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Citi’s India unit is poised to become the bank’s second-largest employer globally, driven by its growing global capability centres (GCCs) and potential divestment of Banamex, its Mexican retail banking arm, according to a Moneycontrol interview of CEO K Balasubramanian.

Citi’s GCCs in India, which operate in Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, support the bank’s global operations in over 80 countries. With 33,000 employees in its Citi Service Centre, the bank is a significant player in the GCC space. Over 50% of its GCC employees are engaged in high-tech work, including big data and analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI).

The bank is leveraging AI to improve business processes and efficiency. “We’ve identified four business lines where critical, unstructured processes can be streamlined using AI,” Balasubramanian said. Citi’s CEO, Jane Fraser, is driving the bank’s AI mission, with every executive management team member tasked with identifying areas where AI can be used to drive efficiency and business growth.

With India’s GCCs at the core of its AI-related transformation, Balasubramanian expects India to become Citi’s second-largest employee base after the United States once the Banamex divestment is completed, likely in 2026. “We are still adding more people, which shows the relative importance of India compared to other markets within Citi,” he said.

Citi has moved around 1,000 tech jobs to India from China as part of a broader restructuring effort, reinforcing India’s position as a global tech hub.

“Citi’s chief technology officer was in India two weeks back. We spoke about how we’ve identified four business lines where critical, unstructured processes have been identified that is being followed today, at times would also be touching clients,” Balasubramanian said.

Citi plans to deploy more capital in India, supporting Indian companies’ global expansion ambitions with advice and capital.