“My wife taught me something,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told the crowd at London SXSW. He was addressing the headlines about the company looking to hire human workers after previously saying Klarna used artificial intelligence to do work that would equate to 700 workers. “Two things can be true at the same time,” he said.
Siemiatkowski said it’s true that the company looked to stop hiring human workers a few years ago and rolled out AI agents that have helped reduce the cost of customer support and increase the company’s revenue per employee. The company had 5,500 workers two years ago, and that number now stands at around 3,000, he said, adding that as the company’s salary costs have gone down, Klarna now seeks to reinvest a majority of that money into employee cash and equity compensation.
But, he insisted, this doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity for humans to work at his company. “We think offering human customer service is always going to be a VIP thing,” he said, comparing it to how people pay more for clothing stitched by hand rather than machines. “So we think that two things can be done at the same time. We can use AI to automatically take away boring jobs, things that are manual work, but we are also going to promise our customers to have a human connection.”
He spoke about how the company plans to balance employees and AI workers. Siemiatkowski said that right now, engineering positions at the company haven’t shrunk as much as those in other departments, but he notes that this could shift.
“What I’m seeing internally is a new rise of business people who are coding themselves,” he said, adding that the challenge many engineers have these days is that they are not business savvy. “I think that category of people will become even more valuable going forward,” Siemiatkowski continued, especially as they can use AI and put their business understanding to good use.
He himself is using ChatGPT to help him learn to code and help him understand more of the data side of Klarna. He said doing this has helped Klarna become a better company. Before, he thought he would never catch up in learning what was needed to take a more present role in database conversations at the company.
“I’ll take a Slack thread, I’ll throw it in ChatGPT and say, ‘this makes sense, right?” he said, adding that he uses ChatGPT like a private tutor.
But he is also aware that AI isn’t just about employees. He spoke of the increase in scams and how it impacts high-trust societies like his native Sweden. The Financial Times recently reported on the rise of fintech scams pointing out, for example, how susceptible residents in Singapore can be to them because they are more naturally trusting of various institutions.
“And AI is obviously accelerating this,” Siemiatkowski said.
Siemiatkowski also once again addressed why the company stopped using Salesforce and Workday, saying it was because Klarna wanted to consolidate its data in a way that would be easier to feed into AI. He said, for example, if Klarna wanted to gather information about one of its clients, it would have to go through the Google Suite, Slack, Workday, Salesforce, and so forth.
“We realize that the only way forward is going to be to consolidate [data],” he said, adding that the company stopped using around 1,200 small software services.
About it’s pending IPO? He indicated that Klarna could soon move ahead with it but was otherwise non-committed. “I can say that I’m happy there’s less turbulence in the market,” he said with a smile.
And if he had a magic wand and could change one thing? He would make the U.K. part of the EU again. The crowd then erupted into applause.
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![‘My Adventures With Superman’ Creators Talk New Kara/Jimmy Super Ship
The second season of Adult Swim’s My Adventures With Superman introduced Supergirl, and it didn’t take long for her to become a fan-favorite. Starting off as a soldier and the adoptive daughter of Brainiac before joining her cousin to defend Earth, Kara’s back for season three—and much like Clark and their friends, she’s got some stuff to figure out. Kara’s arc this season is about her settling into becoming Metropolis’ newest protector and sorting out where she and Jimmy stand. Last season made it clear there were sparks on both sides, but in classic romantic tension fashion, neither have revealed their feelings in full. Jimmy thinks Kara should at least become more adjusted to Earth, which she plans to do…by going on dates with other people. This week’s episode, “All’s Fair in Love and W.O.R.M.S.,” sees Kara consult Lois for help with her many matches on dating apps. Meanwhile, Jimmy goes on a date in the hopes of making his Kryptonian friend jealous, with a slight problem: his date, Doris, is actually “Gigi,” aka Giganta, the popular Wonder Woman villain. And in a very Jimmy situation, she’s both into him and wants to run a few experiments on him, including turning him into a wolf.
Before the season’s premiere, io9 talked with co-showrunners Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher about the show’s other love story. While Kara and Jimmy get paired up every once in a while in comics or other media, Wyatt noted they’re not a “near-sacred pop culture thing” like Clark and Lois. As such, My Adventures With Superman is free to put its younger duo through more stress and modern dating troubles. But it’s not just a matter of testing Kara and Jimmy with one obstacle after another.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbfUC3-qU8s[/embed] Every relationship faces trials that can often make one half—or even both halves—look bad. Putting Kara and Jimmy in various situations on the path to love is part of the show’s DNA, but he and Wyatt said there’s a limit to what can be done without betraying who these characters are. “It’s a tightrope to keep audience credibility with these two and keep them likable,” Clogher acknowledged. “Supergirl is Supergirl, but we can bend the rules a bit more with Jimmy. He’s emotionally intelligent, but it’s easier to like him when he’s being bad.” “Jimmy’s off being goofus so Kara can be gallant,” added Wyatt. “If Clark and Lois are the romcom, these two are romantic chaos.” The popular manga and anime Ranma 1/2 was cited as a source for the latter term, and it definitely applies. With Jimmy’s love life taking center stage this season, the team knew they wanted him to have an arc of dating mad-scientists, which would let them turn him into animals as he had in the comics. While doing story revisions on “W.O.R.M.S.,” they realized the episode needed a bigger set piece for the third act—a “King Kong moment,” if you will—but the initial villain they had couldn’t really lead to that escalation.
