Over the past three years, fintech Klarna has cut its workforce by half while doubling its revenues, in a sign of artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) growing impact on business.
The buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech, which launched in 2005, reported revenue of $903m for its third financial quarter 2025, more than double the $433m it reported for the same period in 2022. Transactions put through Klarna in the quarter were worth nearly $33bn. During the same period, the company’s workforce has reduced from about 5,500 to below 3,000.
It was 2023 when Klarna became an early adopter of the enterprise version of ChatGPT, enabling employees to use the generative AI (GenAI) technology in their day-to-day work. It had about 5,000 human employees at that point.
The use of AI has increased as staff have left the company through natural attrition, but rather than being replaced by humans, AI has taken on the work. According to The Guardian, AI is doing the work of 853 full-time staff.
The results at Klarna reinforce the view that there is a diminishing correlation between people and growth in the IT sector.
AI is core to the company’s future growth. It said in its results statement: “With AI enhancing efficiency and our network expanding globally, we are well positioned for sustained, profitable growth.”
Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski told shareholders: “We’ve entered a new chapter – not just as a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange, but as the first truly global digital bank built for the world after AI.”
In October, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, he said he believes the world isn’t ready for the impact AI will have on jobs. “I feel a lot of my tech bros are being slightly, you know, not to the point on this topic,” he said. “I think there is a massive shift coming to knowledge work.”
Klarna reported that it expects its revenue for the next quarter to exceed $1bn.
The fintech started life in 2005, handling online retailers’ credit risks and allowing consumers to pay for their online shopping after receiving the goods.
In 2017, Klarna was granted a full European Union-wide banking licence by Finansinspektionen, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. It was at that time valued at $2.25bn, but is now valued at about $17bn.
A major landmark for the company came when it introduced a feature in its app to allow its users to break up the cost of online purchases, at any online retailer, known now as BNPL. It was introduced in the UK in 2021, but had already been introduced in Sweden and used in countries such as Australia and the US.
Chris Skinner, fintech industry expert and CEO at The Finanser, said Klarna effectively “invented BNPL”.
Offerings of its like are being increasingly used by consumers and provided by finance firms. Last month, UK Finance reported a quarter of UK adults used BNPL in 2024, up from 14% in 2023.
Skinner said Klarna is not without challenges due to increased competition. “What is surprising is that they invented BNPL and yet, a decade later, do they lead it? There are now many other contenders including the big banks, Apple and others, so their challenge is how to maintain the momentum of a market they created but that is now dominated by bigger players.”