Brokers reveal ground rules for AI’s role in lending

Emmanuel Guignard, director and principal broker at Melbourne-based Loan Scope, said he believed the traditional edge of personal service and lived experience still mattered – but no longer on its own.

“It is time our industry dig deeper into the broker offering, education and help the regulation to evolve instead of just wanting to grow the industry in an unstructured way,” Guignard said.

Meanwhile, Arnab Baral, managing director of Cinch Loans, said the critical skill now lies in turning information into confident and tailored recommendations.

“The human edge is shifting from information to interpretation,” Baral said.

“Earlier, brokers added value by knowing more, today, AI processes more data than any individual. The edge is no longer what you know, it is how you apply it.”

He also said clients increasingly wanted a broker who could shoulder the responsibility of judgement in big-ticket decisions.

“Clients do not just need option, they need conviction, they need someone to say this is the right move for you and explain why,” Baral said.

Competing with AI is not like competing with banks

Both brokers stressed that AI represented a uniquely different competitive pressure than banks.

Baral said brokers’ history of “beating the banks” ran the danger of lulling some operators into a false sense of security about the nature of AI competition.

“AI is not the competitor, generic advice is,” he said, when asked if AI was harder to compete with than the banks.

“If a broker operates at a transactional level, rate comparison and basic structuring, then AI will outperform that quickly. A broker is a strategic thinker.

“The brokers who will thrive will move up the value chain, AI handles what. Brokers own the why and what comes next.”

Where speed wins – and where reassurance matters

Baral said he expected AI platforms to dominate straightforward borrowing needs, but said emotion and risk would keep humans central in more complex deals.

“In simple scenarios, speed wins, in high-stakes decisions, people still want reassurance,” he said.

“Buying a home or structuring investments involves significant risk – clients want to know they are not making a mistake, they want confidence.”

Guignard agreed that the property journey remained intensely emotional – even as client expectations around responsiveness increased.

“We are not available 24/7 and that might be an issue for some,” he said.

“It might not be true of the generation that come after us, but I believe that the journey of a client through property is a highly emotional one that needs support.”

Using AI carefully – and avoiding shortcuts

While both brokers admitted that AI was reshaping the market, they said they were wary of deploying it in ways that eroded trust.

“We have to be careful that we do not become complacent nor involve AI in the wrong tools,” Guignard said.

He also noted that choosing technology partners had become more complex as AI tools proliferated the landscape.

“Alignment with the right aggregator and exploring CRMs that have extra capabilities outside of the aggregation offerings will be crucial,” Guignard said.

“But the real value of the tools is still hard to weigh up and evolves very quickly.”

Baral said an implementation gap had opened up between brokers who talked about AI and those who embedded it into everyday work.

“Most brokers understand AI is important, but few have embedded it into daily workflows,” he said.

Skills, standards, and the partner-threat equation

Looking ahead, Baral outlined three major shifts he said would determine whether AI strengthened or undermined the sector.

“Skill shift, brokers need to understand how to prompt, validate, and interpret AI outputs,” he said.

“Compliance alignment, AI must align with NCCP obligations, responsibility cannot be outsourced and standardisation – clear frameworks are needed for how AI is used in credit assessment.”

Both brokers said they ultimately viewed AI as capable of amplifying good practice and punishing complacency.

“AI removes admin, speeds up analysis, and reduces human error. That creates space for higher value work, such as strategy and client relationships. If someone continues operating the same way as before, AI becomes a threat,” Baral said.

“AI will not replace brokers, brokers who use AI will replace those who do not.”

Guignard said brokers who relied on AI to replace personal efforts or expertise risked being left with the hardest deals – or none at all.

“If we are lazy, you could be replaced, or even worse, all the straightforward deal could go to AI and the brokers of tomorrow might only be left with the impossible deals,” Guignard said.

[Related: Australian brokers aren’t behind on AI – they’re flying blind]