From Intelligence to Action : Plugging the Last-Mile Delivery Gap using AI

This is the last-mile delivery gap – the critical distance between knowing what to do and making it happen. Closing it requires more than intelligent models; it requires connecting data, decisions, workflows, and execution to drive meaningful outcomes. This session will explore how credit unions can bridge that gap by moving beyond AI experimentation and recommendations to practical, scalable execution that strengthens member relationships, improves operational performance, and delivers measurable value.

AI can help credit unions uncover member needs, predict opportunities, and make smarter decisions. But insight alone doesn’t deliver impact. The real competitive advantage comes from turning those insights into action, translating AI investments into measurable business results.

The 2026 State of the Credit Union Industry research reveals the urgency: 79% of surveyed credit unions are researching or implementing AI, yet 65% cite data readiness, quality, and governance as their top barrier. The gap between AI ambition and real-world execution remains significant.

Key Topics Covered
The Last-Mile Challenge: Why insights often fail to translate into quick action and outcomes. How can Intelligence lead to Instant Action.
The Insight–Decide–Act Model: Connecting intelligence to decisions and execution.
AI in Action: Practical credit union use cases that drive member and business value.
From Potential to Performance: Overcoming delivery barriers to achieve measurable results.

Regulatory Update: What Do Credit Unions Need to Know Now?

Washington’s agenda for credit unions has shifted under a new NCUA Chairman. Lenwood Brooks, Managing Director of the Financial Institutions Group at Performance Trust, draws on nearly two-decades of policy experience, including time as Chief of Staff to NCUA Chairman Rodney E. Hood, to explore what has changed and what has stayed the same. You’ll leave with a clearer view of the regulatory outlook and practical steps for engaging policymakers and positioning your credit union for what comes next.

From Digital Banking to Member Growth

How Credit Unions Can Turn Everyday Member Interactions into Deeper Relationships
Digital banking has become the front door of the credit union—but simply providing digital access isn’t enough. The real opportunity is using member data and everyday digital interactions to recognize needs, deliver more relevant experiences and strengthen relationships.

In this session, we’ll look at practical ways credit unions can turn digital engagement into measurable growth across acquisition, deposits, lending and early relationship development. Using real credit union examples, attendees will see how better targeting, personalization and automation can create stronger member experiences while producing results that can actually be measured.

Empowering Your Frontline to Delight Members

It started with a $50 check and an electric guitar. It ended with a frustrated kid, an embarrassed bank manager, and a lesson about member experience I’ve never forgotten.
That same lesson plays out in credit unions every day. Your frontline is expected to keep up with a steady stream of new products, services, tech, and regulations, and deliver an exceptional member experience while they do it. But the odds are stacked against them, and the cost shows up in places you might not expect.

So what does it really take to empower your frontline to delight members? In this session, you’ll find out why that kid didn’t get the guitar, why it still happens today, and the recipe for making sure it doesn’t happen at your credit union.

Attendees will learn:
● What keeps frontline staff from delivering exceptional member experiences.
● What those challenges really cost your credit union, beyond the obvious.
● A practical recipe for training and supporting your frontline so they can delight every member.

Making AI Automation Actually Work

Across the credit union industry, many AI pilots underperform or stall. The issue rarely comes from the technology itself – most tools work as advertised. The real barrier is that AI gets added on top of an old process that needs to be redesigned.

Take AI-document-reading as an example. A credit union purchases the tool, validates that it extracts data correctly, and then… teams continue reviewing every file manually “just to be safe.” Staff follow the same checklists, open the same PDFs, and layer the AI on top of their existing process. One past error, or simple habit, is enough to keep the old process alive. The outcome is predictable: extra work, no efficiency gains, and confusion from conflicting processes.

This session reframes the problem. Instead of asking which AI tool is best, we focus on how to build a process where automation can actually replace work. We introduce a clear, five-step method used with credit unions of different sizes and deep dive into a client example. We will explore the steps taken by a client with more than 50,000 applications/month that allowed them to process 82% of documents automatically with AI in just 6 weeks.

Attendees will learn the common traps that derail AI initiatives, what a healthy automation program looks like, and how to structure a rollout that delivers real savings and faster decisioning. The goal is simple: help credit unions move beyond pilots and achieve measurable operational impact with the tools they already have.