Klarna shut down Salesforce & Workday and replaced them with a simpler tech stack created by Al 😳; Ant Group’s AI-powered life assistant 🐜; Revolut's Fraud Dilemma: balancing growth & security 👀
FinTech is Eating the World, 11 September
Hey Everyone,
Good morning & happy Thursday! Today’s issue is super exciting as we’re going to look into Klarna that just shut down Salesforce & Workday and replaced them with an Al tech stack (what it’s all about, why it matters & what’s next + a bonus read on Klarna and their AI Revolution), Ant Group’s AI-powered life assistant which aims to revolutionize daily tasks (what’s the USP here & why it makes sense + what it tells us about the future of FinTech & AI), and Revolut that’s currently facing a tough Fraud Dilemma (a recap of what’s happening, why it matters & what are the future implications + a bonus read on Revolut). So let’s just jump straight into the amazing stuff 🌶️
Klarna shut down Salesforce & Workday and replaced them with a simpler tech stack created by Al 😳🤖
The news 🗞️ Swedish FinTech giant Klarna is making waves in the tech industry again. This time by cutting ties with major software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers Salesforce CRM 0.00%↑ and Workday WDAY 0.00%↑.
This bold move is part of a larger initiative to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for developing in-house tech.
Let’s take a quick look at this and see why it matters.
More on this 👉 In a private investor conference call held a few weeks ago, CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced that Klarna has already shut down Salesforce and plans to discontinue Workday within weeks. The company is embarking on extensive internal projects combining AI, standardization, and simplification to create a more lightweight and efficient tech stack.
This strategic shift shouldn’t be too surprising as it is driven by Klarna's impressive results with AI implementation. The company's AI-powered customer service assistant now handles two-thirds of all customer chats, effectively replacing 700 full-time employees 😳
This has led to a significant 73% year-over-year increase in average revenue per employee for the first half of 2024. Not too shabby!
Klarna's AI initiatives have also yielded remarkable improvements in operational efficiency. Customer service resolution times have been slashed from 11 minutes to just 2 minutes, while maintaining high customer satisfaction levels. Nice!
But that’s not it.
The company's ambitious plans extend beyond software solutions. Klarna aims to reduce its workforce by nearly 50%, bringing the employee count down to around 2,000 in the coming years. This reduction will be achieved through natural attrition and a hiring freeze, rather than layoffs. Hint: this might actually be the AI effect too…
Zoom out 🔎 Looking ahead, Klarna's AI-driven strategy could have significant implications for both the company and the broader Fin(Tech) industry. By developing its own AI-powered tech stack, Klarna is positioning itself as a leader in AI adoption and implementation in the financial sector.
And setting an example…
This move could thus spark a trend among larger enterprises to bring previously outsourced services in-house, potentially disrupting the traditional SaaS model. That said, companies with the resources to develop and maintain their own AI-powered solutions may follow Klarna's lead, seeking greater control, customization, and cost-efficiency.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 At the core, This tells us two important things: (1) While many are still skeptical (and we all should be!), Klarna is getting massive leverage from AI. Thanks to AI agents + AI engineers getting prolific, you can rebuild most enterprise SaaS functionality, host for super cheap, and get basically 90%+ functionality. (2) Klarna is giving yet another masterclass on how to get free marketing ahead of their upcoming IPO. AI is the talk of the town now, and they are riding this wave with ease. First, by automating CS and now by replacing their enterprise SaaS stack. Masterful execution on both fronts 👏
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