TL;DRCiti CEO Jane Fraser told the SCMP the financial sector faces two AI races: using the technology to drive revenue, and defending the financial system against AI-powered fraud and cyber threats. She acknowledged job dislocations are coming, and Citi’s own 3,500 China tech cuts show they have already begun.
Citigroup chief executive Jane Fraser says the financial sector is running two AI races at once, she told the South China Morning Post. The first is applying AI to business models to drive revenue growth, shortening product development cycles and improving customer service.
The second race is defensive. Fraser said Citi’s job is to keep the bank, its customers, and the wider financial ecosystem secure, with heavy investment so that fraud, money laundering, and cyber threats “don’t become a problem”.
That defensive race is not hypothetical, as criminals already run sophisticated tech-driven laundering operations. Deepfakes in particular threaten the trust that finance runs on.
Citi has skin in the boom itself. In March, the bank raised its forecast for global AI capital expenditure between 2026 and 2030 to $8.9tn, up from $8tn, citing faster enterprise adoption and the rise of agentic systems.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
