Main Street AI

Multimodal

"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. 2D AGO

    How Wescom Lifted First Contact Resolution by 34% with Copilot

    Ankur Patel interviews Hashim Forrester, SVP of Remote Service Delivery at Wescom Financial — one of the largest credit unions in Southern California.Hashim brings three decades of operations and service delivery experience, and his team has become the trailblazers for AI adoption at Wescom — running Copilot in production, deploying intelligent virtual assistants on the phone system, and building out AI-driven quality assurance.Guest: Hashim Forrester, SVP of Remote Service Delivery, Wescom FinancialHost: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal0:00 Introduction: Meet Hashim Forrester1:02 Inside Wescom's remote service delivery1:54 From single-channel to omnichannel banking3:52 Volume across channels: 1M+ inbound calls5:01 The Anywhere Branch7:46 Omnichannel's knowledge problem10:56 Rolling out Copilot14:54 Why the first Copilot launch failed17:25 Where Copilot ends and member data begins20:46 Three years of intelligent virtual assistants24:46 Moving QA from random sampling to 100% coverage27:48 Prioritizing AI use cases: member-first, not tech-first30:06 Build vs. buy35:27 Driving real ROI39:04 Closing the AI adoption gap44:06 The future: agentic AI, but with humans in the driver's seat

    28 min

  2. MAY 15

    How a Credit Union CIO Picks Vendors in the AI Era

    Ankur Patel interviews Jeffrey Staw, Chief Information and Innovation Officer at Firefighters First Credit Union. Firefighters First has one of the most unique membership models in the industry, serving career firefighters and their families exclusively. Jeffrey brings a rare dual perspective, having previously led one of the most influential CUSOs in the country doing large-scale technology work for some of the biggest credit unions in the US.Guest: Jeffrey Staw, Chief Information and Innovation Officer, Firefighters First Credit UnionHost: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal0:00 Introduction: Meet Jeffrey Staw1:01 Inside the firefighters-only membership model3:27 Specialty products for a specialty membership10:23 High tech + high touch at national scale14:25 Best-of-breed vs. single-vendor20:07 Why he says no to AI-first vendor pitches24:27 Deploying Copilot across the org28:02 Closing the AI adoption gap with frontline employees33:37 What RPA can teach us about the agentic wave39:29 The data exfiltration risk everyone's forgetting42:03 Adapting AI to non-technical executives44:40 Lessons from the CUSO world46:54 The 5-year vision

    49 min

  3. MAY 4

    Building an AI Startup in 2026 (the last 3 months changed everything)

    At Multimodal, agentic AI is reshaping how the team ships product, hires, and thinks about work itself. In this episode of Main Street AI, Ankur Patel sits down with Ishita Jaiswal, Head of Growth at Multimodal, for an internal look at how a 3-year-old agentic AI startup is operating in a market where the last three months brought more change than all of 2025.What makes this conversation different: just a candid conversation between two operators about what's actually changed. Why prompt engineering is dead. Why planning now takes 25 minutes and execution takes 5. Why Multimodal scrapped entire product lines when Claude and ChatGPT caught up. Why the team is doubling down on agentic coding before hiring more engineers. And why "10x workers" are about to become the norm across every function — not just engineering.Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, MultimodalGuest: Ishita Jaiswal, Head of Growth, Multimodal0:00 Introduction: The last 3 months changed everything1:08 How agentic AI reshaped product development at Multimodal3:18 What taste and judgment look like when execution is free5:21 The product lines we scrapped in 2026 (and why)7:30 Why prompt engineering is dead9:50 Planning 25 minutes, executing 5: the new workflow12:48 Working more, not less — the magical powers problem13:57 Inside Multimodal's lean engineering team16:29 How GTM is changing alongside engineering17:51 What we hire for now vs. a year ago20:54 Specialists vs. generalists in an agentic world22:30 What this means for banks, credit unions, and legacy institutions23:57 Closing Thoughts#MainStreetAI #AI #AgenticAI #Startups #ProductDevelopment #ClaudeCode #VibeCoding #FutureOfWork #AIinBanking #Multimodal #StartupLife #EngineeringLeadership

