The Top 5 TechSolutions4CUs Episodes of 2025
- Finn O'Potamus
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Finn O’Potamus
As the credit union industry navigated a year of rapid digital evolution and shifting member expectations, the TechSolutions4CUs podcast remained a vital compass for technologists and leaders alike. Hosted by Finopotamus publisher John San Filippo, the 2025 season tackled everything from the "data wars" and the ethical deployment of AI to the strategic power of niche banking and cloud repatriation.
In a year defined by the need for both high-tech efficiency and high-touch member service, these conversations provided more than just insights—they offered a roadmap for innovation. Join us as we revisit the top five episodes of 2025 that resonated most with our audience and best captured the transformative spirit of the credit union movement.
1. TechSolutions4CUs Special! Jack Henry’s Lee Wetherington Talks Tech
This podcast episode features Lee Wetherington, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy at Jack Henry, who joins us to discuss the findings of the 2025 Strategy Benchmark research. The conversation highlights a “fierce focus” on improving operational efficiency across the financial industry following significant downward pressure on net income in 2024. Wetherington emphasizes that data is the essential foundation for this transformation, introducing the concept of “Minimum Viable Data” (MVD) as the baseline required for institutions to successfully implement AI, machine learning, and automation.
The episode further explores the strategic “war” for data aggregation and the necessity of leveraging member trust to navigate the shifting regulatory landscape of open banking. Beyond technology, Wetherington outlines how credit unions can better attract Gen Z by streamlining mobile account opening while maintaining physical branches for complex, “high-touch” financial needs. The discussion concludes with a forward-looking look at the next three years of AI, predicting a move toward “speech-to-action” models and agentic AI that will allow both consumers and executives to execute complex tasks through simple verbal or text commands.
2. Algebrik’s Pankaj Jain and the Modern, AI-Powered LOS
Pankaj Jain (PJ), founder and CEO of Algebraic AI, joins us to discuss the critical need for credit unions to modernize their aging lending infrastructure. Jain argues that many legacy loan origination systems (LOSes) are decades old and create significant friction that leads to high abandonment rates, particularly among Gen Z members who expect a seamless mobile experience. He introduces Algebraic AI’s cloud-native platform as a “ready-to-move-in” solution designed to democratize high-end technology for community financial institutions of all sizes, allowing them to deploy advanced lending tools in weeks rather than years.
The conversation explores how agentic AI is embedded throughout the workflow to transform both the member and employee experience. By automating tasks such as document verification, fraud detection through live selfie matching, and real-time data crunching, the platform allows loan officers to focus on being financial advisors rather than manual processors. Jain emphasizes that the ultimate goal is to help credit unions increase their “look-to-book” ratios and lower acquisition costs by removing the digital barriers that currently sit between a member’s application and their funding.
3. Jason Cain and ShiftMate: Empowering Credit Unions with AI
Jason, a veteran credit union technology executive, joins us to introduce Shiftmate, an AI-powered “co-pilot” specifically designed to assist credit union team members in real time. The platform harvests both institutional and member data to generate a 360-degree customer profile, which then produces a personalized 12-month financial wellness playbook. This plan identifies specific opportunities for members to save money or grow their wealth, allowing front-line staff to provide high-value advisory services with a single click. Jason explains that the system is built to be “actionable,” seamlessly pushing identified opportunities directly into a credit union’s existing LOS for processing.
The conversation also explores Shiftmate’s modular architecture, which allows it to integrate with or even replace aging CRM and analytics systems. Jason highlights “Institutional Insights,” a feature that gives senior management “ChatGPT-like” functionality to query complex financial data, such as comparing loan growth across branches or analyzing charge-off trends. By leveraging advanced technologies like agentic workflows and vectorization, Shiftmate aims to modernize the credit union tech stack, helping institutions of all sizes lower their operational costs while deepening their relationships with members.
4. UFCU’s Chris Turnley Talks (Mostly) Hits and (a Couple of) Misses in Member Experience
Chris Turnley, Executive Vice President of Member Experience at UFCU, joins us to discuss how credit unions can differentiate themselves in what many mistakenly consider a commodity industry. Drawing from his extensive background in startups and fintech, Turnley emphasizes that “member experience” is the ultimate differentiator, focusing on increasing the value of every interaction rather than just selling products. He shares UFCU’s journey in reaching the significant 400,000-member milestone and details their strategic investment in a personalized digital platform to ensure they remain compelling across both physical and digital channels.
The conversation delves into the importance of persona-based service, specifically how UFCU navigates the needs of “early dreamers,” flourishing families, and a growing Spanish-speaking membership base. Turnley highlights the critical role of financial education for Gen Z, who often turn to untrusted social media sources for financial advice, and explains how credit unions can fill those gaps through integrated technology and process improvements. He concludes with a 2025 prediction, suggesting a growing separation between credit unions that boldly adapt their models for new economic realities and those that remain over-indexed to inaction.
5. Delivering More Value to SMB Members, with the Co-Founders of Jupid
Anna Khalzova and Slava Akulov, co-founders of Jupid, join us to explore how credit unions can capture the significant, yet often untapped, small business market. They identify a major disconnect at the business formation stage, where entrepreneurs frequently overlook credit unions as their primary financial institution. Jupid addresses this by providing a white-labeled platform that automates company formation, accounting, tax filing, and compliance, offering these critical services for a fraction of the traditional cost. By embedding these tools directly into the digital banking experience, credit unions can attract new business members and formalize relationships with existing consumers who are currently running businesses out of personal accounts.
The conversation highlights Jupid’s “AI-native” approach, featuring a proprietary assistant that interacts with members through familiar channels like WhatsApp and iMessage. Unlike standard transaction processors, this assistant leverages deep business context from bank data, emails, and web searches to proactively manage deadlines and categorize expenses. The co-founders emphasize that this high-tech, low-friction model creates an exceptionally “sticky” relationship while providing credit unions with a new fee-based revenue stream through a shared subscription model. Looking ahead, they predict that AI will become an expected layer in every part of banking, necessitating a shift toward highly personalized and proactive financial services.