Main Street AI

Main Street AI is an immersive content series probing the intricate intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence in the world of business and high-stakes industries. Journey with us into stories of challenge and triumph of innovators navigating their unique industry mazes, and of the transformative power of AI seamlessly merging into these narratives. Think of it as "Masters of Scale" but customized for visionaries, pioneers, and enthusiasts in the ever-evolving AI-for-business space.

Main Street AI is a technology podcast hosted by Multimodal, with 103 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Multimodal hosts Main Street AI, a technology show with 103 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Main Street AI

  What a $4.6B Credit Union's Growth Officer Actually Worries About

  Sep 23, 202626 min

  Ankur Patel interviews Whitney Anderson, Leadership Strategist and founder of Anderson Growth Advisors. Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Whitney advised credit unions before taking the chief growth officer role at Sunward Credit Union, which runs $4.6 billion in assets and more than 170,000 members out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. After seats as an operator, a sitting CEO, and an outside consultant, Whitney's read is that what blocks AI in credit unions isn't the technology but fear, and that the goal was never to be first to market, just a very close second. Guest: Whitney Anderson, Leadership Strategist and founder of Anderson Growth Advisors Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal Whitney's memoir, She Walked Anyway: The Story of a Woman Who Refused to Stay Down: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1636988776 Her consulting practice, Anderson Growth Advisors: https://andersongrowthadvisors.com 0:00 Introduction: Meet Whitney 0:41 The career arc 4:13 Walking again, the book, and Anderson Growth Advisors 5:01 What adversity changed 6:26 What a consultant sees from the outside 8:06 The challenges facing credit unions 9:26 Is AI just more technology 12:02 Drawing the line on member-facing AI 15:13 Moving the AI skeptics 16:50 Fear, not technology 18:32 Can small credit unions keep up 20:07 The leader credit unions aren't hiring yet 22:16 What the leading credit unions do differently 24:21 Where to find She Walked Anyway 25:24 Closing

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  Main Street AI

  If You Offload Expertise to AI, You Offload Control

  Sep 17, 202635 min

  Ankur Patel interviews Erik Librader, Client Partner, and Ian Butler, Chief Technology Officer, at Vistrada. Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Vistrada is a business risk and technology consultancy that sits inside dozens of institutions after the AI contract is signed, which makes this an outside-in view of what actually works and what quietly fails. Erik and Ian break down the 95% of AI spend that never produces measurable return, why the right architecture is usually a chain of small models rather than a chatbot, and why handing expertise to AI means handing over decision making and control with it. Guest: Erik Librader, Client Partner, Vistrada Guest: Ian Butler, Chief Technology Officer, Vistrada Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Erik and Ian 0:39 What the first AI call sounds like 2:11 Clients who don't know where to begin 3:10 AI is the tool, not the chair 5:14 Speed is what's different 7:38 Why AI projects fail 10:59 Business process optimization in an AI coat 13:59 Not an AI consultancy 15:45 Repurpose the headcount 18:24 Offload expertise, offload control 21:23 Snake oil in the vendor market 23:24 Loan origination and traceability 26:59 Where the real AI risk lives 31:25 Budget, sponsorship, ownership 32:55 Is the organization ready 34:30 Closing

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  Main Street AI

  Why the NCUA should give credit unions a sandbox

  Sep 10, 202630 min

  Ankur Patel interviews Jason Stverak, Chief Advocacy Officer at the Defense Credit Union Council. Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast DCUC is the 63-year-old trade association for the 200-plus credit unions serving the U.S. military, holding $525 billion in assets for more than 40 million members. Jason argues that with 4,200 credit unions left from north of 10,000 fifteen years ago, the small ones survive AI by pooling through CUSOs, deliberately targeting a B instead of an A-plus, and getting the NCUA to hand them a sandbox rather than a rulebook. Guest: Jason Stverak, Chief Advocacy Officer, Defense Credit Union Council Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Jason 0:55 What DCUC is 2:38 CU Unplugged 4:44 Consolidate or die 8:40 Credit unions as the AI proving ground 11:31 The volunteer board pushes the agenda 13:22 Automation and the member relationship 15:02 Finding the dollars for software 18:35 AI was supposed to democratize 20:20 We need a B, not an A plus 23:28 The case for an NCUA sandbox 25:56 The regulator as matchmaker 27:30 What Jason is protecting 29:02 Closing

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  Main Street AI

  Why the Smallest Credit Unions Are the Best at AI

  Sep 3, 202635 min

  Ankur Patel interviews Mike Lawson, Founder and Host of CUbroadcast. Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Mike has interviewed more than 8,000 credit union leaders as host of CUbroadcast, giving him a view across the entire industry rather than one seat inside one institution. His sharpest take: the smallest credit unions are often the best AI adopters because their teams wear so many hats they have to automate, while SoFi onboards more new customers in a year than the whole industry combined. Guest: Mike Lawson, Founder and Host, CUbroadcast Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Mike 0:39 What's changed, what's stayed the same 2:26 Fintech and big bank pressure 4:35 The collaborative advantage 8:39 Where credit unions are in the AI journey 10:17 Budgeting for AI 11:55 Use cases bubbling up 14:02 Why small credit unions excel at AI 16:55 AI in the call center 19:20 Fighting AI-powered fraud 23:10 Lessons from the global movement 24:07 The membership age problem 28:09 Consolidation and mergers 30:50 Fintech partnerships and vendor risk 33:06 Two imperatives for the next five years 34:40 Closing

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  Main Street AI

  The FAQ Bot That Ate a Credit Union's Entire AI Budget

  Aug 26, 202651 min

  Ankur Patel interviews Zach Cox, Director of Business Innovation, and Aaron Cain, Director of Digital Innovation at Credit Union 1. Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Credit Union 1 deployed AI use cases before it built the governance around them, and paid for the lesson when a narrow FAQ bot burned through the credit union's initial AI spend commitment without moving a single business outcome. Zach and Cain break down the vendor terms that made that happen, Cain's Aviary AI outbound calling program that reached 7,000 members ahead of a merger, and why CU1 now maintains a human version and an AI version of the same knowledge. Guest: Zach Cox, Director of Business Innovation, Credit Union 1 Guest: Cain, Director of Digital Innovation, Credit Union 1 Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction: Meet Zach and Cain 1:13 What Zach and Cain each own at CU1 5:01 Fix the process before adding AI 8:13 Deploy and learn vs infrastructure first 9:57 The FAQ bot that ate the commit 14:14 Don't let the vendor wag the dog 20:12 Buying for value, not volume 22:35 Trust and never blocking the human 24:17 When AI feels more human 28:14 Aviary AI outbound calling for mergers 32:44 The make-a-payment bot 35:46 Frontline feedback workshops 40:50 Replacement through attrition 43:15 What data readiness really means 44:09 The chatbot that quoted a disclosure as fact 48:34 What success looks like in 2027 50:30 Closing

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