    25 min

  4. APR 29

    430% Growth and Why Human Connection Wins

    Ankur Patel interviews Jed Meyer, CEO of St. Cloud Financial Credit Union — a 5-branch, $425M institution serving 28,000 members in central Minnesota. Jed has driven 400% organic growth in nearly 12 years at the helm, with 2025 marking the best year in the credit union's 96-year history.Jed is focused on using technology to create more human connection, not less. From launching the first-ever CU Digital Asset Vault, to deploying ITMs without removing the human behind the window, to a meaningful difference program that empowers every teller to impact a member's life. Guest: Jed Meyer, CEO, St. Cloud Financial Credit UnionHost: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal0:00 Introduction: Meet Jed Meyer0:52 What drove 400% growth and a record-breaking 20253:08 Competing as the 3rd smallest in a market of 41 institutions5:49 Price, convenience, service11:34 Operationalizing human connection at scale17:58 Where AI fits (and where it doesn't)26:03 ITMs, drive-throughs, and why the human still sits behind the window30:25 How a $400M credit union invests in tech vs. the $5B competitors36:08 The 2026 roadmap: doubling to $1B and 50,000 members41:00 Tech for survivors of domestic abuse42:37 Closing thoughts#MainStreetAI #AI #CreditUnions #CommunityBanking #MemberExperience #DigitalAssets #Blockchain #ITMs #HumanConnection #AIinBanking

    34 min

  5. APR 24

    How the World's Largest Credit Union is Scaling Digital

    While many financial institutions are still figuring out their digital strategy, Meghan Gound is running digital at a scale most will never see. In this episode of Main Street AI, Ankur Patel chats with Meghan Gound, SVP of Digital at Navy Federal — the world's largest credit union with over 15 million members across the military community, veterans, and families. Meghan owns digital strategy across online banking, mobile, chat, and the omni-channel experience that ties it all together.Navy Federal has 10M+ members logging into digital every month — 27 times a month on average — from every corner of the globe. Meghan's team is blurring the lines between self-service and human-assisted channels, extending the same digital interface to team members in a 24/7 contact center, rolling out features like Trusted User for deployed military, and thinking hard about what conversational AI looks like when "human in the loop" isn't a buzzword but a design principle.Guest: Meghan Gound, SVP of Digital, Navy Federal Credit UnionHost: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal0:00 Introduction: Meet Meghan Gound0:40 Leading digital at the world's largest credit union1:20 What "digital" actually means at Navy Federal2:18 Why 380+ branches still matter3:30 The scale challenge: 10M members, 27 logins a month5:20 How AI is reshaping the digital roadmap7:50 The context problem across channels10:00 Keeping AI authentic: human in the loop12:30 How the roadmap actually gets built14:30 The Trusted User story16:13 Balancing digital with human connection20:45 Where new ideas come from22:00 How Navy Federal tests and pilots25:00 How being member-owned shapes decisions28:30 What the rest of the industry can learn30:40 What keeps Meghan up at night31:50 The 5-year vision: transactional to conversational32:17 Closing thoughts#MainStreetAI #AI #CreditUnions #NavyFederal #DigitalBanking #MemberExperience #OmniChannel #ConversationalAI #AIinBanking #DigitalTransformation

