Klarna's AI customer-service assistant: the 2024 numbers and the 2025 walk-back

The problem

Klarna, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later fintech, ran a very large customer-service operation across dozens of markets. In February 2024 it announced an AI assistant, built on OpenAI, to handle high-volume support tasks: refunds, returns, payment issues, cancellations, disputes, and invoice queries, inside its app (source). This case is a pre/post-mortem: the 2024 efficiency claims and the 2025 walk-back are both part of the story.

What was built

Klarna launched an OpenAI-powered AI assistant, live globally from late January and February 2024, available in 23 markets, 24/7, communicating in more than 35 languages (source, source). The figures below are what Klarna reported and what independent press relayed.

The outcome

First-month figures (February 2024). Klarna said the assistant had 2.3 million conversations, two-thirds of its customer-service chats, in its first month (source), a figure Forbes relayed as “managing two-thirds of customer service chats, 2.3 million conversations, in 23 markets and 35 languages” (source).

The “700 agents” figure is a modeled equivalence, not a headcount cut. Klarna stated the assistant was “doing the equivalent work of 700 full-time agents” (source); Forbes reported it as “handling the workload equivalent to 700 full-time staff members, according to a recent statement by the company” (source). This is a stated workload-equivalence, not a measurement that 700 named people were laid off on launch. Klarna’s own headcount reductions over 2022 to 2024 came substantially through a hiring freeze and attrition, not layoffs pinned to the assistant (source).

Speed and repeat inquiries. Klarna reported customers resolving errands in “less than 2 mins compared to 11 mins previously” and a “25% drop in repeat inquiries” (source), which Forbes relayed as “reduced average conversation times from 11 to 2 minutes” and “a 25% decrease in repeat inquiries” (source). Klarna also estimated the assistant would drive “$40 million USD in profit improvement to Klarna in 2024” (source), a company estimate, not an audited result.

The 2025 reversal. In May 2025 Siemiatkowski said the cost-first approach had backfired: “As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality,” and “Really investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us” (source). CNBC reported the same, noting Klarna “will soon look to recruit more human customer service agents to work ‘in an Uber type of setup’” and that the CEO “acknowledged a full tilt toward AI-based support roles resulted in lower quality work” (source).

Headcount figures do not reconcile to one number. Klarna’s IPO prospectus put full-time headcount at 5,527 (end of 2022) falling to 3,422 (end of 2024) (source, source). Siemiatkowski separately described it verbally as “from about 5,000 to now almost 3,000 employees” in May 2025 (source) and later as “from 7,400 to 3,000” in October 2025 (source). He also attributed much of the drop to “natural attrition” of “15-20% per year” under a hiring freeze, “not solely due to AI” (source). Each figure is reported here with its own source and window rather than merged.

How this was verified

This case carries a green badge under TIN’s current standard: independently validated by TIN against the public record, with every figure re-researched and checked against primary and independent sources. It is a public-record case, not a client-submitted engagement, so read the badge as “TIN validated this account is accurate,” including the honest part: every 2024 efficiency number originates with Klarna’s own press release, independent outlets relayed rather than independently measured it, the “700 agents” figure is a modeled equivalence, and the headcount figures do not reconcile. The 2025 reversal is the well-sourced, independent counterweight to the 2024 claims. Direct client confirmation is the higher bar TIN grows into as the platform matures.

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Sources

Cited in this case file. Tier 1 = primary (first-party or regulatory); Tier 2 = independent press; Tier 3 = first-party press. Each Tier 2 and Tier 3 quote above was checked against an archived capture of the source.

1. Klarna, “Klarna AI assistant handles two-thirds of customer service chats in its first month,” klarna.com, 2024-02-27 (Tier 3, first-party). https://www.klarna.com/international/press/klarna-ai-assistant-handles-two-thirds-of-customer-service-chats-in-its-first-month/
2. Forbes / Jack Kelly, “Klarna’s AI Assistant Is Doing The Job Of 700 Workers, Company Says,” 2024-03-04 (Tier 2). https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/03/04/klarnas-ai-assistant-is-doing-the-job-of-700-workers-company-says/
3. CNBC / Annie Palmer, “Klarna CEO says AI helped company shrink workforce by 40%,” 2025-05-14 (Tier 2). https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/14/klarna-ceo-says-ai-helped-company-shrink-workforce-by-40percent.html
4. CX Dive, “Klarna changes its AI tune and again recruits humans for customer service,” 2025-05 (Tier 2). https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/klarna-reinvests-human-talent-ai-customer-service-buy-now-pay-later/747586/
5. Fortune, “AI enabled Klarna to halve its workforce,” 2025-10-10 (Tier 2). https://fortune.com/2025/10/10/klarna-ceo-sebastian-siemiatkowski-halved-workforce-says-tech-ceos-sugarcoating-ai-impact-on-jobs-mass-unemployment-warning/
6. U.S. SEC, Klarna Group plc Form F-1 (IPO prospectus), 2025-03 (Tier 1, regulatory filing). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2003292/000162828025012824/klarnagroupplcf-1.htm
7. OpenAI, “Klarna’s AI assistant does the work of 700 full-time agents” (provider case study). https://openai.com/index/klarna/

Further reading

• Bloomberg, “Klarna Turns From AI to Real Person Customer Service,” 2025-05-08. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-08/klarna-turns-from-ai-to-real-person-customer-service
• The Pragmatic Engineer / Gergely Orosz, “Klarna’s AI chatbot: how revolutionary is it, really?” https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/klarnas-ai-chatbot/
• Fast Company, “Klarna tried to replace its workforce with AI.” https://www.fastcompany.com/91468582/klarna-tried-to-replace-its-workforce-with-ai