In a 13-month sabbatical several years ago, Xin Lin visited 12 countries and 135 municipalities, even learning Spanish to explore Latin America's wide-ranging cultures. That interest in different peoples serves her well as the leader of a team promoting and supporting Citi's digital strategy across nine countries in southern Asia.
Toggling between Citi and Goldman Sachs over her career, Lin has developed expertise in areas including corporate treasury and bank balance-sheet management. Since December 2023, she has managed Citi platforms and data-services products, to improve clients' digital interaction with the bank. Her team works with clients whose business cultures, technology adoption and regulations vary widely.
To accommodate the differences she emphasizes empathy and open communication, with her team members as well as clients. Based in her native Singapore, that means visiting local Citi bankers and clients to discuss their markets' particulars.
"Then you get the local perspective," Lin said, which when balanced with the bank's own priorities can lead to more productive relationships.
Her approach has prompted 950 institutional clients across the region to connect their enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other workflow systems directly to the bank via file and API interfaces, speeding up payments, trades, liquidity and other bank services. A cornerstone has been the bank's developer portal, live since early 2025, which, with guidance from Lin's team, facilitates clients' digitization of treasury and finance workflows.
Understanding clients' specific needs enables finding the most effective technological solution, particularly when technology and related regulations are evolving rapidly and differently across jurisdictions.
Vietnam's central bank, for example, has required biometric validation starting in 2026 to onboard clients. Citi's bespoke solution accommodates the atypical requirement, "but you wouldn't want to repeat the same approach in every country, because bespoke solutions are hard to sustain," Lin said.
India's massive market and multiple payment systems prompts client requests for customized solutions from Citi to send and receive related data. Communication comes into play when Lin and her team analyze with the client the costs and whether innovative tweak offers a more effective solution.
That thoroughness has long been a strength. A former colleague recalled working with Lin on a major acquisition of deposits and how she immersed herself in the applicable regulations and cultivated trust with the stakeholders.
"Her hands-on approach ensured accuracy and fostered confidence among her colleagues," the executive said.
Open communication with her staff is also key, entrusting them with "meaningful ownership" of their initiatives while providing support, Lin said. Leading the adoption and commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI) in her region, she has established "innovation days," when avid AI users share interesting new use-cases.
"She's someone who sets the direction and ensures every voice is heard, adapting her communication style with ease for the most junior to the most senior stakeholders," her former colleague said.
