Marc
Trachtenberg
—
chairman
and
CEO
of

Silk
Title
Company
—
has
spent
a
career
in

mortgage
and

title
insurance
companies
finding
ways
to
break
from
the
status
quo,
creating
innovative,
forward-thinking
solutions
along
the
way.
He
doesn’t
plan
to
stop
any
time
soon.
He
actively
searches
for
new
and
groundbreaking
ways
to
improve
his
companies
and

inject
innovation
and
creativity
into
the
industry.
In
this
Executive
Conversation,
Marc
digs
into
a
wide
variety
of
topics
on
how
to
approach
change
management
as
market
volatility
remains
outside
of
our
control.
His
perspective
offers
fresh
thinking
for
leaders
across

real
estate,
mortgage
and
title
who
are
ready
to
tackle
old
problems
with
new
strategies.

This
conversation
has
been
edited
for
length
and
clarity
purposes. 

Offering
enhanced
integrations
and
efficiency
upgrades
to
lenders

HousingWire:
Many
have
long
seen
title
insurance
providers
as
a
separate
industry
from
real
estate
and
from
mortgage.
Silk
Title
is
known
for
integrations
and
process
efficiencies
with
lender
partners.
How
do
you
see
this
industry?

Marc
Trachtenberg:
I
always
encourage
partners
and
business
leaders
to
be
clear
about
what
business
they’re
in.
At
Silk
Title,
we
want
to
be
the
best
partner
for
lenders
we
can.
Sometimes
that
requires
us
to
tell
a
lender
we’re
not
the
right
fit.
It
can
be
incredibly
hard,
especially
over
the
last
few
years,
to
turn
down
business.
We
did
that
because
it
is
the
only
way
to
protect
our
reputation
for
the
integrations
and
process
efficiencies
that
have
made
us
successful.
This
means
we
can
actually
partner
in
a
way
that
doesn’t
feel
like
we’re
separate
at
all,
but
only
if
all
partners
involved
see
their
business
in
the
same
way.

HW:
What
does
that
mean
for
real
estate,
mortgage,
and
title,
all
working
together?
What
should
these
partners
be
thinking
about?

MT:
The
number
one
thing
is

workflow.
That
word
is
sometimes
either
overused
or
too
vague,
so
let
me
be
more
specific
–
what
needs
to
happen
in
what
order? 

In
our
business,
we
work
with
partners
to
initiate
projects,
such
as
title
orders,
as
early
as
possible.
Many
lenders
can
initiate
an
order
based
on
the
data
and
parameters
collected
during
the
consumer
application.
It
also
means
applying

technology
where
it
can
be
most
effective
in
that
process.
I
hear
a
lot
of
companies
talk
about
implementing
technology,
and
sometimes
it
sounds
almost
ad
hoc
or
random,
how
it
is
being
used.
I’m
talking
about
using
technology
to
further
the
title
partnership,
not
just
for
technology’s
sake.

How
AI
makes
its
mark
on
the
title
industry

HW:
One
of
those
technologies
we
hear
a
lot
about
is
artificial
intelligence
(AI).
So
we
have
to
ask,
what
does
AI
look
like
in
the
title
space? 

MT:
Oh,
we
hear
a
lot
about
it,
too.
It
seems
like
sometimes
people
throw
AI
into
a
conversation
or
pitch
as
a
generic
savior
to
cost
or
delivery
issues.
We
do
not
see
it
that
way.
Speeding
up
a
bad
process
simply
accelerates
dysfunctional
issues.
That
is
one
reason
we
are
so
careful
with
our
process
and
our
partners
—
Machine
learning
types
of
AI.

They
are
very
different
from
Generative

AI
(GenAI).
We
believe
machine
learning
is
good
at
pattern
recognition
and
identifying
areas
that
require
automation.
Our
automation
has
mostly
been
RPA
and
machine
learning.
That
alone
has
given
us
the
ability
to
scale
without
adding
headcount
this
year.
When
we
think
of
GenAI,
we
will
have
the
same
goal
in
mind.
Where
is
the
biggest
improvement
in
cost,
speed,
or
growth?
If
one
of
those
areas
benefits
from
GenAI,
great.
We’ll
use
it
if
we
can
get
there,
but
if
we
can
improve
our
platform
another
way,
we’ll
use
that.
The
goal
is
to
be
able
to
deliver.
Most
lenders
don’t
care
how
that
delivery
happens,
as
long
as
we
are
consistent
and
improving
each
time.

Exploring
new
opportunities
for
GenAI
in
the
industry

HW:
Are
there
any
applications
of
technology
you
are
seeing
that
excite
you?
Anything
new
that
you
are
evaluating?

MT:
So
far,
the
only
true
applications
of
GenAI
in
our
industry
are
mostly
in
the
mortgage
sales
or
mortgage
customer
service
functions.
Using
chatbots
or
voice
response
to
take
information,
set
appointments,
or
deliver
marketing
messages.
Those
are
fine,
but
they’re
ultimately
triage
for
the
human
expert
in
those
areas.
The
area
that
I’m
most
interested
in
is
consumer
data.
Data
attributes
used
to
improve
the
process,
identify
leads
earlier,
convert
that
business
in
new
and
better
ways,
and
then
track
the
customer
progress
and
outcomes
over
time,
is
where
this
is
all
going. 

People
want
solutions,
not
products.
Data
can
be
used
to
dramatically
change
how
customers,
like
homeowners
and
homebuyers,
interact
in
the
process.
We
think
the
industry
is
moving
from
transactional
to
trending
data
to
lifetime
value
of
the
client
(ultimately).
People
like
to
say
we’re
there
now,
but
that’s
not
true
for
anyone.
Not
even
Rocket.
This
industry
is
just
getting
started.