Managing change management: Ensuring mortgage teams are on board with AI

Introducing AI-driven automation can significantly change the way mortgage lending teams do business. The game-changing technology enables everyone, from underwriters to loan officers, to focus on strategic work by automating arduous stare-and-compare tasks, paving the way for smarter processes and more informed lending decisions. 

With this magnitude of change, it’s essential that organizations responsibly manage this transition. Lenders beginning their AI journeys should be intentional and strategic as they roll out new technologies to their teams.

From the beginning stages through full organizational adoption, keeping teams informed and demonstrating how the technology can help them is critical for success.

Establishing your AI objectives

The purpose behind AI adoption should be top of mind throughout the implementation process. Without a strong vision for the new technology, team members may not see the bigger picture or benefits of adoption.

In mortgage lending, AI-driven automation is intended to improve efficiency, reduce errors and automate labor-intensive tasks. To ensure successful adoption, companies should begin by defining the set of goals they want to achieve and the KPIs to measure them.

These goals can vary depending on overall business objectives, whether that means increasing the number of loans processed daily, reducing time spent on document validation, or decreasing customer acquisition costs.

By establishing and accomplishing specific goals, mortgage lenders create a proof of concept for AI’s ability to improve team members’ daily work, which can be used as an example to encourage organization-wide adoption.

Ensuring a seamless transition with pilot groups

Organizations may encounter challenges or skepticism within their teams when adopting any new technology or process. To ensure smooth company-wide rollouts, mortgage lenders should first test AI tools with a pilot group.

A small but influential pilot group should include team members across different functions who are interested in advancing their skill sets and are open to adopting the technology.

Pilot groups are an excellent opportunity to work out operational kinks in a controlled space. They also enable organizations to familiarize themselves with AI more broadly. Once they’re comfortable with new processes and tools, these groups can help inform the rest of the organization and share their successes to build excitement for future improvements.

Building an AI-empowered lending team

While AI is nearly everywhere we look, specific applications for financial decision-making require a unique understanding of where the technology holds the most value.

Bridging the knowledge gap and ensuring lending teams understand these applications are essential steps in adoption. Team leaders should foster open conversations with members about how AI will impact their work. Regular communication with teams can help organizations understand their concerns, share how AI will give them time back in their day and identify the specific use cases where it’s most helpful. 

Ocrolus created the AI-Empowered Underwriter Certification, a free, 60-minute course to simplify this learning process. The program covers the basics of AI, mortgage use cases and an overview of how AI tools can help teams work smarter.

Mortgage lenders are laying the groundwork for successfully adopting AI in their workplace by equipping team members with the AI they need.

Book a demo today to learn how Ocrolus can help your team take the next step toward AI-empowered mortgage lending.

Key takeaways:

• AI-driven automation can help mortgage teams improve processes and decision-making, but a strategic, intentional rollout is essential to success.
• Successful adoption starts with defining the goals they want to achieve through AI and the KPIs to measure them.
• Small pilot groups can help mortgage lenders test AI and inform the rest of the organization, sharing their successes to build excitement for future improvements.