AI is still in the conceptual phase and requires some blind belief – Atkinson

Because emerging technologies evolve quickly, exploratory resources such as papers, books and documents may not be available or simply outdated. Instead, inspiration can be found in community forums and experimental projects, where insight can be found from the learnings of others.

There is a wealth of models and theories available, but within our sector, specific answers are not necessarily there. Many newer technologies are in their infancy or do not exist at all, such as some capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI), which is still very conceptual.

Working through this requires an open mind, as well as allocating time to research and test ideas.

Other industries can be valuable sources of inspiration for our sector, and although some ideas will be mortgage-specific, many can be transferred across.

Much of this work is trial and error; developing proofs of concepts, validating ideas, their real-world impact and how well the coding performs.

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Taking charge

Bold thinking and pursuing a novel idea is rewarded when that innovation is replicated across the market and becomes standard. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, after all.

We operate in such a tight space in the mortgage sector, and work so closely together, that it is bound to happen.

There will also be technologies that others bring to market first or launch after we have explored and set it aside.

The opportunity cost of ditching a certain idea means another, more valuable concept was prioritised. When making educated decisions, these are the consequences that cannot be avoided.

As long as this elevates the mortgage space as a whole, it can only be a win for the sector.

Committing to new ideas

What can be challenging is when an idea seems almost achievable but turns out to be impractical.

This is not a wasted effort, however, as the learnings from that experimental phase add value and form a basis for the next programme.

At Mortgage Brain, we like to leave things open to interpretation, relying on testing and learning to form our decisions. Even when something does not work, this insight can be used to determine what is focused on next.

Having a smaller, tight-knit team, such as ours at Mortgage Brain, can be beneficial here. In a larger team, this can be challenging because everyone has such different learning styles. Some people will take to concepts like a fish to water, and use their curiosity to build on an idea, but others find that intimidating and prefer having a structure where the outcomes are known.

What is clear is that sometimes, it is preferable to attempt something and learn from it, rather than waiting for perfection.

Having the right structure and safeguards

I see Mortgage Brain as a 40-year-old start-up; we operate with a start-up mentality and are not afraid to test different things.

Within a start-up, you have to be prepared to pivot regularly. If you have an idea, you test and learn – some of it will work, some of it will not, but then you pivot and tweak the idea, lean into what has worked, refine and develop.

Our teams have the freedom to test and learn processes.

We still have controls in place to maintain quality, but on the bleeding edge, experimentation is encouraged.

This balance allows us to explore pioneering concepts while still protecting the integrity of our products.