Reza Ghazi is CEO of GreenFlow Financial Corp., overseeing the company’s operations and growth strategies.
As artificial intelligence goes mainstream, agentic AI is a burgeoning technology that’s growing in popularity.
Think of AI agents like algorithmic lenders, analysts and lawyers wrapped in one. By automating several aspects of the real estate buying process, computers can assess borrowers’ creditworthiness, recommend personalized mortgage options and predict housing market trends. In other words, they can make faster decisions with minimal human intervention, improving efficiency and reducing human error.
A recent KPMG survey showed that only 27% of Canadian business leaders have already deployed the technology. However, almost two-thirds are experimenting or conducting pilot projects, and nearly 90% cited agentic AI as their “top investment priority.” As a result, the innovation trend is expected to continue throughout 2025.
As the CEO of GreenFlow Financial and holding a master’s degree in management and innovation, I am always inspired by what enables business innovation, whether it is technology advancement or a simple process modification. Although our firm is not currently using agentic AI in its processes, this technology is on our agenda. I believe agentic AI will significantly impact how real estate and mortgage firms conduct business. All aspects of these businesses, including transaction origination, business administration, underwriting, compliance and accounting, could benefit from agentic AI.
How Agentic AI Could Streamline The Mortgage Industry
With lenders continually seeking new ways to streamline their operations and enhance their bottom lines, agentic AI has the potential to disrupt the Canadian mortgage industry. Agentic AI surpasses generative AI by implementing autonomous decision making, learning and collaboration, while enabling robust efficiency and governance.
In the past, time-consuming paperwork collection and manual reviews reduced productivity. However, now, agentic AI can accelerate the mortgage application and approval process, enabling borrowers to receive faster approvals and lenders to increase their originations.
Faster execution also enhances risk management. Instead of manually analyzing credit reports, income, bank statements and other debts, AI agents can rapidly process the data and make instant decisions. The standardized approach can reduce delinquency rates and promote solvency initiatives.
Taking A Cautious Approach
At the same time, organizations also need to anticipate and address certain risks before launching any agentic AI system. Giving a system the autonomy to make its own decisions means placing trust in its ability to act consistently, accurately and ethically. However, AI systems are often trained on historical information that may include embedded biases, such as gender or ethnic biases, and there is a risk that these could translate into biased decision making.
Additionally, without human supervision, lenders and mortgage brokers could unintentionally violate privacy laws or other regulations. Having access to banking information, credit history and even tax returns could introduce risk of the system unknowingly mishandling borrowers’ information. Lenders or mortgage brokers could also incorrectly decline an application or approve and commit to terms based on information that isn’t wholly accurate.
To remain compliant, lenders, real estate agents and mortgage brokerages must implement safeguards before launching and deploy regular audits, process reviews and automated alerts to detect unusual AI behavior. In addition, they should receive training to recognize potential biases or inaccuracies in AI-driven decisions.
Here To Stay
It is safe to say that agentic AI should continue to gain mainstream attention. And, like an autonomous CEO, its capabilities can help lenders, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, lawyers and anyone else involved in the real estate buying or mortgage process perform up to their full potential.
While agentic AI is still in the early stages, the growth acceleration highlights why the technology is here to stay. Not only does agentic AI have the potential to change the industry as we know it by automating tasks with limited human involvement, but with proper training and safeguards in place, the end result is a more efficient and quicker process for everyone involved.
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