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Citi is rolling out mandatory AI prompt training to 175,000 employees across 80 locations, signaling the growing importance of generative AI in its operations.
The program, titled Asking Smart Questions - Prompting like a Pro, must be completed within 60 days. It adapts to a user’s experience level, taking less than 10 minutes for experts and around 30 minutes for beginners.
Tim Ryan, Citi’s Head of technology and Business Enablement, and Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva told staff in an internal memo: “Just as the right question in a client pitch can reveal clarity and create advantage, a well-crafted prompt can accelerate your work, surface insights and amplify your impact.”
So far this year, employees have logged more than 6.5 million prompts in the bank’s AI tools, turning tasks that once took hours into work completed within minutes. “The scale isn’t just impressive; it marks the beginning of a new way of working,” the memo said.
Peter Fox, Citi’s Head of Learning, explained: “This training is about teaching our colleagues the possibilities of great prompting versus basic prompting.”
AI tools expanded across the business
The training comes as Citi expands its suite of AI tools, including Citi Stylus Workspaces and Citi Assist. Stylus Workspaces helps staff analyze documents, create presentations, and conduct research. Citi Assist provides guidance on compliance, risk, HR and finance policies.
Last week, 5,000 employees gained access to a new “agentic AI” upgrade for Stylus Workspaces, designed to perform research, analyze data, and translate findings. The bank has also introduced the technology to 40,000 developers using Cognition’s Devin agent and GitHub Copilot for coding support.
Chief Technology Officer David Griffiths said: “We’re giving our people smarter, faster and more connected tools so they can focus less on manual tasks and more on the big ideas that drive our business forward.”
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Industry analysts agree the success of generative AI depends on prompting. “The output of AI is going to be only as good as the prompt and the system prompt,” said Forrester’s Mike Gaultieri.
Former Citi Ventures managing director Alex Sion added: “Generative AI makes the maxim ‘Judge a person by their questions rather than by their answers’ more relevant than ever. The barrier isn’t the machine’s capability - it’s the human’s ability to engage with it thoughtfully.”
Sion argued that while technical skills can be taught, curiosity, creativity and critical reasoning are traits that define successful AI users.
