How a 200-Year-Old Bank is Reinventing Digital Banking for the Future
From Amazon to Citi: A Digital Transformation Journey
What motivates a top tech executive to leave a giant like Amazon for a centuries-old financial institution? For Brad Miller, Head of Global Digital and Cloud Technology at Citi, the answer lies in a “very rare” opportunity to reshape banking culture through digital innovation. After five years as General Manager at Amazon’s e-commerce platform, Miller joined Citi in 2015 with a bold vision: to transform how one of the world’s oldest banks builds software and approaches modern banking.
The Urgent Need for Banking Innovation
With fintech startups disrupting the financial sector globally, legacy banks can no longer afford business as usual. As Miller explains: “I really believe whoever has the best offering, and who is iterating the fastest, will win the hearts of the customers.”
For a financial giant like Citi, digital transformation presents unique challenges:
- Managing decades of legacy systems
- Developing cutting-edge applications
- Maintaining operational stability while innovating
Building the Digital Foundation
Citi’s solution was to implement a robust platform that could support both legacy systems and new development. “Pivotal Cloud Foundry allows us to have that venue to be able to build into,” Miller notes, “and we didn’t have to build that venue ourselves.” This strategic decision freed Citi’s team to focus on creating customer value rather than infrastructure.
The Agile Transformation Strategy
At Pivotal’s SpringOne Platform conference, Miller outlined Citi’s approach to achieving business agility:
- Empowering autonomous teams to plan, build, and deploy independently
- Gradually transitioning to microservices architecture
- Developing internal expertise through strategic partnerships
”[Pivotal helped] develop the skills that we needed to start building micro-services and thinking about transitioning our existing architecture,” Miller explained.
Creating Citi FinTech: The Innovation Engine
To accelerate transformation, Citi established Citi FinTech as an innovation hub with two key missions:
- Advancing organizational culture to support modern distributed systems
- Creating templates for other teams to adopt new methodologies
The restructured teams feature:
- Embedded legal and compliance members
- Agile development practices
- User story-driven prioritization
Cultural Shifts Driving Innovation
Miller emphasizes that successful digital transformation requires fundamental cultural changes:
- Development teams working as cohesive units with business partners
- Weekly sprint cadences for rapid iteration
- End-to-end ownership of products and services
“Our teams are super excited to unleash their potential on building software the way they’ve dreamed,” Miller observes.
Building Internal Capabilities for Long-Term Success
Citi’s forward-looking strategy includes creating an internal “Pivotal Labs” style training center where:
- New developers learn modern tools and methodologies
- Knowledge transfer happens through peer training
- Teams master reusable code and collaborative practices
This approach ensures Citi can continuously deliver secure, thoughtful customer experiences at scale.
The Future of Banking is Here
By combining its 200 years of financial expertise with cutting-edge digital capabilities, Citi demonstrates how legacy institutions can successfully compete in the fintech era. The bank’s transformation offers valuable lessons for any organization navigating digital disruption while maintaining operational excellence.
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