Main Street AI

Why the 2nd Biggest Credit Union Is Conservative on AI

Ankur Patel interviews Phil Caputo, Executive Vice President & Director of the Enterprise Project Management Office at State Employees' Credit Union. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Phil runs the EPMO at SECU — the second-largest credit union in the US, nearly 3 million members, $60 billion in assets, on a core system older than many of its members. He makes the operator's case for being deliberately conservative on AI: why a late mover with a loyal, member-service-first base can afford to learn from others' pitfalls, how he separates real strategy from a wall of projects, and where AI does and doesn't earn a seat — governance and member service in, autonomous decisions out. Guest: Phil Caputo, Director of the Enterprise Project Management Office, State Employees' Credit Union Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Phil 0:43 What Phil walked into: a $60B credit union with no project governance 2:12 Building structure and who pushes back hardest 3:28 The missing middle: strategy between goals and projects 5:31 Going from big idea to real outcome: the digital overhaul 8:00 How governance and execution actually work at SECU 9:00 Post-implementation reviews and the rewards-card example 10:03 KPIs that measure outcomes, not activity 11:51 Buy versus build 15:02 AI as the next level of integration 15:59 When is a conservative AI policy grounded versus behind 18:34 Lessons from being conservative on prior technologies 23:58 What actually motivates SECU to move 25:13 Discovery: member requests, advisory boards, and tech debt 27:00 Recurring themes for improving member satisfaction 28:47 Which parts of the digital experience needed the most work 31:06 Unifying channels into one member experience 32:35 The members SECU has been missing 33:19 Where AI could materially improve member experience in three years 35:09 Closing

How CUSOs Let Credit Unions Compete on AI

Ankur Patel interviews Randy Salser, President & CEO of NACUSO. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Randy explains how the CUSO model empowers credit unions to compete on AI and stablecoin — how shared service organizations give a $500M institution a seat at the table next to JPMorgan, why the arbitrary 1% investment capital cap is the fight on Capitol Hill, and why AI adoption is a culture project led from the executive suite, not an IT project. Guest: Randy Salser, President & CEO, NACUSO Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Randy 0:44 How Randy ended up running NACUSO 2:10 Mapping the credit union, CUSO, and NACUSO model 5:09 How CUSOs work and the seat at the table they buy 10:34 Legacy tech stacks and the integration problem 12:51 The friction NACUSO is trying to solve: the 1% cap 13:51 Stablecoin, the Genius Act, and the capital cap fight 16:35 Why advocacy matters for small credit unions 18:38 What's actually blocking credit unions on AI 26:24 Why stablecoin has to flow through CUSOs 29:22 The cultural move before AI works technically 33:17 The fintech threat: credit unions reduced to back-end 37:46 What success looks like for NACUSO in 5-10 years 38:51 Closing

What Lawyers See Before Credit Union AI Deals Go Wrong

Ankur Patel interviews Michael Heller, Associate Attorney at Messick Lauer & Smith. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Michael Heller is an Associate Attorney at Messick Lauer & Smith, where he focuses on vendor management, technology contracts, due diligence, and fintech partnerships for credit unions and CUSOs. Guest: Michael Heller, Associate Attorney, Messick Lauer & Smith Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction 0:42 How Michael started in vendor management for CUs 2:56 Credit unions, CUSOs, and where fintechs fit in 4:14 The nature of the deals: vendor, M&A, and CUSO formation 5:32 Where credit union and tech vendor deals actually go wrong 7:39 Regulated stability vs. move-fast disruption 9:26 Honeymooning and the seeds of discontent 12:16 Why agentic AI deals are harder than traditional software 14:53 Clear exit pathways and a robust change management process 16:32 Indemnification, liability caps, audit rights 17:58 Building a risk framework 20:00 Tricks of the trade 24:13 Setting up a long-term partnership and allocating risk 25:00 AI in credit decisioning: who holds the liability? 26:13 You can't outsource risk 27:44 AI as a tool: the human in the loop stays on the hook 29:44 State vs. federal AI regulation 31:16 Right-sizing AI adoption for smaller credit unions 34:17 How AI is reshaping the legal profession 37:08 Why lawyers are a shield and the cost of getting it wrong 38:14 What a credit union that gets this right looks like in 2-3 years 40:08 Closing

Why This CU Rebuilt Its Entire Digital Front Door

Ankur Patel interviews Courtney Rowan, SVP and Chief Digital and Transformation Officer at Citadel Credit Union. Courtney has spent 27 years watching digital go from a side project to the only front door, and she brings the rare full-arc operator perspective on what it takes to make that shift work. She breaks down the non-documentary onboarding rebuild that lifted funnel conversion 212%, the CDP/CXP stack overhaul behind true member individualization, and the three-pillar AI steering committee setting Citadel's strategy. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Guest: Courtney Rowan, SVP and Chief Digital and Transformation Officer, Citadel Credit Union Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Courtney 0:55 What Courtney owns at Citadel 1:54 Digital evolution: from side project to the front door 5:00 Rewiring piecemeal digital channels so AI can be excellent 7:51 One continuous experience across every channel 10:04 What a charter expansion actually involves 13:07 Onboarding with no branch: human-led, digitally enabled 18:07 The fintech onboarding playbook 19:46 The results: 212% funnel conversion and more 21:35 Gen Z, values, and why credit unions get stuck 25:15 Lots of data, no unified brain: building a CDP and CXP 28:00 Don't drive a Porsche like a Ford 31:13 Standing up an AI innovation steering committee 32:52 Governance, education, enablement 36:18 Adopting AI individual by individual 37:57 AI as copilot, not a layoff plan 39:02 Separating AI marketing hype from reality 41:03 How Citadel employees use AI today 44:15 Working with incumbent and new AI vendors 46:58 The 3-5 year vision: banking that feels effortless 48:55 Closing

How LMCU Cut a 150-Step Process to 15 with AI

Ankur Patel interviews Chris Ortega, who leads technology transformation at Lake Michigan Credit Union, a $17B asset institution and the 13th largest credit union in the US. What's distinct about Chris's approach is that he restructures how the organization operates before deploying the tools — agile teams, a Center of Excellence, and a single Emerging Technology Governance Board that owns AI, RPA, and stablecoin. The episode covers how that structure was built, where RPA vs. agentic AI is the right call, and the cost discipline that keeps emerging tech from running away from the institution. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Guest: Chris Ortega, CIO, Lake Michigan Credit Union Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Chris Ortega 0:32 Stabilizing the IT landscape at LMCU 1:40 Inside a top credit union 3:23 Building conviction for transformation 5:20 The Center of Excellence and the three C's 7:43 What surprised him about emerging tech 9:31 Where traditional project management falls short 11:25 Why agile fits today's pace 14:06 One committee for AI, stablecoin, and whatever comes next 15:53 From planning to execution to ROI 18:33 Closing the gap between business and engineering 22:09 Building trust through real back-and-forth 24:35 Why remote teams are an asset, done right 26:44 What smaller credit unions can take away 29:20 Pick your tech, then match your partners to it 33:25 Where agentic AI is showing up 35:45 The HUMDA win: 150 steps cut to 15 36:56 Mortgage, the call center, fraud, and audit 38:51 The token-bill trap 40:46 RPA vs. agentic AI 44:13 AI bootcamps, lunch and learns, and Co-Pilot 48:42 Star Trek, not Terminator