Main Street AI

Multimodal
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Main Street AI is an immersive content series probing the intricate intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence in the world of business and high-stakes industries. Journey with us into stories of challenge and triumph of innovators navigating their unique industry mazes, and of the transformative power of AI seamlessly merging into these narratives. Think of it as "Masters of Scale" but customized for visionaries, pioneers, and enthusiasts in the ever-evolving AI-for-business space.

  1. 6d ago

    CUES COO Expects 60% of Credit Unions to Stand Alone in 10 Years

    Ankur Patel interviews Jerry Saalsaa, SVP and Chief Operating Officer at CUES. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast CUES is the association that develops credit union executives and boards. Jerry argues the best AI ideas come from emerging leaders rather than the C suite, warns that shiny new objects and thin board governance are the real danger, and expects only 60% of credit unions to still stand alone in ten years. Guest: Jerry Saalsaa, SVP and Chief Operating Officer, CUES Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Jerry 0:30 Where the best AI thinking comes from 2:20 Problem first or AI first 4:05 Budgeting AI for 2027 6:07 Getting the data house in order 8:01 When AI pays back 9:10 Urgency and momentum 11:42 Efficiency versus revenue 13:29 The role of partners 14:58 Choosing an AI partner 16:08 Shiny new objects 17:59 How CUES uses AI 20:26 Consolidation and leadership turnover 22:23 Who is taking the top jobs 25:12 Rapid fire 25:31 How many credit unions stand alone in 10 years 27:30 Closing

  2. Oct 20

    Small Credit Unions Understand AI. The Math Just Isn't Mathing.

    Ankur Patel interviews Torrance Harris, Senior Director of Innovations at Luminate. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Luminate is the league for Louisiana's credit unions, most of them $100 million or smaller. Torrance argues those small credit unions already understand AI and know what th ey need; the math just isn't mathing, so the league screens vendors for after-sale support and bundles small institutions into one price so they don't have to merge. Guest: Torrance Harris, Senior Director of Innovations, Luminate Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Torrance 0:33 Torrance's path into credit unions 1:45 Nobody calls asking for AI 3:47 Membership growth 5:46 Growing the loan portfolio 8:07 Fintech speed vs. bank budgets 10:02 How Luminate vets vendors 14:24 The math isn't mathing 16:12 Louisiana by the numbers 19:40 Merger pressure 21:09 What small credit unions need to thrive 22:48 Rapid fire 25:02 Closing

  3. Oct 13

    How Orion Brought Fraud and Mortgage Servicing In-House With AI

    Ankur Patel interviews Ben Mrva, EVP and Chief Operating Officer at Orion Federal Credit Union. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Orion Federal Credit Union is a $1.3B credit union in Memphis, Tennessee. Ben, a twenty-year consultant turned COO, explains how Orion found its AI savings by bringing fraud and mortgage servicing in-house and leaning less on consultants, not by cutting staff, and why a data lake has to come before anything bigger. Guest: Ben Mrva, EVP and Chief Operating Officer, Orion Federal Credit Union Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Ben 0:34 How AI changed work at Orion 1:52 Data readiness and the branch transaction count 3:40 Why credit union data was never ready 6:28 Incumbents, fintechs and the Filene pitch room 8:59 From demo to production 11:03 Who owns the integration 12:58 Corelation KeyStone as a partner 14:22 Bringing people along 16:46 Hospitality first, AI second 18:57 Competing with the big banks 21:45 The fintech pressure 24:43 Budgeting AI for 2027 25:51 Bringing fraud and mortgage servicing in-house 28:59 Closing

  4. Oct 8

    Under 1% of Credit Unions Could Run an Agent on Their Data

    Ankur Patel interviews Garrett Jorewicz, who leads the Innovation and Enterprise Solutions team at Credit Union 1 (CU1). 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Credit Union 1 grew from $1.3 billion to $2.6 billion in assets through eight to ten mergers a year and doubled its members without adding a single person to its contact center. Garrett's argument is that this was the easy part: he puts the share of credit unions that could run an AI agent against all their data at under 1%, CU1 included, and says getting there means freezing projects to fix the data layer first. Guest: Garrett Jorewicz, Innovation and Enterprise Solutions, Credit Union 1 (CU1) Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Garrett 0:21 Under 1% of credit unions 0:48 Why the data still isn't in order 3:37 Voluntary open heart surgery 5:41 Contact center as the entry point 6:59 Eight to ten mergers a year 13:08 Four AI vendors, four knowledge bases 15:31 The contact center RFP 17:04 The data cockpit 19:04 Sorting through vendor noise 23:22 Who pays for AI 27:44 Do I need to replace that person 29:11 Same vendors, same tools 34:05 Friction drives behavior 37:03 Twelve seconds or eleven minutes on hold 38:55 Credit unions in ten years 41:06 What credit unions should stop doing 43:42 Closing

