Industry leaders encourage people to use new technology to open up more time for customer interaction
New technology is being introduced into the mortgage industry as artificial intelligence (AI) looks to automate parts of the lending process. While some brokers may be concerned that AI might be a future threat, others see it as improving work-life balance and building stronger client relationships.
While there are still legitimate concerns about what new technology will mean for the mortgage industry, industry veterans hope that AI will not only improve and expedite the process for the customer but also allow brokers to improve their work-life balance while being more attentive to clients’ needs.
Katie Sweeney (pictured top), EVP of broker strategy & advocacy with Rocket Pro, said that by automating mundane tasks, brokers can build relationships with their clients.
“I think AI is a buzzword that everyone's talking about right now,” Sweeney told Mortgage Professional America. “I think really where the focus should be is on how to use technology to replace monotonous tasks and leaning into the human connection.”
Sweeney said she remembers when new technology started to appear in the industry. Many brokers at the time were afraid that younger customers would have no need for human interaction during the mortgage process.
“I think there were a lot of thoughts 10 or 15 years ago that millennials were never going to want to talk to a loan officer ever, and they're going to want to do everything online,” Sweeney said. “So, everything has to be digital. They never want to talk to a person. And I can tell you, I'm 35, I'm smack dab in the middle of millennials, and I don't know a single friend who feels that way.
“Everyone craves a person who's knowledgeable, who can help guide them through the process of owning a home.”
Improving life for brokers
The broker lifestyle has often been about the grind. If you wanted to grow your business, you had to spend endless hours working to close loans. Sweeney believes new technology will still allow people to scale their business, but with much less manual labor.
“I think when you look at using AI or look at using automated tools to streamline processes, create automation,” Sweeney said. “It not only allows you to scale your business, if that's what you want, it also allows you to live your life the way you want. And the ability to be mobile, do business from anywhere in the world, and have processes that run while you sleep.”
While technology may help expand your business, like automatically calling customers when rates drop, Sweeney believes it will never replace the human interaction clients desire.
“There's some really cool stuff that I think people are starting to play with,” she said. “But I don't know that there's enough people talking about the balance between the human connection and the power of utilizing technology to replace tasks that you just don't need to take care of anymore. It'll be really interesting to see how it evolves.”
She mentioned that Rocket Pro is looking at that balance to ensure that brokers will always be essential to the mortgage transaction.
Katie Sweeney of Rocket Pro highlights that VA loans, unlike other primary Veteran benefits, lack federally chartered sources for accurate information, leading to widespread misinformation. https://t.co/UA8YRRmyv5
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) June 13, 2025
“I think you see that all across Rocket,” she said. “We're very focused on the balance between the two, the power of the emotional connection with a person and the power of technology and what it can do on behalf of you and your business. I'd love to see other lenders start to play in the same space.
“There are some folks out there who think that we can just write people out of the process altogether, and I feel very strongly that that's never going to happen.”
You’ve got to ride the horse
Several industry leaders spoke on the issue of AI as a disruptor at the recent Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) event, The American Gift (TAG). Edwin Acevedo, president-elect of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), encouraged brokers to embrace the new technology.
“As far as disruption, the only disruption I see happening, if there is one, it would be AI,” Acevedo said. “If AI was the horse, and we're talking about horse replacing the human, I’d rather see that we get on the horse and ride the horse. And that means ride the AI and use it to your own advantage.
He encouraged brokers not to fear new technology, as brokers have overcome many other challenges. He believes the industry will adapt and thrive with AI technology.
“You’ve got to see the opportunity, not as a fear, not as a threat,” Acevedo said. “Seeing and understanding how we can utilize and leverage AI to give us that competitive advantage. Because it's all about that. Any change in markets or industry, there is always an opportunity. And we're able to have that lens to seek out the opportunity, everything else is blurry, then we're going to continue to go ahead.
“And honestly, that's the biggest disruption I see. But again, we've overcome many of them in the past as brokers.”
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