David Griffiths, Chief Technology Officer at Citigroup, shares insights on deploying generative AI in the financial sector. He discusses the declining costs of AI models and the innovative tools like City Assist designed to boost employee efficiency. The conversation dives into the challenges of regulatory compliance and data management as AI transforms operations, particularly in customer service. Griffiths also highlights the balance between human oversight and AI's potential to enhance productivity, paving the way for a collaborative future in banking.
Citigroup's deployment of generative AI tools aims to enhance employee productivity, with initial focus on developers and operational tasks.
The company emphasizes rigorous testing and compliance measures to ensure reliable AI functionality and mitigate risks in a regulated environment.
Deep dives
Sizable Rollout of Generative AI Tools
Citigroup has made significant advances in the implementation of generative AI, having rolled out three proprietary tools designed to enhance productivity among its employees. Among these tools, Citi Stylist simplifies document processing tasks, addressing the usual burdens faced by employees who spend excessive time reviewing documents. Citi Assist serves as a virtual assistant, offering quick responses to employee inquiries about policies, scheduling, and personal account details. The rollout has reached around 140,000 employees, reflecting the company's commitment to improving their operational efficiency through technology.
Focus on Quality and Compliance
As part of its AI deployment strategy, Citigroup maintains rigorous quality controls and compliance measures given the industry's regulatory nature. The company prioritizes thorough testing before releasing any features to ensure reliability and user engagement, understanding that underwhelming experiences can deter employees from utilizing the tools. The technology firm has established a stringent testing framework, analyzing user interactions and ensuring robustness in the AI's functionality. This focus on quality allows the bank to safely explore innovations without compromising the integrity of its operations.
Understanding the Productivity Gains
The deployment of generative AI tools at Citigroup is expected to generate measurable increases in employee productivity, particularly among developers. While the company acknowledges the current productivity boosts are modest, they are committed to observing and quantifying the impacts as the tools are integrated into daily operations. The feedback gathered from initial user experiences will help shape future targets for enhancing efficiency as the bank continues its AI journey. This ongoing assessment is crucial for determining which employee classes benefit the most from these AI implementations.
Impact on Operational Areas and Future Directions
Generative AI's potential impact spans various operational areas within Citigroup, with developers likely to see the earliest benefits due to their structured workflow. Applications in customer service are anticipated to enhance response times and consistency in communication, further improving the client experience. The use of AI technology is also being explored for operational tasks such as onboarding and sales processes, which could result in more tailored offerings and faster service delivery. As AI capabilities evolve, the bank is poised to expand these innovations across different sectors while remaining mindful of the necessary oversight and supervision required.
Costs for generative AI are coming down, with some of the leading models massively lower than they were a year ago, says Citigroup Chief Technology Officer David Griffiths. In this episode of the Tech Disruptors podcast, he chats about gen-AI deployment at his company with Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Alison Williams and Mandeep Singh. From back-end use cases to the impact on the product side, they discuss the opportunities and challenges with AI agents, large language models and the ripple effects on hiring and talent in a big financial institution.
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