Tech People in the Know: Vertice AI CEO Mitch Rutledge

In what is a recurring feature, Finopotamus profiles interesting and intriguing technology professionals who are positively impacting the credit union industry.

For this issue, we visited with Vertice AI CEO and Co-Founder Mitch Rutledge. The Athens, Ga.-based fintech provides community banks and credit unions with next generation cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. In March 2025, Rutledge was featured on Finopotamus’ podcast, TechSolutions4CUs.

By W.B. King

While Mitch Rutledge was studying chemical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in the mid 1990s, the internet was beginning to change the world, but he was already steps ahead—a tech lifer. “From the moment my parents brought home our first PC, I was fascinated,” Rutledge told Finopotamus. “I was definitely a tech kid.”

Mitch Rutledge

After he received his diploma in 1997, he took a job with the Atlanta-based enterprise software company, Manhattan Associates. Beginning as a consulting manager, and later account executive, he spent nearly 13 years at the firm.

“It was an incredible experience to be part of a group of hundreds of consultants in our early 20s flying around the country, helping clients implement solutions that had to deliver tangible business results,” he shared. “That foundation of client value and execution discipline has shaped everything I’ve done since.”

For the next 12-plus years, he worked at the Cary, N.C.-based SAS, a data and AI-focused company. He began working in the South as a sales manager and concluded his tenure as sales director of the U.K. and Ireland. Then in 2022, he co-founded and became CEO of Vertice AI, which caters to credit unions and community banks.

“Credit unions operate under a unique set of challenges. Technology teams are lean, budgets are limited, and regulatory pressures are always top of mind. There is a constant tension between the desire to innovate and the reality of scarce resources,” he said. “What excites me is how the movement is turning that challenge into an advantage. Instead of trying to compete on scale alone, credit unions are embracing fintech partnerships and cooperative ecosystem strategies. That collaboration creates network effects where one institution’s learning benefits the entire movement.”

Measure Outcomes Rather Than Outputs

While working at Manhattan Associates, Rutledge encountered a mentor: Alan Dabbiere (although he noted that the entire leadership team provided invaluable guidance). “Alan built a culture that combined vision with execution,” he reflected. “Those lessons shaped how I think about building teams, solutions and companies.”

At Vertice AI, Rutledge and his co-founders pay those teachings forward. “We intentionally bring in young, high-potential talent and give them real ownership early. We empower them to take ideas and turn them into solutions that create measurable impact for clients,” he said, noting that the company has 22 employees, 15 of whom are tech-facing. “Just as Alan and his team showed me what was possible, I want to show the next generation of technologists that their work can change an industry when it’s anchored in purpose and outcomes.”

When Finopotamus asked Rutledge to describe his management style, he responded, “It’s rather simple: put the task to the team.” This philosophy is based, in part, on Missouri’s motto, “show me”— where he grew up. This ethos is complemented by three guiding principles Dabbiere championed: focus on the customer, speed to value, and prioritize outcomes over outputs.

“I naturally look for evidence and results in how we build strategies, design solutions, and serve clients. It keeps us grounded in outcomes, not just ideas,” he continued. “At Vertice AI, we empower them [employees] early, give them ownership, and let them take big ideas and turn them into valuable solutions for our clients. That empowerment inspires creativity and accountability at the same time.”

Move From Insight to Action

Noting that AI is transforming the credit union space by helping institutions maximize operational efficiency and drive growth without overextending internal resources, Rutledge explained the company recently released Vertice AGENT. The interactive copilot was built to help credit unions uncover growth opportunities, design campaigns, and scale personalization.

“Through a dynamic chat interface similar to ChatGPT, credit union teams can ask questions of their own data, receive actionable audience insights, and generate data-backed growth plans. Most importantly, they can move from insight to action in minutes by launching tailored marketing campaigns directly within the platform,” he continued. “This innovation puts advanced AI capabilities in the hands of all credit union marketers, helping them achieve enterprise-level personalization with the resources of a small team.”

New AI solutions, he added, are allowing the credit union industry to move away from a one-size-fits-all mentality. Traditional broad outreach campaigns, he said, limited the ability of a credit union to create meaningful engagement with members. 

“It excites me that more credit unions are recognizing the need to build deeper, one-on-one relationships with members through data-driven engagement. This shift is powerful because it directly fuels loyalty and long-term growth,” he noted. “We help credit unions leverage their data intelligently to pursue these strategies by giving them tools to understand their members, identify growth opportunities, and measure impact in a way that was once only possible for the largest institutions.”

Deep Commitment to Member Service

While the company counts many financial institutions as clients, 41 are credit unions. This experience has provided Rutledge and his team with unique insights. “Credit unions are not only eager to innovate for their own members, but also to share what works with their peers,” he shared. “The collective credit union spirit of working together to benefit the member-first mission creates an environment where best practices and new technologies can spread quickly across the industry.”

For credit unions to remain competitive and continue to serve membership with next-generation technologies, Rutledge said partnerships with like-minded fintechs are necessary.

“Credit unions’ deep commitment to member service means it is essential that they partner with fintechs that share the same relationship-driven mindset,” he continued. “When values are aligned, the partnership goes beyond technology and becomes an extension of the credit union’s mission.”