- 2 days ago
In this conversation with HousingWire’s Allison LaForgia, Jim Rosen, Chief Product Officer at Mortgage Cadence, shared how his experience across mortgage technology has shaped his approach to AI, product leadership and the next evolution of lending. After more than a decade at Mortgage Cadence, Rosen said the industry’s ability to adapt through major shifts gives him confidence as AI in mortgage lending creates another turning point.
“My experience in my role in product and the different roles has really given me a perspective of resiliency of this industry,” Rosen said. “As we’re dealing with a new sea change here in this AI summit and what AI is bringing to not just technology for mortgage, but just how we live and act as human beings, we’ve got a real chance here to do something transformational, not just evolutionary.”
For Rosen, that transformation should strengthen the human relationships at the center of homeownership, rather than replace them. “At the cornerstone of the financial transaction involved in acquiring a home is a relationship built on trust, built on confidence, and built between people, experts, and people who are trying to do something transformational for their family,” he said. “That’s a human concern. That’s not a technology concern.”
The opportunity, he said, is to use AI to remove tasks that keep mortgage professionals from focusing on borrowers. “If I can take a loan officer or a processor or an underwriter, and I can deploy intelligent automation that allows them to be more productive, to make that closing happen on time, or to make it happen faster so they get their money faster, then what we’re doing is we’re facilitating that dream,”
Rosen went on to say, “We can allow the humans to engage with each other as opposed to checking tasks off a list or being part of the process. We can elevate them above the process.”
“My experience in my role in product and the different roles has really given me a perspective of resiliency of this industry,” Rosen said. “As we’re dealing with a new sea change here in this AI summit and what AI is bringing to not just technology for mortgage, but just how we live and act as human beings, we’ve got a real chance here to do something transformational, not just evolutionary.”
For Rosen, that transformation should strengthen the human relationships at the center of homeownership, rather than replace them. “At the cornerstone of the financial transaction involved in acquiring a home is a relationship built on trust, built on confidence, and built between people, experts, and people who are trying to do something transformational for their family,” he said. “That’s a human concern. That’s not a technology concern.”
The opportunity, he said, is to use AI to remove tasks that keep mortgage professionals from focusing on borrowers. “If I can take a loan officer or a processor or an underwriter, and I can deploy intelligent automation that allows them to be more productive, to make that closing happen on time, or to make it happen faster so they get their money faster, then what we’re doing is we’re facilitating that dream,”
Rosen went on to say, “We can allow the humans to engage with each other as opposed to checking tasks off a list or being part of the process. We can elevate them above the process.”
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NewsTranscript
00:07From Dallas, Texas, I'm Alison LaForgia, and I am sitting down with Jim Rosen, the Chief Product Officer at Mortgage
00:13Catons.
00:14Jim, thank you for joining me.
00:15Thanks for having me. It's a real pleasure to be here today.
00:17I'm glad that I get to actually sit with you for this one. I feel like I get to talk
00:22to you and pick your brain a lot.
00:24I'm excited to have you in the hot seat.
00:26I hope it's not too hot, but we'll do our best.
00:28We'll do our best.
00:30After more than a decade with Mortgage Catons, how has your journey shaped the way that you lead?
00:36Being new into this seat, but not new to the company, so new in this chief product role, it's an
00:42honor to be given the confidence on the part of our CEO to lead our product in the strategy and
00:47the direction that we're trying to go.
00:50My experience in my role in product and the different roles has really given me a perspective of resiliency of
00:56this industry.
00:58Everything from the introduction of the internet to the 07-08 crash to how we've pivoted from origination to refi,
01:06purchase refi modifications, and all the financial needs that our consumers ultimately need.
01:11And how our industry and our technology has rose to that challenge every time really gives me confidence that as
01:16we're dealing with a new sea change here in this AI summit and what AI is bringing to not just
01:22technology for mortgage, but just how we live and act as human beings,
01:25it's that we've got a real chance here to do something transformational, not just evolutionary, and I think the Mortgage
01:32Cadence platform is a good product that allows us that solid foundation to leapfrog and do the next big thing.
01:38Jim, you've said to me previously that AI should empower people and not replace them.
01:47How should leaders approach AI to strengthen and not diminish the human side of lending, which I think our industry
01:56is built on?
01:57It is.
01:58You know, there's a couple of conversations that we've had, you know, coming up here and then some of the
02:02leaders presenting at the summit.
