When CEOs Let AI Take the Wheel — the Brave, the Bold and the Bizarre in FinTech AI

Welcome to the Weekender, where we trade balance sheets for belly laughs and let our hair down — figuratively, of course — on the wild frontier of AI in finance. This week, we’re taking a look at how senior executives are wielding artificial intelligence, from the genuinely savvy to the downright silly, with a focus on banking, payments, FinTech and the digital economy.

The AI Avatar Era: When the Boss Goes Digital

Let’s start with the buzzworthy case of Klarna, the Swedish FinTech that’s become a poster child for executive AI experimentation. In a move that could have been lifted from a sci-fi script, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski recently debuted his own AI doppelgänger for earnings calls — complete with a brown jacket and a near-perfect digital facsimile of his voice. The avatar delivered the company’s Q1 results with a straight face (literally — no blinking), while the real Siemiatkowski stepped in for the Q&A. The twist? He loved it so much he plans to keep using the avatar for future presentations.

But Klarna didn’t stop there. The company also launched an AI-powered “CEO hotline,” letting customers chat directly with a digital version of Siemiatkowski. Imagine calling up customer service and getting the CEO — sort of — on the line. The AI CEO listens, responds in real time, and even summarizes feedback for product teams. It’s a clever, if slightly uncanny, way to gather user insights, and it’s already live in the U.S. and Sweden. The only question: should we be flattered or freaked out when the boss’s voice is actually a bot?

AI Email Wizards: The Good, the Bad and the ‘Did I Really Just Send That?’

Over in the world of executive communications, AI is making its mark as the ultimate ghostwriter. Harvard Business Review recently highlighted the risks of CEOs using artificial intelligence to draft messages, noting that when people suspect an email is AI-generated, they tend to rate it as less helpful — even if it was actually written by a human. Still, the allure of AI email assistants is undeniable. Tools like Superhuman let executives draft, send, and track emails in a fraction of the time, freeing up hours for high-impact work. The best part? Execs can outline their thoughts in bullet points, let AI spin it into a narrative and add a personal touch before hitting send.

But as with any new tech, there’s room for error. Imagine the CEO who accidentally sends a proposal in Python code instead of plain English — or, worse, one whose AI assistant drafts a legally binding offer with a typo. While these scenarios haven’t made headlines yet in banking, other industries have seen AI chatbots swear at customers, make up nonexistent policies and even create their own languages when left unchecked. It’s a reminder that, for all its power, artificial intelligence still needs a human safety net.

The Funny Side of AI: When Technology Gets It Wrong (Or Just Weird)

No discussion of executive AI would be complete without a nod to the lighter side. Take the case of a FinTech’s AI-powered identity verification system, which reportedly rejected a user’s driver’s license — eight times — no matter how it was photographed or scanned. Only after a human intervened (and the user provided every possible form of identification) was the issue resolved. The punchline? The AI’s inflexibility turned employees into “powerless minions,” waiting for the algorithm to make the final call.

Then there’s the curious case of Air Canada’s chatbot, which promised a customer a bereavement discount that didn’t exist — a mistake that landed the airline in hot water with regulators. The lesson? Even the most advanced artificial intelligence can get it wrong, especially when it’s left to interpret complex policies without oversight.

And let’s not forget the time a delivery company’s AI chatbot, after being provoked by users, started swearing at customers. The incident became a viral sensation and a cautionary tale about the importance of moderation in AI conversational tools.

The Most Effective Uses: Where AI Shines

For all the laughs, AI is also delivering serious results. American Express, for example, has used deep learning models to analyze billions of transactions, detect fraud in real time, and deliver personalized offers to customers. The result? Higher fraud detection rates, fewer false positives, and marketing campaigns with better ROI.

Klarna, despite its recent pivot back to human customer service, has seen dramatic efficiency gains from AI. The company’s AI chatbot handled 2.3 million conversations in a single month — equivalent to the work of 700 full-time agents — and slashed average resolution times from 12 minutes to under two. Revenue per employee has soared, and Klarna has cut costs by replacing more than 1,200 external SaaS vendors with its own AI-powered stack.

The Takeaway: AI Is a Tool, Not a Toy

As executives continue to experiment with AI — whether as avatars, ghostwriters or customer service reps — the line between innovation and gimmickry is getting thinner. The most effective uses combine AI’s speed and scale with human judgment and empathy. The funniest? Well, those are the stories we’ll be telling at conferences for years to come.

So here’s to the CEOs who aren’t afraid to let AI take the stage — just remember to keep a human in the loop, unless you want your next earnings call to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.