Klarna and Zoom showcase AI avatars for earnings reports and investor updates

AI avatars are emerging as a new corporate communication tool, with major tech CEOs now deploying digital versions of themselves for important financial announcements. This shift represents a growing integration of AI technology into corporate communications, potentially signaling a future where executive presence becomes increasingly digitized while simultaneously showcasing the companies’ own AI capabilities.

The big picture: Tech executives are beginning to use AI-generated avatars of themselves for earnings reports and investor communications, demonstrating their companies’ AI capabilities while establishing a new trend in corporate messaging.

• Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski used an AI avatar to present the company’s Q1 2025 results in an 83-second video, with the avatar explicitly identifying itself as such.
• Zoom CEO Eric Yuan followed suit, deploying an AI version of himself during portions of the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call while appearing in person for the Q&A segment.

Key details: Klarna has established itself as an AI-forward company, having previously used CEO avatars and implementing AI across its business operations.

• The buy-now-pay-later company has been vocal about its AI investments, which Siemiatkowski told CNBC have contributed to workforce reductions.
• This wasn’t Klarna’s first experiment with AI avatars for earnings presentations, suggesting the company is comfortable with this communication approach.

What they’re saying: Zoom’s CEO expressed enthusiasm for the avatar technology his company has developed.

• “I truly love my AI-generated avatar,” Yuan remarked during the live Q&A portion of the call, adding, “I think we are going to continue using that. I can tell you — I like that experience a lot.”
• Yuan’s avatar noted in the presentation video that he was “proud to be among the first-ever CEOs to use an avatar in an earnings call.”

Behind the numbers: Zoom’s implementation included transparent labeling, with a message in the top right corner of Yuan’s avatar video stating it was “created with Zoom AI Companion.”