Banking on a global retail finance future, but don't mention the 'SaaSpocalypse' - Klarna sets out its stall

Given the ongoing hoo-hah about the so-called ‘SaaSpocalypse’, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-Founder and CEO of Klarna might be forgiven for thinking, ‘Told ya so!’. While the current fuss has been triggered by the likes of OpenAI’s Sam Altman and some analyst commentary, Siemiatkowski was first out the gate when he declared that he’d be ousting Workday and Salesforce from his organization, replacing them with AI-developed alternatives.

Now of course he didn’t actually do so and his boasts should be filed more under ‘PR faux pas’ than industry trend-setting, but what he was claiming back in 2024 was no more ludicrous than some of the last rites being served on the software industry by those who, frankly, ought to know better!

But in fact Siemiatkowski made no mention of his previous comments when talking late last week, preferring it seems to focus on pitching Klarna’s pretension to be ...