Throughout September, nominations are open for the 2025 Tech Trendsetters award, celebrating the visionaries who spearhead innovation in housing technology.
As HousingWire opens the floor for the 2025 nominations, one clear theme from past winners emerges: the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) . From underwriting to compliance and customer experience, AI is reshaping the operations of the mortgage and real estate sectors.
To spotlight this evolution, we reached out to previous Tech Trendsetters for their insights on the technologies set to define the next five years. Here’s what they shared:
“AI-powered automation will fundamentally reshape the mortgage and real estate ecosystem by streamlining underwriting, risk assessment and customer engagement. The goal is to reduce friction and improve accuracy, creating more personalized experiences for everyone involved. The companies that effectively leverage AI to drive these improvements will be the winners in the coming years.” — Lee Maliniak — chief product officer at Matic
“Agentic AI will fundamentally reshape our industry in the next five years. It offers the promise of freeing us up to spend more time and resources delivering custom homebuying journeys powered by autonomous AI agents, designed to address each borrower’s unique situation and needs — and drive greater brand loyalty down the road.” — Praveen Chandramohan — senior vice president of origination growth solutions at Cotality
“Agentic AI. Not another chatbot. A system that takes a goal and executes across tools without handholding. In real estate, that means a listing launch that drafts the brief, builds compliant creative, books the ads, updates the website and schedules follow-ups. In mortgage, it assembles docs, verifies data, prices scenarios and moves the file through conditions. Forget five years — I think we are close to this.” — Lindsay Listanski, national vice president of marketing at Coldwell Banker
“I project that AI will permeate the mortgage space and be leveraged heavily starting with operational efficiency for repetitive tasks and then encompassing lead generation, QC processing, help desk support and compliance. Expect it to heavily shape our industry in transformational ways in the next several years.” — Eric Lyon, SVP and single-family business technology officer at Freddie Mac
“AI-powered underwriting and property valuation will not only accelerate approvals but also improve risk assessment, opening the door for more equitable access to financing. Combined with blockchain-based title and transaction records, the result could be a faster, more transparent and more trustworthy closing process, measured in days instead of weeks.” — Chris Hilliard, CEO at Winnow Solutions LLC
Do you know someone who’s pushing the boundaries of housing technology? Nominations for the 2025 HousingWire Tech Trendsetters are open now through Sept. 30, 2025. Click here to submit.