02:04And, you know, what I really feel is that at the cornerstone of the financial transaction involved in acquiring a
02:10home is a relationship built on trust, built on confidence, and built between people, experts, and people who are trying
02:17to do something transformational for their family, transformational for their livelihood.
02:22And that's a human concern.
02:23That's not a technology concern.
02:25That's not an efficiency concern.
02:26It's not an accounting concern.
02:27It's how do you help someone realize a dream?
02:30And at the end of the day, that's what we're doing.
02:32We're agents in that dream realization.
02:33And so what we need to do is to find the opportunities to automate out or enhance the skills of
02:41the people in that process.
02:42So, you know, if I can take a loan officer or a processor or an underwriter and I can deploy
02:47intelligent automation that allows them to be more productive, to make that closing happen on time, or to make it
02:54happen faster so they get their money faster, then what we're doing is we're facilitating that dream.
02:59And we can allow the humans to engage with each other as opposed to, you know, checking tasks off a
03:05list or being part of the process.
03:06We can elevate them above the process.
03:08I think it is fantastic that you have centered your approach around that very important message, helping facilitate people achieve
03:20the dream of home ownership and how you're looking at bringing AI and technology into that process.
03:26And as we know, there is no shortage of AI hype around the industry today or broader AI hype.
03:34How do you separate the wheat from the chap when it comes to meaningful innovation versus technology that is just
03:43following the trend?
03:44Yeah, I think it's, you got to be purposeful in what you're looking for.
03:49You know, we've heard some terminology around focusing on outcomes and why, like, why are you doing it?
03:55So AI for the purpose of just technology adoption is just another widget that probably gets in the way and
04:01makes it more confusing.
04:02If it's not implemented with focus, structure, purpose, and you understand, like, what are the outcomes?
04:07What are we trying to do with this?
04:09And it's got to be more than just more widgets in a time frame, right?
04:12Can I close more loans?
04:13Yes, I want to close more loans.
04:15And I want to do it with the same people I have.
04:17I want to make them more efficient.
04:18But that's just the accounting metric.
04:21It's what are you doing with that?
04:22And making sure that your implementation of AI is actually going to move that needle.
04:26Can you track?
04:27Can you monitor?
04:28And can you ensure that it's an appropriate use of AI versus just, you know, cool technology?
04:34Because, I mean, admittedly, it's really cool.
04:36But it's got to be effective.
04:37It's got to move the needle in terms of what you're trying to achieve as a business.
04:41Now, we know that lenders rely on an increasingly connected ecosystem as you look at the transaction.
04:48What does great product leadership look like in that environment?
04:54Yeah, I think it's, one, it's understanding your customers, right?
04:58Having a relationship with your customers that's beyond the tickets, beyond the emails.
05:02Really, you know, experiencing them in person, going out and visiting with your customers
05:06and understanding not only the challenges they're having, but also what they're trying to do.
05:11And being part of their strategy and being a partner along that journey,
05:15we can build and we can meet our customers where they're at and where they're going.
05:19You know, one of the great product leaders that was a mentor of mine really had this metaphor.
05:24He's from Minnesota.
05:24So hockey was big in their world.
05:26But you skate to where the puck is going to be, not necessarily where it's at right now.
05:30And you can only do that through strong partnerships, true collaboration and communication,
05:35and making sure that, you know, our strategy in terms of where the product is going,
05:39not only is caught up with the industry and we're taking advantage of what's there,
05:43but it's in line with where our customers are trying to go.
05:46When you bring those two things together, we can really achieve great things.
05:49And it goes back to your point about being focused on outcomes.
05:52Right.
05:53I mean, at the end of the day, you've got lenders that are trying to work with borrowers,
05:58trying to fulfill this major financial transaction.
06:01And if you can remove friction, if you can make people more efficient,
06:05if you can build confidence in the process versus erode it,
06:08a lot of the technology tools that are in play where people are just trying to make do with disparate,
06:14disconnected, incompatible technology stacks, they're overcoming the issues.
06:18And those challenges, the delays, the confusion, it erodes that confidence.
06:23And in a high stakes transaction, like a real estate transaction,
06:26you need things that build confidence.
06:30To dig in a little bit more with where you just ended,
06:34talking about the complexity and how technology potentially isn't solving some of those issues,
06:40we know that lending is growing more complex.
06:43We see more complex borrowers.
06:45We see people touching on different products.
06:48How can automation give professionals more time to do what matters most for the end user?
06:55Yeah, I don't think the technology is going to eliminate the complexity.