  5. Sep 23

    What a $4.6B Credit Union's Growth Officer Actually Worries About

    Ankur Patel interviews Whitney Anderson, Leadership Strategist and founder of Anderson Growth Advisors. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Whitney advised credit unions before taking the chief growth officer role at Sunward Credit Union, which runs $4.6 billion in assets and more than 170,000 members out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. After seats as an operator, a sitting CEO, and an outside consultant, Whitney's read is that what blocks AI in credit unions isn't the technology but fear, and that the goal was never to be first to market, just a very close second. Guest: Whitney Anderson, Leadership Strategist and founder of Anderson Growth Advisors Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal Whitney's memoir, She Walked Anyway: The Story of a Woman Who Refused to Stay Down: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1636988776 Her consulting practice, Anderson Growth Advisors: https://andersongrowthadvisors.com 0:00 Introduction: Meet Whitney 0:41 The career arc 4:13 Walking again, the book, and Anderson Growth Advisors 5:01 What adversity changed 6:26 What a consultant sees from the outside 8:06 The challenges facing credit unions 9:26 Is AI just more technology 12:02 Drawing the line on member-facing AI 15:13 Moving the AI skeptics 16:50 Fear, not technology 18:32 Can small credit unions keep up 20:07 The leader credit unions aren't hiring yet 22:16 What the leading credit unions do differently 24:21 Where to find She Walked Anyway 25:24 Closing

  6. Sep 17

    If You Offload Expertise to AI, You Offload Control

    Ankur Patel interviews Erik Librader, Client Partner, and Ian Butler, Chief Technology Officer, at Vistrada. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Vistrada is a business risk and technology consultancy that sits inside dozens of institutions after the AI contract is signed, which makes this an outside-in view of what actually works and what quietly fails. Erik and Ian break down the 95% of AI spend that never produces measurable return, why the right architecture is usually a chain of small models rather than a chatbot, and why handing expertise to AI means handing over decision making and control with it. Guest: Erik Librader, Client Partner, Vistrada Guest: Ian Butler, Chief Technology Officer, Vistrada Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Erik and Ian 0:39 What the first AI call sounds like 2:11 Clients who don't know where to begin 3:10 AI is the tool, not the chair 5:14 Speed is what's different 7:38 Why AI projects fail 10:59 Business process optimization in an AI coat 13:59 Not an AI consultancy 15:45 Repurpose the headcount 18:24 Offload expertise, offload control 21:23 Snake oil in the vendor market 23:24 Loan origination and traceability 26:59 Where the real AI risk lives 31:25 Budget, sponsorship, ownership 32:55 Is the organization ready 34:30 Closing

  7. Sep 10

    Why the NCUA should give credit unions a sandbox

    Ankur Patel interviews Jason Stverak, Chief Advocacy Officer at the Defense Credit Union Council. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast DCUC is the 63-year-old trade association for the 200-plus credit unions serving the U.S. military, holding $525 billion in assets for more than 40 million members. Jason argues that with 4,200 credit unions left from north of 10,000 fifteen years ago, the small ones survive AI by pooling through CUSOs, deliberately targeting a B instead of an A-plus, and getting the NCUA to hand them a sandbox rather than a rulebook. Guest: Jason Stverak, Chief Advocacy Officer, Defense Credit Union Council Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Jason 0:55 What DCUC is 2:38 CU Unplugged 4:44 Consolidate or die 8:40 Credit unions as the AI proving ground 11:31 The volunteer board pushes the agenda 13:22 Automation and the member relationship 15:02 Finding the dollars for software 18:35 AI was supposed to democratize 20:20 We need a B, not an A plus 23:28 The case for an NCUA sandbox 25:56 The regulator as matchmaker 27:30 What Jason is protecting 29:02 Closing

  8. Sep 3

    Why the Smallest Credit Unions Are the Best at AI

    Ankur Patel interviews Mike Lawson, Founder and Host of CUbroadcast. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Mike has interviewed more than 8,000 credit union leaders as host of CUbroadcast, giving him a view across the entire industry rather than one seat inside one institution. His sharpest take: the smallest credit unions are often the best AI adopters because their teams wear so many hats they have to automate, while SoFi onboards more new customers in a year than the whole industry combined. Guest: Mike Lawson, Founder and Host, CUbroadcast Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Mike 0:39 What's changed, what's stayed the same 2:26 Fintech and big bank pressure 4:35 The collaborative advantage 8:39 Where credit unions are in the AI journey 10:17 Budgeting for AI 11:55 Use cases bubbling up 14:02 Why small credit unions excel at AI 16:55 AI in the call center 19:20 Fighting AI-powered fraud 23:10 Lessons from the global movement 24:07 The membership age problem 28:09 Consolidation and mergers 30:50 Fintech partnerships and vendor risk 33:06 Two imperatives for the next five years 34:40 Closing

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About

Main Street AI is an immersive content series probing the intricate intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence in the world of business and high-stakes industries. Journey with us into stories of challenge and triumph of innovators navigating their unique industry mazes, and of the transformative power of AI seamlessly merging into these narratives. Think of it as "Masters of Scale" but customized for visionaries, pioneers, and enthusiasts in the ever-evolving AI-for-business space.

Information

  • Creator
    Multimodal
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    107
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Multimodal
  • Show Website
    Main Street AI