Citi and Google Cloud Announce Major Tech infrastructure Overhaul

Global banking giant, Citi, has inked a multi-year agreement with Google Cloud to modernise its technology infrastructure, marking another significant move by traditional banks to embrace cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

The partnership, announced on Monday, will see Citi migrate multiple workloads and applications to Google Cloud's infrastructure, with a particular focus on enhancing its Markets business operations through high-performance computing.

Central to the collaboration is Citi's adoption of Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform for developing generative AI capabilities, following similar moves by other major financial institutions including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, who have recently announced their own AI initiatives.

"Citi is on a mission to modernise our infrastructure and increase our safety and soundness so that our businesses can continue to serve our clients with speed and agility," said Tim Ryan, Head of Technology and Business Enablement for Citi. "Leveraging Google Cloud opens up a whole new frontier for us in how we can run applications with faster and more comprehensive outputs, and provide our colleagues with the tools they need to deliver for our clients."

The agreement comes as financial institutions face mounting pressure to upgrade legacy systems while maintaining stringent security standards. Google Cloud's infrastructure includes multiple security layers such as data encryption and Confidential Computing, meeting key industry standards including PCI DSS and ISO 27001 certifications.

Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, said: "Our strategic partnership with Citi to continue to modernise its technology infrastructure and drive enterprise-wide innovation underscores Google Cloud's commitment to helping the financial services industry transform with cloud and AI technology. By combining Citi's deep banking and customer experience expertise with Google Cloud's leading cloud and AI capabilities, we can deliver significant benefits to Citi's clients and employees."

While the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the agreement represents one of the most significant technology partnerships announced in the banking sector this year.