In a sign of how rapidly artificial intelligence is reshaping business practices, tech industry leaders are now letting AI-powered avatars step in for them during quarterly earnings calls.
Buy-now-pay-later giant Klarna recently featured an AI-generated version of its CEO and co-founder, Sebastian Siemiatkowski in a video presenting its Q1 2025 results. The 83-second clip, first highlighted by TechCrunch, begins with the AI avatar introducing itself: “It’s me, or rather, my AI avatar.” Klarna has been outspoken about its use of AI, with Siemiatkowski noting to CNBC that AI investments have contributed to a leaner workforce. This is not the first time Klarna has deployed an AI version of its CEO to deliver company updates.
Meanwhile, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan took a similar approach for the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call. Yuan used his digital likeness, powered by Zoom’s AI Companion, to deliver his portion of the earnings report.
“Today, I’m using our custom avatars for Zoom Clips with AI Companion to share my part of the earnings report,” Yuan’s avatar explained in the video, which also displayed a “created with Zoom AI Companion” tag. The real Yuan joined the live Q&A afterwards, enthusiastically endorsing the technology: “I truly love my AI-generated avatar. I think we are going to continue using that. I can tell you, I like that experience a lot.”
Yuan’s embrace of digital twins for meetings reflects his vision for the future of work, where AI may routinely stand in for human leaders during routine presentations.