Reseda Summit 2025: Panel Tackles AI and Automation

By John San Filippo

The Reseda Summit, an annual conference hosted by Reseda Group, was held in Detroit Sept. 17-18. Finopotamus, an official media partner of the event, was also onsite to cover the activities. The event closed with a panel discussion titled “The Future of AI and Automation.”

(l-r) Mary Wisniewski, Michelle Prohaska, Paolo Teotino, Christie Kimbell

The panel was moderated by Mary Wisniewski, editor-at-large for Cornerstone Advisors. Panelists included Michelle Prohaska, chief banking and risk officer at Nymbus; Paolo Teotino, executive director at Rise Analytics; and Christie Kimbell, EVP at Filene Research Institute.

Finding the Balance Between Human and Machine

The discussion began by exploring the tension between human interaction and artificial intelligence (AI) automation. Prohaska explained how Nymbus approaches this balance.

“One of the things that we really focus on is when we think of the balance, looking at what are those highly routine task-oriented things that are low risk and high reward versus when humans come into play, when it comes to more complex, emotionally driven, maybe empathy-based connections and interactions,” she said. “We think of that balance as really looking for when you need humans to be in the mix to drive those maybe more empathy-driven conversations.”

Teotino agreed, suggesting a hybrid model is most effective. “I think the AI approach is probably the approach that would be very beneficial for creating where, as you said, you automate the repetitive task as much as possible with AI while getting the right human in the center for escalation of more complex business-centric activities,” he stated.

Kimbell noted that AI can also be leveraged in situations where members may feel uncomfortable speaking with a person. “When people are struggling with their finances, that’s not always something they feel very compelled to share,” she said. “They may have shame or fear around it. And in those situations, leveraging AI and its capability to get answers and to kind of put them at ease. I think that that’s a really important opportunity for us to reach people that we may not be reaching.”

A crucial part of this process is ensuring a smooth transition from a bot to a human agent when necessary, noted Teotino, highlighting a common point of friction for consumers. “You’re having a conversation with the bot, you reach a point that the bot is not helpful, and then you kind of ride it to an operator, and then you have to restart the entire conversation with the operator because there is no handoff between the bot and the operator,” he said. “That’s super annoying, that type of customer experience.”

Essential Skills in the AI Era

The conversation then shifted to the skills needed to thrive in a workplace increasingly augmented by AI. Teotino emphasized the importance of curiosity and data literacy.

Kimbell argued that critical thinking becomes even more valuable. “When you’re really leveraging the technology effectively, it really is critical thinking skills,” she explained. “So much of your outputs are really driven by the thoughtfulness of the questions that you’re asking and the context and understanding what is the bigger picture that you’re trying to accomplish.”

She also positioned AI as an optimization tool rather than a replacement tool, one that can elevate the performance of the entire team. “Where they show ChatGPT being implemented into organizations, where they see the biggest lift are in employees who are not currently meeting standards,” Kimbell said.

Prohaska added that a “trust but verify” mindset is essential. “The people who frequently use it a lot tend to find that it’s much more about how you build the prompt and that takes the strategy and the critical thinking, and the skill sets that aren’t replaced by humans to be able to generate and build the prompt,” she said.

Ethical Frameworks and Responsible Adoption

The panel also stressed the need for strong ethical guidelines when implementing AI. Kimbell pointed out that AI models learn from existing data, which can perpetuate inherent biases. She proposed a novel solution for transparency.

“As AI develops, think about your food,” she said. “And on the back of the food, you have ingredients, and you have nutritional information, right? And it tells you what is in whatever you’re consuming. And I think that was the recommendation of best practice for AI, is that within your model, you have that disclosure of, you know, these are the ingredients that built this, and these are the things that, you know, the tolerances of what we’re looking at.”

Like an aircraft, Teotino focused on the dangers of “black box” systems. “You have an input and you have an output, but you don’t really understand how the input was transformed into the output,” he warned. “And that can be an issue, especially if you’re making a critical decision and you’re not able to justify why that decision was actually made.”

From a risk management perspective, Prohaska advised treating AI like any other technology. “Do the same risk assessment, document what your controls are, document what your remaining risks are,” she advised. “And if you’re going to use it and you’re worried about the regulatory impact of that, plan ahead by documenting it just like you would anything else.”

How Smaller Institutions Can Compete

The final topic addressed how smaller credit unions can keep pace with large institutions that are investing billions of dollars in technology. The consensus was that AI can actually level the playing field.

“You can essentially innovate through vendors and use their kind of innovation and can be supportive to your member experience in many ways,” Teotino said.

Kimbell argued that smaller organizations have a distinct advantage. “I would bet on smaller credit unions or smaller organizations because they have more clarity, they can move faster,” she stated. “I actually think it’s a way for smaller organizations to catapult their capabilities and their opportunities versus a risk.”

Prohaska agreed, adding, “What smaller organizations, community banks, community credit unions have is the ability to be more nimble. They typically do not have the five layers of risk committees that have to decision every single piece of a new initiative.”

Finally, Teotino reminded the audience of the credit union industry’s unique advantage. “The credit unions can really leverage their superpower, which is that they’re cooperative and collaborative by nature,” he concluded. “Credit unions have the ability to share this knowledge and make sure that the entire industry is growing and adopting this type of solution.”