06:58We're seeing a broad diversity of the economic situation of borrowers coming to that transaction.
07:05The W-2 borrower, maybe not the majority that you're seeing.
07:09A lot of gig economy income, a lot of fragmented income.
07:12We're seeing the cost of houses outpace the ability of the single homeowner to own that.
07:17So, you know, multi-tenancy and a lot of arrangements that, you know,
07:21if we look back 10 years ago, we would call those really odd and maybe we wouldn't even look at
07:25those.
07:25So technology is not going to get rid of that complexity.
07:28If anything, the complexity is going to come to the conversation.
07:30And it's the job of technology to make that simple, right?
07:35Ultimately, and this is what I've always looked at in our technology goal,
07:38is to let the tech handle the complexity so that the human has the simple experience, right?
07:44If I've got to go to six different logins and try to personally collate information,
07:49that's the job of technology.
07:50Make me, make it obvious to me, make it efficient for me so that I don't have to swim in
07:55the technology.
07:56I can just manage it because the tech is making it simple.
07:59That's our goal.
08:00That's what we need to do.
08:01Our essentials platform really does deliver on that premise, which is here's an LOS.
08:05We're curating the workflow and the statuses.
08:08We're taking the technology and eliminating the complexity of an enterprise LOS and just letting the lender lend.
08:14Focus on lending and dealing with your consumers and managing your members.
08:18We'll take care of the hard part of the technology with essentials.
08:22Now, Jim, one of the reasons I love to pick your brain is because of your experience,
08:27which ranges across product operations and leadership.
08:31What is the most important lesson that has shaped your approach to building teams and products?
08:38I think it's transparency, you know, transparency and authenticity.
08:41I think, you know, at the end of the day, you're in a leadership role.
08:45You understand you have goals and objectives, but you're not doing them alone.
08:49And in fact, you're only going to be successful if the team comes along with you and they buy into
08:53the mission and they understand the rationale.
08:54And the only way to really do that well is to be as authentic and transparent as you can be
08:59that, you know, we're all in the same storm.
09:03Hopefully we're all in the same boat.
09:04And if I can get us all rowing in the right direction, we're going to get to where we need
09:08to go.
09:09If we are cagey with information or if we feel like we can't share with our teams, then, you know,
09:14they're going to make decisions based on the information they have.
09:16And you want the talent you have to make good decisions based on what they can do with all the
09:21good information that you can give them.
09:23Now, Jim, you've talked about how we've gone through different cycles.
09:27We've been through different transformation points.
09:30And we're, as an industry, at another one right now.
09:34What gives you the most confidence about the future of lending?
09:38And where do you see the biggest opportunity for the industry?
09:44Yeah, I think, one, the dream of homeownership is pervasive.
09:50You know, we've got some headwinds in the economy.
09:52If you look at the macro scale, whether it's supply or, you know, the ability of Gen Zers and some
09:58of the millennials to actually afford it, given some of the economic headwinds that they have.
10:02But nevertheless, acquiring property, building, you know, generational wealth is an objective, and it's a valid one.
10:08And I think our industry is there to serve that purpose, to make it accessible, to make it feasible.
10:15And so we're going to see a lot of ingenuity and dynamism when it comes to, you know, product offerings
10:19and the ability to finance and make that thing actually happen.
10:22So, you know, is it going to look like the vanilla loans of 20 years ago?
10:26No, maybe not.
10:27But we have and we will evolve the industry to meet the needs of the homebuyer as that evolves.
10:33Now, what I think is it gives me confidence is that we at Mortgage Cadence and I think a lot
10:39of other technology providers, we're very flexible.
10:42We're incredibly flexible and agile people when it comes to understanding the problem and bringing technology to bring relief and
10:49solutions to that problem.
10:51And then, you know, there's others that sit here and can understand the opportunity and help the industry realize the
10:57value in those opportunities by bringing valid technology solutions to them.
11:01Jim, it's always a pleasure getting to sit down with you.
11:05Thank you so much for taking the time today.
11:07I can't wait to see the next evolution of Mortgage Cadence.
11:10We're excited, too.
11:11You know, our essentials platform is really going to deliver, you know, real power to the market without lenders having
11:17to spend a ton of money on managing a tech stack for the sake of technology.
11:21And so we're excited.
11:22What more could you ask for?
11:23Lower rates, I guess.
11:26Not yet.
11:26Not an us thing.
11:27Right.
11:28Jim, thank you so much.
11:29Thanks for having me.
11:31Thanks for having me.
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