Amid the gloom of thousands of layoffs and billions of dollars in write-offs and asset sales, Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit wants to regain some of the company’s more freewheeling, entrepreneurial glory. Last month he appointed Deborah Hopkins, 53, a senior adviser to clients of Citi’s investment bank, to the new position of chief innovation officer. Hopkins declined to be interviewed, but according to a memo from her boss, chief administrative officer Don Callahan, she remains a managing director in the institutional clients group while taking on the new assignment. The former Boeing Co. CFO has also served as chief operations and technology officer and head of corporate strategy and M&A since joining Citi in 2002. She will work closely with tech chief Kevin Kessinger and the four management teams overseeing Citi’s technology assets, but “her responsibility for innovation will extend beyond technology,” says a spokesman.
