Citi technology strategy centers on broad AI adoption over granular employee tracking

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Citi broad AI adoption strategy

Highlights

Citi manages a nearly $12 billion technology budget, with 90% of its 219,000 employees now using AI tools and a 4,000-person peer-training program accelerating adoption.
Instead of granular tracking, Citi measures major AI outcomes and ROI, monitoring large spending while encouraging staff to choose the lowest-cost models for tasks.
Citi's Transformation plan targets up to 20,000 job cuts over three years, with technology head count reductions focused on careful hiring and contractor reliance rather than broad layoffs.

AI rollout strategy and spending oversight

As reported by Business Insider, Ryan says Citi is trying to measure major AI outcomes without tracking every token or last-mile use case across its workforce. He says excessive monitoring can discourage employees and undermine adoption, even as the bank keeps close watch on larger spending decisions and return on investment.

Ryan oversees Citi's nearly $12 billion technology budget and is focused on making sure the bank's more than 220,000 employees are using AI tools. On Citi's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Jane Fraser says nearly 90% of employees are using AI tools, while Ryan points to a 4,000-person peer-to-peer training program as a way to scale that adoption and says he is also working to expand the use of AI agents in coding.

Ryan says companies are unlikely to win the AI race based simply on which large language model they choose. In his view, the bigger differentiator is whether an organization can bring tens of thousands of employees into regular, effective use of the technology.

Workforce implications for banking technology

Ryan contrasts Citi's approach with peers that use more granular tracking, saying an all-metrics approach is not sustainable if it comes at the expense of employee engagement. He says Citi still tracks major costs, encourages staff to use the lowest-cost model that fits the task, and attaches return-on-investment expectations to large initiatives.

The comments come as token spending draws greater scrutiny across industries and banks weigh how AI changes staffing needs. Ryan says he is trimming his team in line with broader changes at Citi, which committed in 2024 to cut up to 20,000 jobs over three years under its Transformation plan; Fraser says on the second-quarter earnings call that head count is down to 219,000.

Asked about AI and staffing, Ryan acknowledges concerns among engineers but does not directly tie job cuts to the technology. He says his focus is on hiring carefully, reducing reliance on contractors rather than full-time employees, and limiting the need for pressure layoffs as the bank reshapes its technology workforce.

In our earlier article on Microsoft’s restructuring and MSFT outlook, we highlighted the company’s plan to cut about 4,800 jobs and divest several gaming studios as it pivots toward tighter operational efficiency after major investments. We also noted that securities-fraud lawsuits added legal and reputational uncertainty, with the stock’s near-term trading biased toward consolidation inside key technical levels ahead of the next earnings report.

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