Jane Fraser: Citigroup CEO on AI Training for Key Workers

As AI continues to reshape the workplace, employees across industries are grappling with a crucial question: will the technology enhance their careers or render their roles obsolete? The answer, according to business leaders gathering at industry forums in January 2025, lies in how workers themselves approach AI adoption and training.

At the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos from 19 to 23 January, executives including Accenture's Julie Sweet and Salesforce's Marc Benioff emphasised that employee AI literacy could be the defining factor in whether organisations thrive or struggle in this new era.

Speaking with the Washington Post at the event, Jane Fraser, Citigroup CEO, acknowledged that whilst AI's impact remains uncertain, workers who embrace the technology stand to gain the most.

"AI has the potential to make tremendous changes," she explains. "It is going to create huge numbers of new jobs that we cannot even imagine what they are today. It will change the nature of what people do every day."

Rather than viewing AI as a threat, Jane suggests employees should see it as a competitive advantage.

"We're encouraging our people saying, not that AI is going to take your job away but, someone using AI is probably going to be better at your job than you are," she said.

Mandatory training opens opportunities

When questioned about preparing Citigroup's workforce to implement AI agents, Jane emphasises that universal training can be crucial for employee success.

"It will help them in life as well as at work, so that is why we started having mandatory training for everyone," she explained. "Some people can get intimidated by the tools, so let's help support getting rid of the myths of intimidation."

This top-down strategy aims to embed technology into every aspect of operations, with Citigroup announcing in January 2025 that it is equipping over 175,000 employees globally with proprietary AI tools.

For workers, this means access to capabilities that enhance their productivity and expand their skill sets beyond their current roles.

The mandatory nature of the training ensures that no employee is left behind as the organisation transforms its operations.

Career longevity in an AI era

Jane noted that 50% of all new job openings at Citigroup are filled by existing employees, suggesting internal mobility is strengthened by technological change.

Referencing the company's 30-year-old site in South Dakota, the CEO said: "Many of the employees there have been employees for 30 years and they told me they have had at least 12 careers in those 30 years. I want to stack the odds that we will help people reinvent themselves [using AI] the same way as they have done themselves."

By giving workers control over their AI training, organisations encourage them to be "adaptable and be honest and truthful" about emerging opportunities.

Jane acknowledged that some skills will grow and some will go, but employees who learn to adjust to this changing landscape find themselves better positioned for long-term career success.

Building employee trust through principles

For employees concerned about how AI might be deployed in their workplace, Jane outlined how Citigroup established ethical guidelines when introducing the software in 2019.

"We put in a set of ethical principles," she said, adding that this framework helps guide decision-making without imposing rigid constraints.

"I like principles to help guide decision-making because I think it is hard to have entirely rules-based to guide people."

This approach allows workers to explore AI's capabilities whilst maintaining human judgement at the centre of operations.

Jane described the mindset as focusing on "how did it help them for their job, how did it serve our customers better without being precious about it".

The CEO herself uses AI tools "to help me summarise, getting information gathered more efficiently", demonstrating that AI adoption applies at every organisational level.

By establishing these principles early, Citigroup created a foundation of trust that encourages employees to experiment with AI tools without fear of negative consequences.