Technology teams at top reverse mortgage lenders are expanding as companies develop new tools to bring artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to seniors.
Finance of America (FOA) employs about 170 people across technology, data, engineering, product and project management. Of this group, 20 to 30 are dedicated to AI and data — and it’s the fastest-growing segment of the team. FOA is hiring data scientists, data engineers and others.
“That’s one of the areas we’re growing the fastest — the most open heads I have is in that area, because that’s the area that is the most dynamic and changing right now,” said Brian Conneen, chief information officer at FOA.
Conneen, a seasoned fintech leader who helped scale personal loan provider Best Egg and spent 11 years at Oracle as an engineering architect, said the AI cycle is “one of the most pronounced” waves he has seen in his career.
“It’s hard to find talent,” he added. “There are definitely people who will be very compensation-focused, and I don’t begrudge them that.”
Conneen, however, said that in the reverse industry, what attracts people is the mission behind the business. “Our story resonates,” he said. “We can serve a real need.”
Bill Packer, chief operating officer at Longbridge Financial, agrees that competition for AI talent is fierce across industries.
Still, he believes Longbridge has an edge: The company is mission-driven, has a tangible impact on people’s lives, and it’s working on exciting projects with computer vision, automated underwriting and voice agents — plus the opportunity to engage with leadership.
Longbridge has grown its tech team by 25% in the past six months, bringing it to 40 employees out of a total staff of 488. “We’ll continue adding to that team strategically over time,” Packer said.
Build vs. buy
On the classic dilemma of whether to build or buy a technology stack, FOA leans toward building tech in-house when it’s a differentiator, while partnering with vendors for commoditized solutions.
“Things like our digital acquisition, we are building that ourselves in-house, using our talented team,” Conneen said. “But things like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, we partner with vendors and customize to our needs.”
FOA has also built an image data extraction program to read documents — but Conneen said the company won’t insist on internal builds if a vendor solution proves more efficient.
Longbridge has taken a different tack, leaning heavily on partnerships with outside firms for most of its AI development so far. But that’s beginning to shift.
In July, the company hired Azita Guzzo as its first head of technology innovation. Guzzo, with more than 20 years of experience in mortgage lending, auto finance, health care and software, is recognized for her work in AI, robotic process automation and advanced analytics.
“We are beginning to hire more talent internally, and over time, you’re going to see us shift to being more self-service than having to partner,” Packer said. “But there will always be a space for partners in our ecosystem.”
