Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of fintech giant Klarna, has once again taken to social media to clarify the company’s bold decision to replace Salesforce’s CRM platform with an internally developed AI system.
However, despite the viral buzz around the company’s move, Siemiatkowski is skeptical about whether other companies will follow in its footsteps.
Yes, we did shut down Salesforce a year ago, as we have many SaaS providers—an internal estimate is about 1,200 SaaS shut down.
No, I don’t think it is the end of Salesforce; might be the opposite.
Here is what actually happened and how/why we originally intended to NOT share…
— Sebastian Siemiatkowski (@klarnaseb) March 3, 2025
“Yes, we did shut down Salesforce a year ago, as we have many SaaS providers—an internal estimate is about 1,200 SaaS shut down,” he wrote on X. “No, I don’t think it is the end of Salesforce; might be the opposite.” The statements downplay the argument that Klarna’s decision could bring a major industry shift away from the CRM powerhouse.
In September, the fintech company made headlines after it disclosed that the shift had replaced 700 full-time contract employees and achieved an estimated $40 million in annual savings after introducing an AI-based customer service system, built on OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
However, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff publicly questioned how Klarna was managing customer data and regulatory compliance post-migration.
Siemiatkowski admitted that he was caught off guard by the public scrutiny. “Suddenly, @Benioff was asked on stage why Klarna was leaving Salesforce. I was tremendously embarrassed.” he wrote.
While Klarna’s IPO is expected to roll out in the next month, Siemiatkowski wants to burst myths. He clarified that the company’s AI integration is not about simply replacing SaaS with large language models (LLMs) but rather consolidating data from multiple SaaS platforms, including Salesforce.
The company has leveraged graph database technology from Swedish firm Neo4j to optimize data management. Siemiatkowski stressed that the AI system does not store CRM data in an LLM but instead allows internal AI to access and use structured knowledge more efficiently. Additionally, the company has worked with Cursor to streamline AI-based customer interactions.
Siemiatkowski also sees SaaS consolidation as the industry’s next major shift rather than a mass exodus from Salesforce. “Will all companies do what Klarna does? I doubt it. On the contrary, much more likely is that we will see fewer SaaS consolidate the market, and they will do what we do and offer it to others. Those are likely to be your next SaaS,” he stated.
Source: https://x.com/klarnaseb/status/1896698293759230429
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