech has formed notable recent partnerships to keep it at the forefront of the financial industry, Klarna is still betting on AI to be a gamechanger.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Co-Founder and CEO of Klarna said in February: “We are incredibly excited about this launch, but it also underscores the profound impact on society that AI will have. We want to reemphasize and encourage society and politicians to consider this carefully and believe a considerate, informed and steady stewardship will be critical to navigate through this transformation of our societies.”