So Giganta was added, allowing for a scene where she changes her size and kidnaps Jimmy before climbing a skyscraper with plans to make him just like her. Wyatt said DC “played ball really well” when it came to including her, and has generally been a good partner in that regard, including getting the Whip in last week’s episode. “Some of [our villains] are about DC notes,” he explained. “Other times, it was with DC assistance.” We won’t spoil Jimmy’s next date, but know that the character was also done with some DC advice, and they’re even more ridiculous than Giganta—and more trying on Kara. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCq12i5r3Ug[/embed] Speaking of her, io9 asked if there were any plans to put Kara in some romantic hijinks of her own outside of Jimmy’s orbit. The pair admitted that yes, the team had episode ideas where she’d go on dates, from Steve Lombard to some supervillains. “Those [villain dates] would’ve ended in swift and violent justice,” said Wyatt, which sounds like a riot. Unfortunately, these ideas were some of many in the season to be cut, so the team opted to give Kara a more serious arc of coming into her own as a hero. That journey, part of which involves her little fangirl Jessica Cruz, will play out as My Adventures With Superman continues with new episodes this summer. But if the show comes back for season four, maybe then we’ll see the Woman of Tomorrow make some bad romantic choices. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Adventures #Superman #Creators #Talk #KaraJimmy #Super #ShipJimmy Olsen,My Adventures with Superman,Supergirl,Superman ‘My Adventures With Superman’ Creators Talk New Kara/Jimmy Super Ship
The second season of Adult Swim’s My Adventures With Superman introduced Supergirl, and it didn’t take long for her to become a fan-favorite. Starting off as a soldier and the adoptive daughter of Brainiac before joining her cousin to defend Earth, Kara’s back for season three—and much like Clark and their friends, she’s got some stuff to figure out. Kara’s arc this season is about her settling into becoming Metropolis’ newest protector and sorting out where she and Jimmy stand. Last season made it clear there were sparks on both sides, but in classic romantic tension fashion, neither have revealed their feelings in full. Jimmy thinks Kara should at least become more adjusted to Earth, which she plans to do…by going on dates with other people. This week’s episode, “All’s Fair in Love and W.O.R.M.S.,” sees Kara consult Lois for help with her many matches on dating apps. Meanwhile, Jimmy goes on a date in the hopes of making his Kryptonian friend jealous, with a slight problem: his date, Doris, is actually “Gigi,” aka Giganta, the popular Wonder Woman villain. And in a very Jimmy situation, she’s both into him and wants to run a few experiments on him, including turning him into a wolf.
Before the season’s premiere, io9 talked with co-showrunners Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher about the show’s other love story. While Kara and Jimmy get paired up every once in a while in comics or other media, Wyatt noted they’re not a “near-sacred pop culture thing” like Clark and Lois. As such, My Adventures With Superman is free to put its younger duo through more stress and modern dating troubles. But it’s not just a matter of testing Kara and Jimmy with one obstacle after another.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbfUC3-qU8s[/embed] Every relationship faces trials that can often make one half—or even both halves—look bad. Putting Kara and Jimmy in various situations on the path to love is part of the show’s DNA, but he and Wyatt said there’s a limit to what can be done without betraying who these characters are. “It’s a tightrope to keep audience credibility with these two and keep them likable,” Clogher acknowledged. “Supergirl is Supergirl, but we can bend the rules a bit more with Jimmy. He’s emotionally intelligent, but it’s easier to like him when he’s being bad.” “Jimmy’s off being goofus so Kara can be gallant,” added Wyatt. “If Clark and Lois are the romcom, these two are romantic chaos.” The popular manga and anime Ranma 1/2 was cited as a source for the latter term, and it definitely applies. With Jimmy’s love life taking center stage this season, the team knew they wanted him to have an arc of dating mad-scientists, which would let them turn him into animals as he had in the comics. While doing story revisions on “W.O.R.M.S.,” they realized the episode needed a bigger set piece for the third act—a “King Kong moment,” if you will—but the initial villain they had couldn’t really lead to that escalation.
So Giganta was added, allowing for a scene where she changes her size and kidnaps Jimmy before climbing a skyscraper with plans to make him just like her. Wyatt said DC “played ball really well” when it came to including her, and has generally been a good partner in that regard, including getting the Whip in last week’s episode. “Some of [our villains] are about DC notes,” he explained. “Other times, it was with DC assistance.” We won’t spoil Jimmy’s next date, but know that the character was also done with some DC advice, and they’re even more ridiculous than Giganta—and more trying on Kara. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCq12i5r3Ug[/embed] Speaking of her, io9 asked if there were any plans to put Kara in some romantic hijinks of her own outside of Jimmy’s orbit. The pair admitted that yes, the team had episode ideas where she’d go on dates, from Steve Lombard to some supervillains. “Those [villain dates] would’ve ended in swift and violent justice,” said Wyatt, which sounds like a riot. Unfortunately, these ideas were some of many in the season to be cut, so the team opted to give Kara a more serious arc of coming into her own as a hero. That journey, part of which involves her little fangirl Jessica Cruz, will play out as My Adventures With Superman continues with new episodes this summer. But if the show comes back for season four, maybe then we’ll see the Woman of Tomorrow make some bad romantic choices. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Adventures #Superman #Creators #Talk #KaraJimmy #Super #ShipJimmy Olsen,My Adventures with Superman,Supergirl,Superman](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2025/09/io9-2025-spoiler.png)



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