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Citigroup has introduced two artificial intelligence tools it believes will increase the productivity of staff, Reuters has reported.
The new technology is available to approximately 140,000 employees across eight countries, automating and simplifying work processes in areas including HR and compliance, and helping to summarize documentation.
It follows other large banks in introducing similar AI tools across 2024. In June, for example, Morgan Stanley announced the rollout of ‘Debrief’, an AI assistant it said would save thousands of hours of labor for its financial advisors.
What AI tools is Citigroup rolling out to staff?
Citigroup has provided staff with two AI tools: Citi Assist and Citi Stylus.
In a memo sent Wednesday, Tim Ryan, Citigroup’s Head of Technology and Business Enablement gave workers an explanation of each and how it could save them time.
Citi Assist is an AI bot that enables workers to quickly navigate processes at the bank. “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,” Ryan wrote.
Chatbots have proved to be an effective tool for saving time with routine enquiries that have historically bogged down employees and departments like HR.
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Microsoft, for example, has reported the introduction of its HR Virtual Agent bot has saved 160,000 hours for HR service advisors by answering routine questions.
Citi Stylus assists employees with summarizing, searching, and comparing documents. AI-enabled technology can significantly reduce the time workers spend on manual tasks like searching documents.
The US Patent and Trademark office, for example, has reported its ‘Similarity Search’ AI tool allows patent examiners to get “significantly faster results” when comparing patent applications against existing documents in its database.
Speaking to Reuters, Ryan said that Citi expects major time savings for employees based in the US, Canada, Hungary, India, Ireland, Poland, Singapore. “These tools will help to simplify work and increase productivity,” he asserted.
Other banks have claimed their AI tools are proving hugely beneficial to staff. Jeff McMillan, Morgan Stanley’s Head of Firmwide Artificial Intelligence similarly dubbed the bank’s AI tools a “grand experiment in productivity,” and claimed it “does a better job of taking notes than the average human.”
However, he also noted it would take a year to measure whether the tool actually improves productivity or not.
Citigroup’s Head of Technology noted that the bank would review how employees engage with Citi Assist and Citi Stylus over time, exploring new use-cases and taking on feedback or ideas from staff.
The need for AI reskilling
As employers explore potential applications of AI at work, particularly to reduce the time workers spend on manual or automatable tasks, major US employers have prioritized training for staff to make sure they are using technology effectively, safely, and securely.
Mary Alice Vuicic, Chief People Officer at Thomson Reuters, recently spoke to HR Grapevine about the company’s investment in AI reskilling.
Over 11,000 Thomson Reuters employees have completed the company’s ‘AI Foundations’ course to date, and 48% of its global workforce used generative AI tools in August 2024 alone (up from a 37% average in Q2).
Vuicic, like the executives at Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, said that AI can complete some tasks “better than humans,” but that adoption of AI technology will only come by offering employees guidance and support.
The information services giant runs an internal testing environment (‘Open Arena’) where employees can safely and securely test AI tools, helping build confidence in the technology.
The CPO noted that businesses rolling out AI technology must give employees time and support to get comfortable with the technology: “People want their organizations to help, they want to see that their organizations are navigating the AI era, and they want to know that the organization is helping them build skills to stay relevant.”
