Sebastian Siemiatkowski, the founder of Klarna, a soon-to-be public startup that allows you to shop now and pay later, is passionately embracing the potential for artificial intelligence. This was well demonstrated when Klarna's recent earnings report was delivered not by the man himself, but by his AI counterpart, which can be seen in the company's YouTube video release.

At first glance, nothing in this report seemed amiss, but there were a few pointers that this was AI at play. The AI version of Siemiatkowski didn't blink as often as a typical person would, and although his voice integration was convincing, it wasn't spotless. The AI was garbed in a brown jacket, closely matching a widely shared corporate photograph of Siemiatkowski himself - although the shirt was different.

Getting ready to go public, Klarna, demonstrated the significance of AI for their business as a contributing factor in recognizing 100 million users. With the help of AI, the company streamlined its workforce considerably, leading to a fourth straight profitable quarter, as detailed in their blog post. As a result, the revenues per employee almost touched the $1 million mark.

Using AI skills, the company reduced its headcount from over 5,000 to nearly 3,000 employees, Siemiatkowski revealed in an interview with CNBC.

Jocularity around AI replacing CEOs is not new. Startups like Artisan had their CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack got, humorously, ousted and replaced by an AI variant for an April Fool's gimmick.

However, it might not be just for laughs. With their analytical powers, AI models could set strategies, make decisions, and take accountability - major responsibilities that fall under a CEO's purview. Last year, a Harvard Business Review study showed an AI model outperforming human CEOs in most areas.

However, the AI CEO in the study was also quickly shown the door by the virtual board. This was due to its lack of performance during unforeseeable events, like the market crash crunch during COVID-19, as pointed out by the researchers. Yet, as supporters of AI like to remind us, this is just the beginning, and we might see AI CEOs excel in such situations as well in the future.

For further comments, Klarna has yet to respond.