Driss R. Temsamani (; born 1966) is a Moroccan-born American banker and writer. He is a managing director at Citigroup, where he heads digital banking for the Americas.
Temsamani has worked with Moroccan diaspora organizations and served as a delegate for the U.S. State Department's Global Entrepreneurship Program on President Barack Obama’s socioeconomic development initiatives in the Maghreb.
Banking career Temsamani joined Citigroup in 1995 as a senior consultant. Before that he was operations director at Telemundo from 1993 to 1995, and earlier worked at Globe Magazine and Worldcare International Insurance.
At Citigroup, Temsamani has led e-business (2000–2002), marketing and market management (2008–2012), the innovation group (2012–2017), and commercial banking for Latin America (2017–2021). He led the launch of Citi's digital account in Latin America and has worked with central banks and regulators on digital policy, financial inclusion, digital assets, blockchain, and artificial intelligence in the financial system.
Diaspora advocacy Temsamani has worked in different nonprofit organizations and policy-oriented projects to advance the social, political, and economic representation of Moroccan Americans, particularly in international forums. In 2002, He launched ElKarya, the first social platform in Moroccan Arabic (Darija), designed to connect Moroccan expatriates, particularly in North America. He is also the Founder and President of the 361 Degrees Institute, a Moroccan American think-tank for demographic research and development based in the US. In 2012, Temsamani founded the Maghreb Growth Foundation.
His advocacy focuses on initiatives related to education, civic engagement, and economic development that concern the Moroccan diaspora communities in the United States. Temsamani has been president and Board Director of the Moroccan American Coalition since 2008Les MRE caressent toujours le rêve américain - Bladi.net and is on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement Americas.
Temsamani was a partner in the Aspen Institute's Partners for a New Beginning, an initiative focused on strengthening economic and social collaboration between the United States and North African countries. He was selected by the U.S. State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Program as a delegate for President Barack Obama’s socioeconomic development initiatives in the Maghreb. He was later invited to speak at the White House, where he addressed issues related to diaspora engagement and their economic empowerment.
Writing and media Temsamani writes on topics related to finance, digital transformation, blockchain, AI, and financial inclusion.
In 2005, he became one of the first Moroccan Americans to publish a book in the United States along with Laila Lalami. His book Rewind, a drama story of the human spirit's struggle to find happiness while away from home, was released in 2005.
In the early 2000s, Temsamani lectured on marketing strategy and digital engagement, presenting on DNA Marketing and The Art of Marketing, which focused on branding, customer engagement, and digital strategy. During this period, he also spoke at COMDEX, where he discussed the Second Wave of the Internet and its impact on financial and digital transformation.
He has since spoken at various industry conferences covering topics such as the role of AI in treasury and finance, Blockchain and digital assets in banking, the impact of cryptocurrency on financial inclusion and the regulatory trends in financial technology.
Temsamani has also been featured in print and television interviews in multiple languages, discussing digital transformation and financial innovation. He has appeared on CNN, where he spoke about the future of digital payments and financial inclusion. In Spanish, he has been interviewed by the Peruvian El Comercio, where he discussed tokenization and the transition of physical assets into the digital economy. In the Costa Rican La República, he examined the impact of FinTech on financial markets, while in El Dinero, he elaborated on Citigroup's advancements toward fully digital corporate banking.
In 2023, Temsamani participated in a Bloomberg-moderated panel discussion on cryptocurrencies, exploring the role of blockchain, digital assets, and financial regulation in the evolving financial landscape. He has also presented at the America Digital Congress, highlighting the tokenization of assets and digital transformation in the banking sector.
His work also includes research on financial inclusion and the role of technology in expanding access to financial services.
In 2025, Driss Temsamani published The Agentic Bank: How AI and Intelligent Systems Are Redefining Finance. The book explores how artificial intelligence and blockchain are transforming traditional financial institutions into what he terms "agentic institutions," capable of thinking, acting, and adapting autonomously, thus revolutionizing the financial sector. Drawing on hypothetical case studies—such as a liquidity manager who oversees autonomous agents that monitor cash positions and stress-test portfolios continuously—Temsamani argues that agentic systems will shift banking from periodic, manual processes to always-on, machine-driven orchestration.
Awards Temsamani is the recipient of The Jerry Goldenberg First place award for direct marketing in 2002 and The Strathmore Who's Who Leadership Millennium Award in 2000. He was named Visionary of the Year by Compaq in 1999.
Citi Digital Banking Awards Under Temsamani's leadership, Citi has received numerous awards across Latin and North America, recognizing its advancements in digital banking and technology. In 2022, Citi was named the World’s Best Digital Bank by Global Finance Magazine, marking the 22nd consecutive year of recognition.
The following year, Citi was awarded by The Banker’s Innovation in Digital Banking Awards and Technology Projects of the Year Awards, which highlight advancements in banking technology and digital innovation.
In 2024, Citi was named the World’s Best Digital Bank by Euromoney for the second time in three years, recognizing its continued investment in digital banking innovation.
In March 2025, Temsamani was awarded the Golden Prize (Premio de Oro) in the category "Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies" in his capacity as Americas Head of Digital Citi - Treasury and Trade Solutions.
Personal life Temsamani was born in Tangier. He faced academic challenges and was nearly sent to a military academy. Seeing military school as an undesirable option, he decided to leave Morocco in 1986 at the age of 17 and immigrated to the United States with $200 in his pockets and without a strong command of the English language. While working, he took night classes to learn English and later enrolled in electronics courses, where he was first introduced to computers.
Years later, Temsamani enrolled himself in business studies. He is a holder of an MBA from Ohio State University, an Executive MBA in Industrial marketing from IAE Universidad Austral in Buenos Aires, Argentina and an Executive Leadership from Harvard.
He is currently based in Miami, Florida, where he lives with his wife.
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