Did Klarna Really Automate 700 Jobs With AI? — With Sebastian Siemiatkowski

Big Technology Podcast

Alex Kantrowitz

Technology, Religion & Spirituality, Business News, Business, Religion, Science, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing, Politics, News Commentary, Government, Investing, Tech News, Social Sciences, News

4.6 • 395 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the CEO and co-founder of Klarna. Siemiatkowski joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss the company's aggressive efforts to implement AI across its operation, including in customer service where it says the technology is now doing the work of 700 people. We also discuss how Klarna is using generative AI in marketing, and whether it can do the work of strategists or simply discreet tasks. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss how Klarna is using ChatGPT enterprise, the company's roller coaster ride amid big market swings, and whether the company plans to continue to grow its workforce in the age of AI. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/ Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack? Here’s 40% off for the first year: https://tinyurl.com/bigtechnology Questions? Feedback? Write to: [email protected]

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Let's talk with the CEO of Klarna, one of the most enthusiastic adopters of generative AI,
0:05.7	about how the technology is being applied in practice and whether it can really do the work of 700 customer service rubs.
0:12.0	That's coming up right after this.
0:14.1	From LinkedIn News, I'm Leah Smart, host of Everyday Better, an award-winning podcast dedicated to personal development.
0:20.3	Join me every week for captivating stories and research to find more fulfillment in your
0:24.5	work and personal life. Listen to Every Day Better on the LinkedIn Podcast Network, Apple Podcasts,
0:29.3	or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:31.3	Welcome to Big Technology Podcast, a show for cool-headed, nuanced conversation of the tech
0:35.3	world and beyond. We're joined today by Sebastian Shimeonkovsky, the CEO and co-founder of Klarna,
0:42.1	which is a fintech company that specializes in Buy Now, Pay Later, but also has its own shopping app.
0:47.6	And it's also a company that's been leading the charge in implementing generative AI,
0:51.6	one of OpenAI's very early partners. Sebastian, welcome to the show.
0:55.8	Great to see you. Thanks for having me. It's great to be here. So let's just start off with this
1:00.7	stat that you guys put out a couple months ago about how you have effectively built AI that's
1:07.2	capable of doing the work of 700 customer service reps.
1:11.5	If listeners to this show know I have a stance on this, which is that when I see these
1:14.9	numbers from company, I generally think that they haven't actually replaced that many people
1:19.2	with AI.
1:20.8	Here's like one example, right?
1:22.2	Like IBM, they had an announcement in August 2023 saying that they're going to replace nearly 8,000
1:29.0	jobs with AI, but also as they're going through a layoff.
1:32.1	And maybe this is a case where you've actually been able to, and I think your wording is
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Alex Kantrowitz, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Alex Kantrowitz and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.