Key takeaways

• The switching cost of data is anticipated to be a major challenge for businesses.
• AI enables companies to operate efficiently with fewer employees.
• Software creation costs are decreasing, potentially democratizing software development.
• The value of traditional software companies might decline due to cheaper software creation.
• AI is expected to lower data switching costs, posing a threat to traditional SaaS providers.
• The future of enterprise software will likely involve broad, AI-integrated solutions.
• AI in customer service can reduce the workload of human agents by handling simple tasks.
• Klarna’s customer service complexity stems from deeply embedded interest calculations in their code.
• AI advancements are predicted to lead to cheaper customer service solutions.
• The future of VIP customer service will emphasize human connection over efficiency.
• A significant job market shift is expected due to AI, potentially leading to labor displacement.
• Digital financial assistants are predicted to play a key role in future banking services.
• Klarna is transitioning to a high-engagement banking provider from an infrequent payments solution.
• The fintech landscape is evolving with competition from tech companies, fintechs, and banks.
• AI will enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs without requiring additional investment.

Guest intro

Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the co-founder and CEO of Klarna, a global fintech company with over 114 million active users that went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2025 at a $19 billion valuation. He co-founded Klarna in 2005 at age 23 after working in sales at a factoring company, where he identified the opportunity to revolutionize e-commerce payments through the buy now, pay later model. Under his leadership, Klarna has scaled from a three-person startup to over 3,000 employees while pioneering the use of AI to replace internal software systems and reduce operational complexity.

The impact of AI on business efficiency

• AI allows companies to maintain growth with a reduced workforce. “I’ve seen the acceleration of AI and I know we can ship all these things on the existing organization” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI customer service systems can handle simple inquiries, reducing the workload of human agents. “Our AI customer service had done the equivalent of 600 agents’ jobs” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI is expected to lead to cheaper customer service solutions. “If AI can do customer service, it means it’s going to be the cheap customer service” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI enables faster and higher quality realization of business visions. “Now AI is enabling me to do things that I couldn’t do with this company before” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI advancements will improve human life by enhancing operational efficiency. “I do believe that these technologies will make life better for humans” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI can integrate skills from various domains to produce outcomes typically requiring multiple specialists. “Claude had all the skills in one and then created this” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI’s role in customer service is vital for maintaining human connection. “AI is not going to move those jobs like that… customer service is going to be… vital to offer a human connection there” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI will help organizations avoid duplicating efforts by identifying existing code and resources. “AI is going to help organizations say hey should we really be doing this thing” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

The future of software and SaaS

• The cost of creating software is approaching zero, enabling widespread software generation. “The cost of creating software is going down to zero” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Traditional software companies may see their valuations drop significantly. “Software could trade at a price to sales… is it likely they could come down to one or two yes I think so” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Switching costs for data will decrease, threatening traditional SaaS providers. “What’s going to happen is people are going to start solving that problem” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI is enabling redundant coding practices, but future efficiency will come from reusing existing software components. “Why don’t I use existing open source components and reuse software” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The future of enterprise software will be dominated by broad, integrated solutions that leverage AI. “We need to reimagine the tech stack with AI first” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Siloed data in SaaS systems makes it difficult to provide the necessary context for AI to perform effectively. “If your data is separated in these silos… it’s just harder to provide the appropriate context” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Software is becoming riskier and the future of SaaS is unclear. “Software is getting much more risky and it’s much more unclear what the future of SaaS is” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Data centers are currently one of the most under-invested categories. “Data center is the one that has the most under-invested categories today” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

Klarna’s strategic shifts

• Klarna is transitioning from an infrequent payments solution to a high engagement banking provider. “What we’re doing at Klarna is moving from being kind of your infrequent payments solution” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Klarna’s interest calculation is deeply embedded in their source code, complicating customer service. “In our source code is somewhere deep in our source code where that interest calculation is actually explained” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Building their own customer support system gives Klarna a competitive advantage over incumbents. “I believe that for Klarna the right thing was to be early to try to find what we can do with this technology” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Klarna is recruiting passionate customers to work in customer service, creating a more engaged support team. “We recruit our own customers the most passionate customers that live in rural areas” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Klarna positions itself as a lifestyle brand, akin to a digital version of American Express. “I would think of us more like a lifestyle brand like a digital version of American Express” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The main competitors for fintech companies like Klarna are traditional banks, not other fintechs. “It’s more the incumbents that are going to lose customers” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Having a proprietary payments network allows Klarna to gather detailed customer data. “We have our own payments network just like Amex” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Klarna’s initial success was due to improving online banking products when traditional banks were underperforming. “Why are we not just making these banking products better working online” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