    33 min

  6. APR 22

    AI and Member Experience at an $11B Credit Union

    While many are still theorizing about AI in financial services, Amy Stevens is running it in production. In this episode of Main Street AI, Ankur Patel sits down with Amy Stevens, SVP of Member Experience at GreenState Credit Union — Iowa's largest credit union with $11B in assets, 450,000 members, and a fast-growing footprint across Illinois and Nebraska. Amy owns the contact center, the NPS program, and the hard work of figuring out what members actually need.What makes this conversation different: Amy's team has real AI in the wild. Co-pilot mining, NPS feedback analysis, real-time sentiment scoring that guides agents mid-call, voice biometrics that just went live last week, and a roadmap toward full agentic AI that becomes part of the team.Guest: Amy Stevens, SVP of Member Experience, GreenState Credit UnionHost: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal0:00 Introduction: Meet Amy Stevens0:48 A day in the life of an SVP of Member Experience2:29 Why GreenState is still opening branches4:21 Expanding into Illinois & Nebraska6:00 Why digital members are the most profitable7:55 Scaling without losing the personal touch9:51 Bringing AI into member experience (without the slop)14:13 The multi-channel member experience, then and now15:15 The COVID pivot that members loved17:50 AI's first quick win: quality management19:21 Real-time sentiment and "happy endings"20:59 Voice biometrics goes live21:35 The agentic AI roadmap22:52 Why AI makes agents *more* human27:27 Chatbots, ITMs, and AI in branches28:00 Replacing jobs or augmenting them?29:37 Closing the gap with consumer apps30:33 The 5-year vision: frictionless and ethical32:22 What keeps Amy up at night34:05 Closing thoughts

    34 min

  7. JAN 21

    How Mid-Market Banks Can Leverage AI for Growth ft. Aman Mahapatra

    Read the blog post: http://www.multimodal.dev/pioneers-content/how-mid-market-banks-can-leverage-ai-for-growth Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://www.multimodal.dev/pioneers Why do so many financial institutions struggle to scale AI beyond pilots? Amman, Chief Strategy Officer at Tribeca Softech, joins Ankur on Pioneers to unpack the realities of AI adoption in financial services. Despite widespread experimentation with AI, Amman explains why only a small fraction of organizations achieve enterprise-wide impact—pointing to misalignment, legacy system constraints, and cultural resistance as key blockers. The conversation explores how governance, compliance, and risk management can become competitive advantages, the differences in AI maturity between mid-market firms and large enterprises, and what lagging organizations can learn from early adopters. They also discuss generative AI’s growing influence and the strategic role AI plays in private equity decision-making. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: AI Adoption and Scaling Challenges 02:33 Guest Introduction: Amman from Tribeca Soft Tech 03:44 AI as a Business Transformation Tool 04:35 Challenges in AI Implementation 05:50 Strategies for Financial Institutions 10:01 Mid-Market vs. Enterprise AI Adoption 23:18 Private Equity and AI Adoption 27:00 2026 AI Adoption Insights 35:09 Conclusion and Future Outlook Follow Ankur Patel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankurpatel9/ Follow Ankur Patel on X: https://x.com/aapatel09 Follow Multimodal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/multimodalai/ Follow Multimodal on Twitter: https://x.com/MultimodalAI

    37 min

  8. JAN 14

    Igniting Change in Credit Unions ft. Julie Esser

    Read the blog post: www.multimodal.dev/pioneers-content/igniting-change-in-credit-unions Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://www.multimodal.dev/pioneers How is AI bridging the gap between credit unions and FinTechs? Julie Esser, founder of IgniteFI, joins Pioneers to discuss the rapid advancements in AI and its critical role in transforming credit unions. Julie explains how aligning values, scalability, and compliance can drive successful partnerships between credit unions and FinTechs. She also highlights the role of Credit Union Service Organizations (CUSOs) in providing smaller credit unions with access to modern digital solutions. The conversation delves into common obstacles in FinTech adoption, the importance of data readiness, and actionable advice for credit unions to stay relevant through innovative collaborations without losing sight of their member-first mission. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to AI in Credit Unions 02:20 Meet Julie Esser: A FinTech Matchmaker 03:00 The Role of FinTech in Credit Unions 04:08 Challenges and Benefits of FinTech Partnerships 05:22 The Importance of CUSOs 07:51 Evaluating FinTech Partnerships 08:51 Future of Credit Unions with Emerging Technologies 12:43 Ignite FI: Bridging the Gap 18:33 AI Adoption in Credit Unions 34:39 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Follow Ankur Patel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankurpatel9/ Follow Ankur Patel on X: https://x.com/aapatel09 Follow Multimodal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/multimodalai/ Follow Multimodal on Twitter: https://x.com/MultimodalAI

    37 min
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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
    84
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Multimodal
  • Show Website
    Main Street AI