This AI Doesn’t Replace Loan Officers... It Supercharges Them | Aakash Thumaty, Sierra

Can AI agents shift from mere cost-cutting tools into high-octane revenue drivers? In this episode, Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum sits down with Aakash Thumaty, founder of Takeoff, fresh off a red-eye flight and an acquisition by Bret Taylor’s Sierra. Thumaty breaks down how long-horizon voice AI is driving real bottom-line outcomes with the power to transform loan origination and redefine human-AI collaboration in financial services. In this episode, we cover: • Driving revenue outcomes: Why long-horizon agents focus on top-line growth across complex loan application steps rather than basic support. • The Sierra acquisition: Scaling a three-person team to near eight-figure run rate and joining forces with Bret Taylor to launch the Horizon platform. • Testing ground for B2B rollout: How Takeoff achieved conversion lift and higher funded loan volume by pairing voice AI with live loan officers, which Figure tested with direct customers before deploying to enterprise B2B partners. • Live voice AI interaction: A real audio sample of a borrower interacting with ""Sam,"" Figure's voice AI virtual assistant powered by Takeoff. • Human-AI collaboration: Unlocking cost-prohibitive touchpoints to expand market capacity and empower loan officers. • The enterprise AI frontier: Aakash’s perspective on open-source vs. proprietary models, plummeting inference costs, and autonomous agents. Chapters: 02:00 – Driving revenue outcomes 04:56 – Takeoff's acquisition by Sierra 11:46 – Testing ground to B2B rollout 15:22 – Live conversational AI interaction demo 17:13 – Human-AI collaboration and unlocking capacity 34:49 – The enterprise AI frontier: Open-source models and costs Learn how Figure helps banks and credit unions modernize HELOC lending: https://www.figure.com/partner-heloc/...