AI-first is not AI-only
Being an AI-first company is not the same as an AI-only company!
In February 2024, the Swedish Fin-Tech company Klarna created huge attention as they had AI bots take on 2/3 of their customer service chats. This makes up for 2.3 million conversations per month, replacing 700 human agents.
Recently, Klarna switched plans and starts to hire humans again as customer satisfaction and AI quality dropped significantly.
This is a stark change in how Klarna's CEO communicates about AI adoption
- from "I am of the opinion that AI can already do all of the jobs that we, as humans, do"
- to "As cost unfortunately seems to have been a too predominant evaluation factor when organizing this, what you end up having is lower quality. [...] Really investing in the quality of the human support is the way of the future for us."
The future isn't AI replacing humans - it's finding the right balance where AI amplifies human capabilities rather than eliminating them. Why? Because serving customers requires empathy, something AI fundamentally cannot deliver. KPIs must include not just savings and efficiency, but quality and how technology amplifies humans for complex problem-solving.