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Yesterday, Citigroup posted its best third-quarter revenue in a decade\u2014yet another sign CEO Jane Fraser\u2019s turnaround keeps paying off. Fraser, the first woman to run a major Wall Street bank and No. 1 on this year\u2019s Most Powerful Women list, appeared virtually at Fortune<\/em>\u2019s Most Powerful Women Summit on Wednesday to speak about how she plans to sustain that momentum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re definitely in the more fun part of everything that\u2019s going on. We\u2019ve got a lot of the heavy lifting behind us,\u201d Fraser said in conversation with leadership editor and MPW Summit co-chair Claire Zillman. \u201cNow what I\u2019ve said to the firm is, if we are going to be the best in the businesses we\u2019re in, we have to beat the best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s that mindset of excellence, and that\u2019s the next phase of the journey,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n When Fraser became CEO in 2021, her job was to simplify an expansive global bank. Since then, she has reorganized Citi into five core businesses, cut layers of management, and started exiting consumer banking in 14 markets outside the U.S. The overhaul also includes 20,000 job cuts slated to wrap up before 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n When reflecting on five years into her tenure in an interview this spring with Zillman, Fraser said:\u00a0\u201cI think you can make tough decisions. It does not mean you need to be an asshole.\u201d On Wednesday, she traced that philosophy to a restructuring she led in Citi\u2019s mortgage business.\u00a0 Employees want to hear \u201cthe hard truth,\u201d she said, along with what the company will do to help them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not have to be tough and unpleasant about it, but you do have to be straight,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like most other businesses, Citi\u2019s next phase hinges on how AI will change its business. Fraser said AI\u2019s effects on her business are three-fold: It \u201ccan help you earn money. It can help you save money. It can help you secure the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to move fast and retain trust,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n One example is an AI avatar agent for Citi\u2019s wealth business, developed with help from Google DeepMind\u2019s team, that can talk with clients at any hour of the night, \u201cwhen our bankers hopefully are getting some beauty sleep,\u201d Fraser said, adding \u201cit\u2019s not a replacement team member.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether AI will shrink Citi\u2019s headcount is still an open question.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, we don\u2019t know yet,\u201d Fraser said, describing \u201cputs and takes\u201d as some jobs are created and others are automated due to the technology.<\/p>\n Moving fast applies to risk with AI, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re innovating at speed, you have to manage risk at the same speed,\u201d she said, adding that big banks are working together to find and patch vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t compete on cyber,\u201d she said. \u201cYou collaborate on cyber.\u201d<\/p>\n Citi now requires AI training for 175,000 of its employees, with a focus on writing prompts.<\/p>\n \u201cI never think people perform well if they\u2019re fearful,\u201d Fraser said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n #Citi #CEO #Jane #Fraser #phase #turnaround<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday, Citigroup posted it… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[283,3346,6762,9846,9845,6764,1980,4983,5258],"class_list":["post-6736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-ceo","tag-citi","tag-citigroup","tag-fraser","tag-jane","tag-jane-fraser","tag-most-powerful-women","tag-phase","tag-turnaround"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\u2018Move fast and retain trust\u2019<\/h2>\n