Citi's 'accelerating' its AI strategy with new leaders. Here's how they're readying the firm for a new future.

• Citi is leveling up its AI game, according to a new memo sent Wednesday and viewed by BI.
• The firm outlined its AI strategy, led by three bank leaders.
• It comes as it faces a turnaround job on the tech side, and Wall Street clamors for AI.

Citigroup's Jane Fraser is on a mission to modernize the global bank. Three executives have been appointed to ensure AI plays a big role in that.

As part of the push, the firm — which has long struggled with its reputation issues, some of which are directly tied to tech — said it's unveiling new tools, pilot programs, and a broader effort to embed AI across its operations, in a memo seen by Business Insider.

The internal memo, which went out to Citi's roughly 200,000 employees, reveals the scope and ambition of the bank's AI efforts, which will be overseen by new co-sponsors of Citi's AI strategy, who are part of the Executive Management Team, include Gonzalo Luchetti, head of US personal banking; Tim Ryan, head of technology and business enablement; and Anand Selva, the firm's chief operating officer.

"We are focusing on accelerating our AI strategy—connecting teams and partners, prioritizing resources and expediting use cases across our businesses and functions," the three leaders wrote in a memo sent to staff on Wednesday.

To realize the push, the bank will rely on some of its $12 billion annual tech budget, though it's unclear how much is specifically dedicated to AI. But it comes as much of Wall Street, from JPMorgan to Goldman Sachs, races to integrate the technology into everything from consumer service to trading to internal operations.

"AI is reshaping how we operate, serve our clients and scale our business," they added. "We firmly believe that to be competitive in this digital evolution, we must be an AI-ready workforce—nimble and ready for what this technology can unlock."

They explained that Citi is scaling its generative AI capabilities across the company, with more than 150,000 employees now equipped with Citi AI tools. They're looking for opportunities to push ahead, such as the emergence of "agentic AI," a type of artificial intelligence designed to be capable of pursing goals and making decisions without human input.

"We're also well underway with Agentic AI, the next big iteration of artificial intelligence with real promise to transform our bank, " they said in the memo, adding that they'll share more on this initiative in the coming months.

The bank launched its Citi AI suite of tools in December, though some came online in the first quarter of this year, like a pilot program that assists with vocal response for its consumer bank operations in the United States. Beyond that, the firm has made available real-time chat in Citi Stylus, a browser plug-in for document and article analysis, and integration of Citi Assist into Microsoft Teams. The AI leaders encouraged using tools like Citi Stylus Workspaces for tasks such as mid-year self-evaluations.

The bank has enlisted more than 2,000 workers to provide feedback and help their colleagues master the tools through special AI-focused programs. It even announced in the fall a strategic alliance with Google, creating its in-house AI tools on Google's Vertex platform.

A spokesperson for the company said it believes this trio of leaders is right for the next phase of Citi's strategy: Luchetti brings a consumer banking focus; Ryan's group has the tech know-how; and Selva's operations team is helping roll out the strategy across the firm's workforce.

Selva has been entrusted with Fraser's "Transformation" mission, which seeks to appease regulators and update its technology that lags behind its other house-hold name peers.

Looking ahead, the bank encouraged employees to engage with the new feature and discussed possibilities for expansion in areas like fraud prevention and trade confirmation matching in its markets business.

"All businesses and functions have been given the mandate to explore how we can build artificial intelligence into our day-to-day work and operations and, as the EMT co-sponsors, we are here to help," the memo authors wrote. "We encourage you to just jump in and start exploring our current tools. With new capabilities added almost monthly, our tools are user-friendly and advancing quickly."

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at ralexander@businessinsider.com or SMS/Signal at 561-247-5758. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.