Longbridge’s Bill Packer on AI, automation and the future of reverse mortgages
In a conversation with HousingWire’s Allison LaForgia, Longbridge Chief Operating Officer Bill Packer discussed how the company is advancing reverse mortgage automation, deploying AI-powered tools and expanding its product offerings to better serve older homeowners. Packer shared how Longbridge is moving more technology development in-house while keeping customer needs and human expertise at the center of its innovation strategy.
Building technology around customer needs
Over the past several years, Longbridge has evolved its technology strategy, moving from a vendor-driven approach toward building more capabilities internally. “When I first arrived at the company, we were primarily focused on a vendor partnership model, in which most of the heavy lifting on the technology side was done by our vendor partners,” Packer said. “We’ve matured that strategy so that today a lot of the heavy lifting is done by our own teams.”
For Packer, determining where to invest in technology begins with listening to the people using it, from business partners to loan officers and borrowers. “We listen to our customers,” he said. “We go out in the marketplace, just like this morning. We’re having breakfast with a client, listening to what their needs are. How can we help them? How do we make their business better?”
That customer-focused approach is already shaping adoption of Longbridge’s borrower portal, which remains in beta. “Fully 40% of the customers that we invite to participate in Borrow, almost half, 40%, I’ll round up,” Packer said. “They are choosing to use the Borrow Portal rather than more traditional methods of reaching out directly to their loan officer.”
Putting AI to work without removing humans
As Longbridge expands its use of AI in mortgage lending, Packer emphasized that automation should support employees rather than replace the human expertise needed for more complicated transactions. “We always believe in keeping humans firmly in the loop,” he said. “We really want to be transparent about that, and we always want to keep that human in the loop.”
Longbridge is already seeing measurable improvements in reverse mortgage productivity as its AI-powered agents handle more routine tasks, freeing employees to focus on complex transactions and personalized customer service. “We’re seeing in our processing area, for example, our processors are able to handle 12% more loans than they would have before we started to deploy these technologies,” Packer said.
Those efficiencies allow employees to focus more attention on borrowers who need personalized guidance. “Let the AI work on the simpler, more straightforward transactions, and then when things get more complex, there’s more discussion that needs to happen,” he explained. “You really need that expertise.”
Packer also highlighted Bridget, Longbridge’s AI chat agent, as an example of how automation can reduce routine workloads. “Since she went live in December of 2025, she’s answered over 76,000 questions,” he said. “That’s 76,000 times that an underwriter or the structuring desk didn’t have to engage. That it was actually answered by the agent directly, 24 hours a day, 365 days a week.”
Bringing reverse mortgage automation to the forefront
While reverse mortgages have historically been viewed as complicated and labor-intensive, Packer believes the product’s underlying purpose is straightforward. “All we’re really trying to do is make the home equity that’s already there in the home available for the customer to help fund their retirement,” he said. “Plain and simple, it’s a very simple mission.”
The greater challenge, Packer explained, has been the industry’s reliance on manual processes, particularly in underwriting. “Every transaction that gets underwritten is a manual underwrite,” he said. “We looked at that, and we said we really have to bring a level of automation that’s been unheard of into this environment.”
Also addressing that gap is Loanbridge IRIS, its automated underwriting platform designed to bring greater consistency and efficiency to reverse mortgage lending. “IRIS is our attempt at deploying automated underwriting, really to help the underwriters make credit decisions in the environment, streamlining the process for our customers, making it transparent, repeatable,” Packer explained.
Product innovation and the next chapter
Beyond operational improvements, Longbridge is also expanding its lending products, including HELOC for Seniors, to address the changing financial needs of older homeowners. “It’s important that we keep iterating on the products that we’re offering, so that we bring to market solutions that our customers need,” Packer said.
Looking ahead, Packer believes companies that embrace technology and product innovation will be better positioned to serve borrowers as the industry evolves. However, he also sees a need to approach AI adoption thoughtfully. “I think we are at an inflection point,”he said.“I think where we are is we are at the dawn of like the new internet with all these AI technologies.”
For Longbridge, that means continuing to invest in solutions that improve efficiency, support lending professionals and expand access to home equity for older Americans.
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Managing Editor of the Content Studio at HousingWire
Discover how Longbridge is using AI, automation and product innovation to improve the lending experience.
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