David Sandström

AI search has changed the rules of the game. Customers no longer just enter search queries and scroll through results—they ask questions, and the AI decides. Therefore, your brand's visibility is no longer just a matter of ranking, but above all, a matter of trust. For marketing leaders, this shift is a reality: AI systems recommend brands or overlook them—often before a single click occurs. Success doesn’t go to the brands with the biggest budgets, but to those the AI trusts. This trust stems from real human experiences. In this masterclass, Trustpilot shows what has changed due to AI search and what marketers should do now to sustainably secure their visibility.

Klarna took a big risk: With a marketing budget in the tens of millions and celebrities like Snoop Dogg (54) and Paris Hilton (45), the payment company transformed itself from a run-of-the-mill B2B provider into a lifestyle brand. A move that could just as easily have failed. When ChatGPT hit the market, the leadership team immediately experimented with it and replaced part of their software—years before the current talk of a “SaaSpocalypse.”

One of the key figures behind this story is David Sandström (42). As head of marketing, he has been responsible for Klarna’s transformation for nearly a decade—and has turned the Swedish “buy now, pay later” provider into one of the world’s best-known fintechs. Today, the company has 118 million active users across 26 markets. It is one of the few European fintechs to have successfully made the leap to the U.S.

At the same time, Sandström must win over the capital markets, as the stock price has recently suffered following an IPO in the U.S. What is the Swedes’ marketing playbook? How can AI help further scale down the company? How does the billion-dollar fintech plan to position itself against strong competitors like Revolut or Trade Republic? David Sandström will discuss these topics at FFWD26 on the HBO Max Stage.