At this year’s Financial Reporter Mortgage Marketing Summit 2025, Twenty7tec CEO James Tucker joined industry leaders to explore how technology, data and regulation are shaping the future of mortgage marketing. The discussion ranged from artificial intelligence to consumer duty and the human role in financial decision-making, both pragmatic and forward-thinking.
“Across our marketplace, we are still woefully inadequate in the way that we utilise data,” Tucker mentions. “We don’t store it particularly well. We don’t use it to understand our customers deeply or predict what they’ll do next. That’s going to change massively. Access to and use of data will transform how we make predictions and take action in the years ahead.”
His message to marketers and financial services firms was clear: those who get ahead of the data curve will be the ones who thrive. “Businesses that leverage data in a meaningful way will give themselves the best chance of success, and the same goes for marketeers,” he said.
However, Tucker also issued a note of caution. As enthusiasm for AI continues to grow, he reminded the audience that the technology’s current low cost is unlikely to last. “If we think the sum total of zero cost for AI use is going to continue, we’re being naïve,” he warned. “The more we pump up the use of these systems, the higher that bill will become. Businesses should plan for growth in costs for the use of this technology in the future.”
Later in the session, conversation turned to the evolving regulatory landscape and how technology might reshape the balance between advised and direct-to-consumer mortgage models. Tucker shared a firm view: “The regulator appears to have determined that having 85–90% of mortgages intermediated is not a good thing. That’s facilitating a push from tech businesses into the market that could move share away from advised to more direct models. I don’t believe that will be in the best interest of customers, and it’s ironic that this shift could be driven by the very entity meant to protect them.”
Asked why he believes this could disadvantage consumers, Tucker pointed to the importance of human understanding in complex financial decisions. “Everybody who works in this market understands the complexity of what we deliver to customers,” he said. “There’s no machine anywhere near capable of understanding how all of those nuances can be computed into a definitive decision.”
The discussion encapsulated Twenty7tec’s broader message, that while data and automation will undoubtedly drive progress, the human element remains vital. Tucker’s closing reflections summed up a balanced vision for the industry: technology should empower advisers, not replace them, and innovation should never come at the expense of understanding the customer.
