Klarna's CEO: Engineers may fall behind business professionals with coding skills.

      Klarna's CEO has cautioned that software engineers could be left behind in the age of AI unless they also acquire business knowledge. Speaking at SXSW London, Sebastian Siemiatkowski noted that the employees who have significantly advanced their careers at Klarna are those who understand business and have learned to code. The reason behind this, he explained, is that they can utilize their business insights to create deterministic or probabilistic statements using AI.

      He warned that this trend poses a danger to engineers, stating, "Many of them have confined themselves to technical challenges alone and have not shown much interest in the actual functions of the business." His advice was straightforward: "Engineers need to elevate their skills and ensure they grasp the business side."

      Siemiatkowski's remarks add another dimension to Klarna's contentious AI transition. In December 2023, he indicated that developments in AI had led the buy-now-pay-later company to halt hiring across all positions, except for engineers. A year later, he provided an update that the company had completely ceased new recruitment.

      However, current job postings present a conflicting narrative. Klarna has also initiated a new hiring campaign to guarantee that customers can always interact with a human representative. This contradiction has faced scrutiny, but the company remains committed to increasing automation.

      Last year, Klarna revealed that its OpenAI-based assistant was handling the duties of 700 full-time customer service representatives. It also showcased an AI-generated version of Siemiatkowski to deliver its financial report, implying that even CEOs could be subject to automation.

      The 43-year-old recently stated that AI is already capable of performing "all the jobs" that humans do. At SXSW London, he emphasized the importance of being honest about the potential risks involved. "I don't want to be one of those tech CEOs who assure everyone that everything will be fine, as I believe there will be significant consequences for white-collar jobs, and I want to be transparent about that," he stated.

      Despite the potential challenges, Siemiatkowski believes there are significant opportunities for those who combine business insight with technical expertise. "That group of individuals will be increasingly valuable in the future," he remarked.

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