[Fan Theory] Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser Says The Company Is Training 175,000 Employee...

“AI has the potential to make tremendous changes. It's going to create huge numbers of new jobs that we can't even imagine what they are today,” Fraser recently told the Washington Post at Davos. “It will change the nature of what people do every day … And it will take some jobs away.” Instead of letting Citigroup's employees fend for themselves, executives mandated that they lean into the technology.

Last year, the $205 billion bank sent out a memo introducing required AI training to 175,000 staffers across 80 locations—instructing them particularly in prompting—Citi confirmed with Fortune. The company's CEO believes that mandatory instruction helps remove “the myths of intimidation” around the tools, and that strengthening employees' AI prompting skills will help them “in life as well as work.” Fraser wants employees to be adaptable and realistic about what new jobs will come and how they need to pivot.

Some skills will naturally change or go away, but being handy with AI will ensure they can “cope” with the disruptions. Citigroup's AI training is not only an investment in the livelihoods of its workers—it's also a win-win for the company. Fraser noted that roughly 50% of all new job openings at the bank are filled by existing employees; staffers spend decades of their careers at Citi. By reskilling its own workforce, it's cutting hiring costs while leveraging employees who already know the company inside out.

“People may wonder if they will become expendable,” Christina Muller, workplace mental health expert and consultant at R3 Continuum, a national HR and workplace behavioral health agency, told Fortune last year. “Training is crucial to reinforce that AI is meant to be a copilot—not a replacement—on an already flying plane.” You might also find this interesting: Check here