6 Takeaways from The Sip: The New TMC Mortgage AI Council

ActiveComply CEO Asif Alam joined The Mortgage Collaborative’s Jodi Hall and Click n’ Close CCO Amy Azorandia on The Sip to introduce TMC’s new Mortgage AI Council. Here is what stood out.

1. The AI gap compounds, it does not level out

Amy Azorandia framed the core problem simply: “AI is moving faster than any of our organizations can really absorb.” Every week, she noted, brings another tool, another regulatory expectation, and another vendor promising to revolutionize everything. Most lenders are not struggling because they do not want to innovate. As she put it, “we’re trying to separate the real opportunities from all the noise.” Asif Alam added the part that raises the stakes. “The gap does not wait for us to catch up,” he said, and left alone it compounds every quarter as larger institutions with dedicated AI teams pull further ahead.

2. Vet the vendor’s pedigree, not the demo

The sharpest question on any AI vendor scorecard is whether a company has actually operated inside mortgage long enough to understand the workflow, or whether it is simply wrapping a generic model around a lending use case. In Asif’s words, “a wrapper doesn’t know your business. A partner does.” Jodi Hall made the same point from the buyer’s seat. Her advice for anyone who feels behind: “if you don’t know the questions to ask, you don’t have to feel bad. Just join the AI Council.”

3. Lead with compliance, then chase the shiny object

Amy Azorandia mapped how a single tool looks different from every seat. “The compliance officer, they want to know it’s safe. The CIO wants to know that it works. The COO wants to know it saves time. And the CEO wants to know that it creates a competitive advantage. But at the end of the day, it’s all the same AI.” Good governance simply makes sure all of those questions get answered before anyone gets too far down a path. To do that, the council runs two groups in parallel, one focused on AI governance and risk, and another focused on surfacing practical applications.

4. The industry does not need another framework

The council is not trying to invent yet another standard. Asif was direct about it: “I don’t think it’s our job to create yet another framework.” MISMO FRAME, the Framework for Responsible AI in the Mortgage Ecosystem, already gives lenders a mortgage-specific approach, and the group wants to help advance it rather than compete with it. Jodi Hall pointed to TMC’s advocacy committee as the vehicle to push these standards forward with regulators, noting the network stays closely aligned with the MBA so the industry speaks with one voice to the agencies.

5. Mortgage AI needs its own version of SOC 2

Today a SOC 2 certification helps lenders trust that a tech tool does what it claims. There is no equivalent signal for AI. Asif floated a future where AI tools are vetted and certified the way income and asset verification tools already are, giving due diligence teams something they can actually rely on instead of taking a vendor’s word for it.

6. This is a council that ships, not a panel that talks

Asif summed up the mindset: “this is not a panel that talks. It’s a council that ships.” The measure of success is visible output members can hold in their hands, starting with an AI vendor evaluation scorecard they can bring into the very next vendor conversation. And when Jodi asked about the honest first step for lenders who feel hesitant about the regulatory uncertainty, Amy kept it simple: “just start joining us.” The council will be part of the ACT Summit in Dallas on August 12 and 13 with an open working group for the whole industry, and it continues at the TMC fall conference in Austin from September 20 to 22.

Watch the full episode of The Sip here: The Sip Featuring TMC’s AI Council