According to the latest Mortgage Solutions poll, around 20% of brokers are using AI tools occasionally, with 25% saying they use it rarely or not at all, respectively.
Stephanie Charman, chief executive of Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), said that the findings were “reflective of AI adoption across, not just the advice market, but across our personal lives – it’s a mixed bag and not surprising”.
She continued: “With any new technology, there’s always a range of adoption, and advisers are rightly cautious about making sure the tools they use genuinely add value to their business.
“The results show a sector still in the early stages of working out how AI fits into the day-to-day, the real opportunity lies in using these tools to complement, not substitute, the skills and knowledge that consumers value.”
Charman said that at AMI, it recognised that “choosing the right future technology can feel like a minefield for advisers, so we will be looking to provide guidance to support firms in making the right choices, whilst remaining neutral on the products advisers adopt”.
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“In time, confidence will grow and adoption will increase, but as a sector we need to ensure the right guardrails and safeguards are put in place to keep the adviser’s expertise at the heart,” she added.
AI should be seen as an ‘enhancer’, not a substitute
Ying Tan, Habito CEO, said it was “surprising” that so many brokers still were not leaning into AI, adding that for him it has “become an indispensable part of my working day”.
He continued: “I use it all the time, whether it’s to help me think faster, write sharper, or cut through repetitive tasks so I can focus on what really matters. In that sense, it’s like having another team member who never gets tired and doesn’t complain about making the coffee.
“The poll shows the classic adoption curve at play. In mortgages, as in life, some people are early adopters who embrace new tools right away, while others are more hesitant. That’s natural, but I do think the industry risks missing out if too many stay in the ‘rarely’ or ‘not at all’ camp for too long.”
Tan said that AI will not replace brokers anytime soon, as clients “still want and need trusted human advice, but it can help brokers do their jobs better”.
“Whether that’s speeding up research, generating marketing content, or even just tidying up a messy email draft, the efficiencies are real. The danger is in over-relying on it without applying professional judgement. AI is powerful, but it doesn’t have the lived experience, empathy, or regulatory knowledge that brokers bring to the table.
“The best approach is to treat it as an enhancer rather than a substitute. Used thoughtfully, AI can make us more productive and more present for our clients. Ignoring it altogether feels like leaving a calculator in the drawer and insisting on doing long division by hand,” he added.
Jake Atkinson, director of growth at MQube, said that there are several ways mortgage brokers are “either directly or indirectly using AI on a daily basis”.
“Whether brokers realise it or not, they are actually using AI daily, sometimes even without knowing, as AI continues to gain traction in the mortgage industry. This is because an increasing number of lenders are adopting AI-driven mortgage origination platforms to reduce application time, create efficiencies and make the whole mortgage process faster and more efficient.
“Such platforms use AI to extract data and verify documents such as bank statements or ID documents in an instant, leading to faster lending decisions. All of this eliminates the heavy lifting for brokers and reduces their time spent doing admin tasks, allowing them more time to advise and build a rapport with their clients, which is invaluable to the service brokers provide,” he said.
Atkinson continued that brokers could also use AI tools like chatbots and ChatGPT to help reduce the admin burden.
“MQube has developed a chatbot specifically designed to answer brokers’ criteria-related questions in an instant, and more and more lenders are adopting such tools to streamline the broker journey. MPowered is one of the lenders using this tool it calls ‘Ask Max’, which has been actively used by over 6,000 brokers with the ability to answer 60% of their criteria-related enquiries using AI,” he noted.
AI has ‘current limitations’ in offering advice
Gerard Boon, managing director of Boon Brokers, said the “mixed results” are an “accurate reflection of AI’s current role in the workplace”.
“While there’s no shortage of announcements about AI innovations and improvements, it’s still not entirely clear how it can be best utilised in a broker’s day-to-day working life, where personalised advice, client relationships, and nuanced financial decisions remain central to the role.
“Across many sectors, in many different teams, AI tools are increasingly being used to support workflows, and mortgage brokerage is no exception. However, it’s important to first understand its current limitations and draw a clear line between administrative or operational use and the core advice that we provide to clients – and by this I mean I wish to underline the fact of ‘what makes us the experts’,” he said.
AI, Boon said, can be a “tremendous asset” for tasks such as marketing, generating ideas, streamlining operational processes, or producing general content.
“These tools help the correlating teams save time, spot trends, and focus on the areas where human expertise really matters,” he noted.
However, when it comes to giving “personalised financial advice”, AI is “simply not a substitute”.
“In my view, mortgage advice is bespoke by nature and relies on understanding a client’s full financial picture, aspirations, and often unique circumstances. That human insight and expert experience simply cannot be replicated by AI today. As such, I believe that the future of AI in mortgage brokerage is one of augmentation, not replacement,” he said.
