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Paul Welty, PhD AI, WORK, AND STAYING HUMAN

· artificial-intelligence · found

Bookmark: CEO says he hasn’t hired anyone in a year as he replaces human workers with AI

Klarna's CEO reveals a bold shift to AI, reducing staff by 22% in a year while boosting productivity. Explore the future of work and technology's impact.

In a remarkable shift towards AI-driven operations, Klarna’s CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski reveals the company’s decision to replace human roles with advanced technology, resulting in a 22% decrease in staff. As outlined in a fascinating piece by Bloomberg, this move underscores AI’s potential to transform productivity and efficiency within businesses. While profits rise, the implications for the workforce are profound and complex.

“Since it started that push a year ago, the company lost about 22 percent of its headcount, bringing its total staff numbers to about 3,500 people, the Swedish-born CEO said. Most who left did so of their own volition, and were not replaced.”

CEO Says He Hasn’t Hired Anyone in a Year as He Replaces Human Workers With AI

The agent-shaped org chart

Every real org has the same topology: principal, role-holder, specialists. Staff AI maps onto it, node for node, and the cost collapse shows up in the deliverables that were always just human-handoff overhead.

AI as staff, not software

Two frames for what AI is doing to work. The tool frame makes tools smarter. The staff frame makes roles unnecessary. Those aren't the same product, the same company, or the same industry.

Knowledge work was never work

Knowledge work was always coordination between humans who couldn't share state directly. The artifacts were never the work. They were the overhead — and AI just made the overhead optional.

The work of being available now

A book on AI, judgment, and staying human at work.

The practice of work in progress

Practical essays on how work actually gets done.

How do I get my dev team to adopt AI?

A stub on helping mixed-interest development teams find their own useful ways into AI.

Want to learn about agents? Talk to someone who ran an agency.

I spent 20 years running consulting engagements at Fortune 500 companies. Turns out that's the best preparation for running a fleet of AI agents ... because the problems are identical.

Your AI agents need a water cooler

We run a twelve-session AI fleet that coordinates through an IRC breakroom. A friend asked: why are you making AI agents act like humans? The answer turned out to be more interesting than the question.

Bookmark: Klarna CEO says the company stopped hiring a year ago because AI ‘’can already do all of the jobs

Klarna's CEO reveals how AI's capabilities halted hiring, challenging traditional job models and reshaping the future of work in fintech.

Bookmark: GenAI comes for jobs once considered ‘safe’ from automation

Generative AI is reshaping secure jobs in education, finance, and ICT, creating both challenges and opportunities for adaptation in urban areas.

Bookmark: Mastercard exec wants companies to reskill workers before AI comes for their jobs

Mastercard's exec urges businesses to prioritize reskilling workers to prepare for the AI revolution and safeguard jobs.