Citigroup CEO: AI Training Empowers Workforce Reinvention

Financial institutions are navigating a period of transformation as AI reshapes operational models and workforce requirements.

At Citigroup, the conversation around AI deployment centres on a strategic approach that prioritises employee empowerment over workforce displacement, with training emerging as the critical factor in determining outcomes.

Jane Fraser, Citigroup CEO, addressed these challenges during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos from 19 January to 23 January, where industry leaders, including Accenture's Julie Sweet and Salesforce's Marc Benioff, emphasised the importance of training employees to understand and work alongside AI.

Speaking with the Washington Post at the meeting, Jane acknowledged that AI has the potential to either displace workers or create new opportunities, but training is essential.

"AI has the potential to make tremendous changes," she said. "It is going to create huge numbers of new jobs that we cannot even imagine what they are today. It will change the nature of what people do every day."

Jane continued to say that it is impossible to know whether "puts and takes are going to coincide", but that her employees "should be as much in the driving seat as possible."

She said: "We're encouraging our people saying not that AI is going to take your job away, but someone using AI is probably going to be better at your job than you are."

Establishing AI governance frameworks

The American multinational investment bank implemented a structured approach to AI adoption beginning in 2019. The CEO explained that "we put in a set of ethical principles" when the software was first introduced at the firm.

She said: "I like principles to help guide decision-making because I think it is hard to have entirely rules-based to guide people", adding that there is emphasis on guiding employees as human spirits that will not allow for strict rules.

This approach allows employees to use AI to help augment Citigroup's people, Jane said, suggesting a mindset centred around "how did it help them for their job, how did it serve our customers better without being precious about it."

In her own work, the CEO said she uses AI tools "to help me summarise, getting information gathered more efficiently".

Mandatory training across banking operations

When asked how she equips her workforce at Citigroup to implement AI agents, Jane said that everyone needs to train and learn how to use them.

"It will help them in life as well as at work, so that is why we started having mandatory training for everyone," she explained. "Some people can get intimidated by the tools, so let's help support getting rid of the myths of intimidation."

The bank's strategy focuses on embedding the technology into every facet of operations to modernise its legacy infrastructure, improve operational efficiency and enhance customer experience.

In 2025, the firm announced it is equipping over 175,000 employees globally with proprietary AI tools, aiming for an "AI-first" culture.

Retaining talent through reinvention

Jane went on to discuss how many employees can often have decade-long careers at Citigroup across multiple roles. "50% of all of the new job openings that we have at Citi are taken by existing employees," she said.

Discussing the company's 30-year-old site in South Dakota, she explained: "Many of the employees there have been employees for 30 years and they told me they've had at least 12 careers in those 30 years.

"I want to stack the odds that we will help people reinvent themselves [using AI] the same way as they have done themselves," she added.

By giving them control over their AI training, it will encourage them to be "adaptable and be honest and truthful" about new jobs to come, said Jane.

Citigroup's leader concluded by saying that some skills will grow and some will go but businesses can adapt by learning how to adjust to this changing landscape.