Citigroup has started rolling out new artificial intelligence (AI) tools for its employees. The financial services company has introduced two AI tools, Citi Assist and Citi Stylus, to enhance productivity for its 140,000 employees across eight countries, including the US, Canada, Hungary, India, Ireland, Poland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, according to a Reuters report. Citi Assist helps staff navigate internal bank policies and procedures, while Citi Stylus can summarise, compare, and search multiple documents simultaneously.
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Citi’s Leap into AI Adoption
The tools, which are set to expand gradually, aim to simplify work processes and improve efficiency. According to the report, In a memo sent to employees on Wednesday, Tim Ryan, Citigroup's head of technology and business enablement, detailed how each tool functions.
In the memo, Ryan reportedly said: "It's like having a super-smart coworker at your fingertips to help navigate commonly used policies and procedures across HR, risk, compliance, and finance."
Large Banks Deploying AI
Large banks are increasingly deploying AI tools in specific ways. For example, Morgan Stanley uses a chatbot to assist financial advisors in client interactions, while Bank of America's virtual assistant, Erica, manages routine transactions for retail clients. According to a CNBC report in October, Edward J. Achtner, head of generative AI at UK-based HSBC, mentioned that the bank employs more than 550 AI use cases across its business lines. These include fighting money laundering and fraud with machine learning tools and supporting knowledge workers with generative AI systems.
Achtner also highlighted HSBC's longstanding partnership with Google to leverage AI for anti-money laundering and fraud mitigation.That tie-up has been in place for several years, he noted.
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Ryan, in a video interview with Reuters, mentioned that Citigroup will review employee interactions with the tools to develop new uses for them, while also encouraging staff to propose their own ideas. "These tools will help to simplify work and increase productivity." he reportedly added.
Chief Technology Officer David Griffiths emphasised in the interview that the AI initiatives are "separate" from the work being carried to improve the bank's data quality and infrastructure to comply with regulators consent orders.
Citi and Google Cloud Partnership
On October 28, Citi and Google Cloud announced a strategic, multi-year agreement to support Citi's digital strategy through cloud and AI technology. This collaboration aims to modernize Citi's technology infrastructure and enhance employee and client experiences via cloud-based applications.
As part of the agreement, Citi said it will also use Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform to deliver generative AI capabilities across the company. These include developer toolkits, document processing, and digitisation tools to empower customer service teams.
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"Our strategic partnership with Citi to continue to modernise its technology infrastructure and drive enterprise-wide innovation underscores Google Cloud's commitment to helping the financial services industry transform with cloud and AI technology," said Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO in October. "By combining Citi's deep banking and customer experience expertise with Google Cloud's leading cloud and AI capabilities, we can deliver significant benefits to Citi's clients and employees."
