Tech People in the Know: Wilqo’s Tom Morelli

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

For this issue, we visited with Tom Morelli, chief of staff at Wilqo. Founded in 2020, the Dallas-based fintech bills itself as optimizing loan production to enhance compliance and the borrowing experience.

By W.B. King

Before 2016, Tom Morelli was mainly focused on process improvement and data analytics—technology wasn’t immediately a part of the conversation. But after accepting the role of lead strategic analyst at Imperial Marketing (now Helm), his perception of technology and its cross-departmental reach changed.

Tom Morelli

“I took the position purely to further that aspect of my career, in all honesty, getting involved in tech was just a side bonus,” he told Finopotamus. “My original experience had been focused on process improvement within insurance operations so up to that point, I rarely ever conversed with tech teams.”

In short order, Morelli said he “grew fascinated with the tech world,” each day gaining “a massive appreciation” for its intricacies. “A simple misinterpretation can lead to an entirely different product or a missed requirement can lead to a valueless feature. It is so powerful, yet so fragile,” he continued. “I knew this would be a fun place to call home.”

A New Lens

Prior to his time with Imperial Marketing, the Michigan State University alumnus also held positions such as senior business analyst at Hanover Insurance Group. As a result of these experiences, he has seen how business and tech operations have unified over the years.

“I feel like when I joined the tech space, most small-to midsize companies with tech teams were purely order takers. The business needs X to do Y, no questions asked. But shortly thereafter, that changed,” he continued. “Those who knew the power of technology started to have an equal seat at the table, if not starting to steer the direction of a product or entire organization. It opened the door for a whole new world because problems were being solved through a new lens.”

Morelli, who joined Wilqo as head of analytics in 2020, and later chief of staff in 2025, said a tipping point of change came in 2024 when large language models (LLMs) became mainstream.

“Every organization got a heaping dose of tech. For most companies, the immediate reaction was ‘we need to implement AI [artificial intelligence] into our strategy now,’ versus ‘Hey, there’s this new technology, what are its strengths and what problems can it solve?’” He continued. “This was extreme and caused disruption, but it shows how tech is steering the ship of our industry and society.”

Mentors Who Pay It Forward

While at Imperial Marketing, Morelli said then CIO John Bissa inspired him to harness the vast capabilities of technology across all business units. “He had joined the organization a month prior to me and was spearheading an initiative to modernize the technical operations. I witnessed firsthand a masterclass of both tactical execution as well as strategic implementation,” he shared. “His encouragement to me was ‘I you know you are doing the right thing, lean into it and don’t stop.’”

Morelli has instilled that same spirit at Wilqo, which supports 38 employees, 18 of whom are tech-facing. He singled out Dion Hall, who joined Wilqo’s data team in 2022. The gist of their first forward-looking conversation, recalled Morelli, was: “We are doing something radically different for the industry; we will receive pushback, but we need to challenge and hold firm.” He was quickly impressed with Hall, especially his ability to embody that shared ethos when conversing with clients about the business intelligence portion of Wilqo’s platform.

With three credit unions finalizing implementation, and two currently being implemented at Wilqo, the industry’s cooperative, member-first mentality has long impressed Morelli. 

“When I got my first job, I got to go deposit my check at Walled Lake School Employees Federal Credit Union,” he said, noting that his mother’s job teaching English as a second language (ESL) in his district made him eligible. “There was a certain amount of energy that permeated throughout that building, and now that I am older, I am more in tune to what it was. Community is the DNA of the credit union, and the way they adopt technology is in the best interest of that community.”

Wilqo’s approach embraces these concepts, underscoring the member versus borrower mentality, Morelli further explained. “The relationship usually begins and ends with the mortgage, and technology is aimed at solving that end-to-end journey, which is perfectly fine. For the credit union, members have so many more touchpoints that should be considered part of the overall tech journey,” he said. “Every tech decision should be focused on the comprehensive member ecosystem, in addition to the mortgage. This brings about its own challenges but also creates incredible opportunities to provide a lasting benefit to those members.”

Symbiosis

When looking at tech trends in the space, Morelli said he “loves the practical skepticism” surrounding AI. The once shiny object, he noted, now has two important practical applications. First, he said, AI allows Wilqo to focus on value for credit unions, their members, and borrowers in general.

“Slapping an AI solution onto something that is not a problem is not going to add value. Strategically assessing stakeholder pain points, prioritizing the problems, and choosing the best tool(s) to solve the problem(s), has always been the correct order of operations, and we are moving back in that direction,” he shared.

The second advantage: knowing how to use AI efficiently without wasting time and money, especially when trying to solve problems that are broad in nature, he noted. “When you can get AI hyper-focused on a small problem, its chance of hallucinating or deviating from a desired result significantly lessens,” he said. “Being more intentional with how we use AI can directly solve problems, or better aid with initial steps on the journey towards solving a problem.”

A Scrabble enthusiast, when Finopotamus asked why it’s important for credit unions to partner with like-minded fintechs, Morelli offered a one-word response (with maximum point value): symbiosis. He added that when approaching any tech projects, four mindsets are usually presented: those who are looking to push the boundaries of the tech frontier; the fast followers; those who move with the masses; and those who are tech averse.

“For each credit union, that tech strategy and mindset are theirs to be successful with,” he shared. “But finding a tech partner who can work with you, and challenge your strengths and strategy, is where everyone wins.”