The tech industry may be the biggest champion of AI technology, but the banking sector appears to have a solid hold on what it means to grow with AI. Wall Street wonder Citi has grown a team of over 4,000 “AI Accelerators,” essentially voluntary AI helpers who are improving the technological proficiency of the organization as a whole. Citi’s AI Champions and Accelerators program came to life in 2024 and has since grown significantly, working to encourage employees to support their colleagues with insights into AI tools and their many, many uses.
This internal AI accelerator program at Citi is a leading example of what a planned approach to AI technology for the workforce should look like, gradually expanding adoption. This strategy presents far greater results than merely dropping the tools on workers in hopes that they will learn to adapt, leaving them with an uneven and unclear understanding of how best to implement it.
Citi is relying on its AI accelerators and champions to promote internal AI adoption in the workplace, and the strategy is worth exploring further. (Image: Freepik)
Citi’s AI Accelerators Present Us with a Great Strategy on AI Adoption Among the Workforce
Citi’s AI innovation in banking is simple and efficient. The company’s AI Champions and Accelerators program recruited a team of AI experts to share their knowledge with the rest of the workforce. According to a helpful report from Business Insider, Citi has built a 4000-strong AI team of accelerators, with around 25-30 AI champions who lead these accelerators. Adoption of the company’s internal AI tools has grown to over 70% via this program, and it is expected to reach more employees in the coming year.
In April last year, Chief Technology Officer David Griffiths threw some light on the scale of the program and its imminent expansion to support its global workforce, bringing the use of generative AI tools to its workforce in 11 countries. This was up from the 8 that were benefiting from the project at the end of 2024. Citi’s AI tools are now available to 182,000 employees, spread across 84 countries.
How Does the Internal AI Program at Citi Work?
The two-layered structure of the internal AI accelerator program at Citi allows for a central team of core experts who can oversee a large team of disseminators who spread the knowledge throughout the rest of the organization. The goal of demystifying AI for the masses is what Citi gets right, spreading the knowledge to workers without the pressure of performance.
“It’s a lot different when you hear from a colleague as to how you can leverage these tools, as opposed to having someone who’s, let’s say, a technologist trying to push this,” Josh Goldsmith, an AI Champion and the Head of Digital Solutions and Innovation, told Business Insider. “To be able to see someone put it in action: ‘Hey, they can do it! I’m just like them, I can do it as well.‘”
This peer-to-peer knowledge transmission approach does not hinge on employees being top-ranking experts on AI. All it requires is an enthusiasm for the technology and the desire to volunteer to share it with others at the organization. This ensures that only those who are truly committed to understanding and leading the AI revolution bring their enthusiasm to colleagues.
With a 4000-Strong Internal AI Volunteer Workforce, Citi Is Doing What Few Other Businesses Have
Artificial intelligence is making its presence felt at every business, regardless of whether the organization has an internal strategy for its adoption. Those that have gone all in on AI have made considerable investments in these tools, hiring workers with some degree of proficiency in the realm to build up their services. Some businesses have even gone so far as to make AI usage a performance evaluation criterion, assessing workers on their experimentation and applications of AI.
On the other end of the spectrum, many businesses have left the technology untouched, waiting to see realistic results from the technology before making any hasty investment. While this is a smart strategy as well, workers have also begun to adopt the technology in silence, hoping to simplify their own workload without calling attention to its usage. This presents dangers of its own, allowing for internal company data to make its way into the external world, simultaneously broaching the possibility of AI slop slipping into business outcomes.
The AI accelerators and volunteers at Citi now play a key role in eliminating the fear and apprehension around AI, shifting attention to learning instead. The threats posed by the technology aren’t going away, and the bank has also made considerable investments towards layoffs and reorganizations, the same as other businesses. The company is just as determined to rely on AI to “reshape how work gets done,” adding some pressure on workers to learn from the volunteers participating in Citi’s staff AI adoption program. What it does get right, however, is leading from the point of enthusiasm and training workers to get it right.
Citi’s AI Accelerators Address a Key Problem with the Modern Workforce: Gatekeeping and Hoarding
The apprehension around AI isn’t just making workers wary of the technology; it has also led to some gatekeeping the knowledge they have to ensure they don’t hand their colleagues an advantage over themselves. A competitive spirit can be good for the workplace, but this degree of information hoarding can turn counterproductive.
Citi has built an AI team of 4,000 enthusiasts who are equally recognized for their enthusiasm and play a role in building the organization’s internal reserve of information. This benefits not only the business but also employees who can find a sense of community in the learning process. Adopting AI in the modern era of work is a foregone conclusion, but how your business handles the process can be the defining factor in its success.
What do you think about Citi’s AI accelerators and champions running the show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights into the evolving landscape of work and the shifts and shakeups in the ongoing adoption of AI.