The evolving fintech landscape

• The future of financial services will be dominated by a digital financial system with participation from tech companies, fintechs, and banks. “There’s going to be three types of company participating” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Some banks will successfully reinvent themselves as neo banks using technology, while others will fail to adapt. “Some of them will reinvent themselves become neo banks become tech-led” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• European neobanks are significantly lagging behind their US counterparts in terms of market capitalization and performance. “European neobanks and I look at Chime and I look at Dave… they’re all a fart compared to the market cap of Revolut” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The fintech and tech industries will face a brutal awakening, requiring them to focus more on customer service and satisfaction. “This is going to be a brutal awakening for fin and tech” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The buy now pay later model is a healthier alternative to traditional credit cards. “The buy now pay later credit offering is a healthier one than your credit card” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Removing the revolving credit option can lead to healthier financial behavior among consumers. “We took it away… but it turned out that that wasn’t great either” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The future of banking will involve digital financial assistants that proactively manage finances for users. “The future of banking is going to be some kind of digital financial assistant” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Sebastian predicts that their card will continue to grow rapidly in the US market. “Our card is growing at a very rapid pace in the US” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

AI’s role in the future of work

• There will be a significant shift in the job market due to AI, leading to labor displacement. “There’s going to be a very big shift” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Executives should be honest about the challenges posed by AI rather than trying to portray a different narrative. “I want to be honest about the fact that I do think there’s going to be a very big shift” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI will not replace jobs that rely on human relationships and customer service. “AI is not going to move those jobs like that” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Employee compensation will continue to grow as companies become more efficient through AI. “We have given a lot of that money back… through this AI transformation” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• There is a significant disparity in stock-based compensation between American and European companies. “American companies are five to 10 x more than European companies” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The balance between data compression for enterprise and the need for computational power for entertainment is uncertain. “I don’t know which power is gonna be greater” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Monitoring the relationship between revenue growth and multiple expansion is crucial for long-term sustainability. “One thing to keep a close eye on is your multiple expansion” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Hiring at a high pace during growth can lead to difficult decisions later, such as layoffs. “It was very sad and difficult to me to like a few quarters earlier be hiring at a high pace” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

The importance of customer service and satisfaction

• The future of VIP customer service will focus on human connection rather than just efficiency. “The future of VIP experience will be the human connection” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Klarna is recruiting passionate customers to work in customer service, creating a more engaged support team. “We recruit our own customers the most passionate customers that live in rural areas” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI customer service systems can significantly reduce the workload of human agents by handling simple inquiries. “Our AI customer service had done the equivalent of 600 agents’ jobs” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The fintech and tech industries will face a brutal awakening, requiring them to focus more on customer service and satisfaction. “This is going to be a brutal awakening for fin and tech” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI will not replace jobs that rely on human relationships and customer service. “AI is not going to move those jobs like that” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Building their own customer support system gives Klarna a competitive advantage over incumbents. “I believe that for Klarna the right thing was to be early to try to find what we can do with this technology” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The future of customer support is uncertain due to the influx of new players and technologies. “Customer support is one I just cannot get as a category” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI advancements are predicted to lead to cheaper customer service solutions. “If AI can do customer service, it means it’s going to be the cheap customer service” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

The role of AI in data management and compression

• AI models utilize compression technology to store vast amounts of information efficiently. “AI is a compression technology… it will ignore that information” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• There will be a significant compression of enterprise data due to advancements in technology. “In enterprise data there’s going to be a massive compression” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI will eventually help organizations avoid duplicating efforts by identifying existing code and resources. “AI is going to help organizations say hey should we really be doing this thing” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Wikipedia’s strict standards for creating new articles help maintain a single source of truth. “Nobody has been as disciplined as Wikipedians has been to like keep it to one source of truth” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The balance between data compression for enterprise and the need for computational power for entertainment is uncertain. “I don’t know which power is gonna be greater” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The amount of true novel information in human society is quite limited. “The amount of true novel information and knowledge in human society is quite limited” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• AI can integrate skills from various domains to produce outcomes that would typically require multiple specialists. “Claude had all the skills in one and then created this” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The evolution of Grok could be critical for society in combating misinformation. “That’s gonna be critical for our societies” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski

The influence of personal branding and leadership perception

• People are more inclined to buy into the person rather than the product being sold. “People buy you not what you sell” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The perception of leadership can drastically change based on company performance. “When we were the most highest valued fintech in Europe… whatever I said was like that’s brilliant” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Visions can be constraining for founders, limiting their potential to adapt and innovate. “Visions are the most actually constraining thing that we force founders to try and articulate” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Building a bank is seen as the ultimate business due to its resilience and long-term success. “The coolest business to build must be a bank” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Money does not solve all problems, and some issues persist regardless of financial success. “There are some problems that money won’t solve” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• The future is unpredictable, especially with the rapid advancements in AI and global events. “I have no idea how the world is going to be in two years” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Elon Musk’s vision for X could lead it to become a trusted source of information. “That speaks to Elon’s vision of X that over time it can become the trusted source of information” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski
• Consumers adopt new technology much faster than enterprises. “We underestimate how fast consumers adopt and overestimate how fast enterprises adopt it” – Sebastian Siemiatkowski