I wanted to share something that caught my attention from HousingWire's recent AI Summit. According to reporting on the event, two industry leaders, Amanda Tucker from Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group and Michael Crockett from Xactus, made a point that I think is really important for lenders to hear right now. They're saying that before jumping into any new AI tool, lenders need to step back and ask themselves what business problem they're actually trying to solve. It's easy to get caught up in the hype of the latest technology, but that's not the right way to approach it.
What really resonated with me from their conversation is the emphasis on doing this thoughtfully. Tucker and Crockett stressed that when AI is involved in customer-facing work or decision-making, lenders absolutely need to understand how the technology works, make sure their teams are properly trained, and maintain strong human oversight. This isn't about replacing people or cutting corners on compliance.
According to their remarks, one of the biggest misconceptions out there is that once you implement AI, the compliance work is done. That's completely wrong. Crockett pointed out that automated decisions still have to follow fair lending rules and all the other regulations that apply to mortgage lending, and lenders need to keep monitoring their systems as things change and evolve.
Where Tucker sees the most promise right now is in handling repetitive manual tasks that eat up a lot of employee time. She mentioned that Atlantic Bay is looking at how AI can help them grow without necessarily adding more staff by freeing people up to focus on customer relationships, decision-making, and strategy. Tasks like reviewing documents, analyzing guidelines, and supporting quality control could all benefit from AI assistance without replacing the people doing that work.
Both panelists emphasized that rolling out AI needs to be a careful, measured process. You can test something small on noncritical functions over a few days, but companywide rollout should take several months and include proper planning, clear success metrics, and ongoing checks. They also recommended that lenders work closely with their technology vendors to make sure those vendors can clearly explain how their governance and monitoring will work.
What I am seeing locally as I work with Bay Area lenders is that everyone is asking about AI, but not always with a clear picture of what they need it to do. The companies that will win are the ones who look first at where their teams are struggling and stretched thin, then find the right tool for that specific problem rather than the other way around. That thoughtful approach, combined with strong compliance practices and keeping people in the loop, seems like the smart way forward for us here in the Bay Area as this technology keeps evolving.
