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What insights do two of the most respected veterans of the Mortgage Industry have to share about the Mortgage Executive of the Future? Find out in today's episode of the "Future Proof" podcast. In today's recap, Melissa and James revisit some of the key moments in the discussion between Dale Vermillion & David Lykken, two of the most well-known names in Mortgage Leadership.

Our discussion covered everything from what core fundamentals are missing from far too many organizations these days, both within executive leadership as well as the front-line sales and operations organizations. Also, we hear their thoughts on the two most important shifts of our time.

Don’t miss these future-focused insights on this great companion podcast hosted by Melissa Langdale and James Duncan.

To register for the live Future Proof webinars, download past episodes, and hear all of the discussions, visit PraxisLendingSolutions.com/FutureProof.

About Our Hosts:

Melissa Langdale is the founder and CEO of Praxis Lending Solutions, a premier consulting firm focused on improving the operational efficiency and effectiveness for mortgage lenders. As an experienced mortgage industry veteran, she brings a unique approach to solving problems for her clients.

If you’re interested in connecting with Melissa to discover how Praxis can help restructure and refine your Operational workflow, connect with her at PraxisLendingSolutions.com.

James Duncan is the founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Caelum Advisers. As the former Head of Marketing for more than a decade, James launched Caelum Advisers with the mission of transforming the perception of what great marketing strategy looks like in the mortgage industry.

If you are a founder, executive, or head of marketing and want to find out how to tell a more compelling story and connect with your ideal client, visit CaelumAdvisers.com.

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In this episode, Shashank Shekhar and Diane Yu reveal how they’re leveraging the latest in AI to transform the mortgage industry. They break down the differences between Generative AI, AI agents, and the new frontier of Agentic AI, highlighting why domain-specific training and contextualization are crucial to making these technologies truly effective for lending.

From streamlining underwriting workflows to automating content creation and personalizing borrower engagement, they share how adopting AI can drive dramatic operational and sales efficiencies across the mortgage process.

The conversation also explores the game-changing promise of truly agentic AI—autonomous systems that tackle complex tasks end-to-end, poised to transform everything from loan approvals to borrower communications, automate content generation along the way, and even create new roles like AI quality control to oversee these powerful tools.

Don’t miss these future-focused insights on this great companion podcast hosted by Melissa Langdale and James Duncan.

To register for the live Future Proof webinars, download past episodes, and hear all of the discussions, visit PraxisLendingSolutions.com/FutureProof.

About Our Hosts:

Melissa Langdale is the founder and CEO of Praxis Lending Solutions, a premier consulting firm focused on improving the operational efficiency and effectiveness for mortgage lenders. As an experienced mortgage industry veteran, she brings a unique approach to solving problems for her clients.

If you’re interested in connecting with Melissa to discover how Praxis can help restructure and refine your Operational workflow, connect with her at PraxisLendingSolutions.com.

James Duncan is the founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Caelum Advisers. As the former Head of Marketing for more than a decade, James launched Caelum Advisers with the mission of transforming the perception of what great marketing strategy looks like in the mortgage industry.

If you are a founder, executive, or head of marketing and want to find out how to tell a more compelling story and connect with your ideal client, visit CaelumAdvisers.com.

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Round 2 of the "Future Proof" webinar series was a banger right out of the gate! The first episode of the new season featured two veterans of Mortgage Marketing in Meghan Handy, Chief Marketing & Customer Officer of Embrace Home Loans, and James Duncan, Founder of Caelum Advisers (and host of this podcast).

In this episode, Melissa and James recapped the discussion and highlighted four specific key areas of discussion:

1. How Loan Officers and other Mortgage Banks can compete more strategically at the local level in light of so many big mergers and acquisitions in the mortgage space (specifically, Rocket+Redfin, Lower+Movoto, and Guild+Bayview Equity).
2. Top strategies for lenders and their sales teams to capture more "Point of Thought" moments In a world of data aggregators looking to gain more visibility with consumers.
3. Are AI-powered Voice Agents delivering a better consumer experience or is it more noise in an already noisy market?
4. In the world of search GEO (or AIO, AI-SEO, or whatever you choose to call it) is big news. What do our panelists think about the future of search and how can mortgage companies position themselves for the best opportunity to stand out?

To register for the live Future Proof webinars and hear all of the discussions, visit PraxisLendingSolutions.com/FutureProof.

About Our Hosts:

Melissa Langdale is the founder and CEO of Praxis Lending Solutions, a premier consulting firm focused on improving the operational efficiency and effectiveness for mortgage lenders. As an experienced mortgage industry veteran, she brings a unique approach to solving problems for her clients.

If you’re interested in connecting with Melissa to discover how Praxis can help restructure and refine your Operational workflow, connect with her at PraxisLendingSolutions.com.

James Duncan is the founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Caelum Advisers. As the former Head of Marketing for more than a decade, James launched Caelum Advisers with the mission of transforming the perception of what great marketing strategy looks like in the mortgage industry.

If you are a founder, executive, or head of marketing and want to find out how to tell a more compelling story and connect with your ideal client, visit CaelumAdvisers.com.

Send us a text

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Future Proof Podcast! Our first episode is a chance for listeners to get to know our hosts, Melissa Langdale & James Duncan. In May 2025, Melissa launched the "Future Proof" Webinar series targeting mortgage professionals and leading discussions with many of the most influential thought leaders in the industry.

In our initial podcast episode, Melissa and James briefly recapped the sessions from Round 1 and the insightful discussions that resulted. They also took a few minutes to look forward to Round 2 and the upcoming discussions, starting with the upcoming session on Wednesday, July 2, about the Future of Mortgage Marketing.

To register for the live webinar series, click HERE.

About Our Hosts:

Melissa Langdale is the founder and CEO of Praxis Lending Solutions, a premier consulting firm focused on improving the operational efficiency and effectiveness for mortgage lenders. As an experienced mortgage industry veteran, she brings a unique approach to solving problems for her clients.

If you’re interested in connecting with Melissa to discover how Praxis can help restructure and refine your Operational workflow, connect with her at PraxisLendingSolutions.com.

James Duncan is the founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Caelum Advisers. As the former Head of Marketing for more than a decade, James launched Caelum Advisers with the mission of transforming the perception of what great marketing strategy looks like in the mortgage industry.

If you are a founder, executive, or head of marketing and want to find out how to tell a more compelling story and connect with your ideal client, visit CaelumAdvisers.com.