ICE Mortgage Technology is building the future of housing finance with an integrated solution suite powered by automation, advanced data, and AI. By evolving its Encompass platform with modern APIs and fostering a collaborative partner network, the company is simplifying the entire mortgage process, assisting lenders and servicers to deliver an exceptional borrower experience. Spearheading this vision is Troy Tomas, SVP of Engineering, who is dedicated to helping lenders and servicers adapt to market shifts and create a more resilient, accessible mortgage landscape.
HousingWire: ICE has invested heavily in product innovation, particularly in automation and improved data connectivity across the housing finance continuum. How are these advancements directly benefiting your customers and transforming the mortgage industry?
Troy Tomas: We’re focused on advancing the entire mortgage industry by seamlessly connecting each step of the mortgage process through an end-to-end technology ecosystem that simplifies the entire housing finance cycle. To support this mission, we continue to release innovative workflow automation tools and enhanced configuration capabilities in Encompass to help streamline operations for our clients.
Additionally, we’ve introduced new automation tools specifically designed to minimize friction when transitioning a loan from Encompass to MSP for servicing, delivering a smoother handoff and greater efficiency. This year, we’ve also made significant advancements in underwriting automation with the release of two new ICE Mortgage Analyzers, the Asset Analyzer and the Audit Analyzer, which help lenders gain deeper insights to improve decision-making in the underwriting process. By continuously integrating new, advanced technologies into our digital infrastructure, we’re providing clients with flexible automation and direct access to granular data so they can focus on what matters most: delivering an exceptional borrower experience.
HW: Encompass has been a trusted loan origination platform for many lenders over the years. With new alternatives entering the market, how is ICE evolving Encompass to keep meeting and exceeding the needs of your customers?
TT: Our goal has always been to serve the entire industry with a neutral, comprehensive platform that supports a strong partner community. That’s how Encompass started, and we’ve stayed true to that vision by grounding our product innovation strategy in four strategic areas:
- Simplifying processes to drive efficiency
- Transforming workflows with the power of automation
- Creating a flexible and customizable experience
- Supporting reliability, stability and compliance
Through targeted efforts in these key priorities, we help our clients achieve three critical outcomes: reduced cycle times, maximized operations, and scalable growth with confidence. This commitment to excellence is also reflected in our partnerships, where we aim to foster a level playing field. We want our partners to be able to come in, interact, and automate on behalf of our clients. We’re not in the business of picking winners and losers. We offer general platform services that operate at that scale, enabling any third-party provider to access our network.
Today, we’ve rebuilt the network connectivity from the ground up using modern APIs through Encompass Partner Connect™, making it easier and more reliable for third parties to integrate so they can scale while staying efficient. Beyond connectivity, we’re also enhancing automation with advanced rule systems and leveraging AI within the ICE technology stack to simplify processes because sometimes the best response is the one that doesn’t require a click at all.
HW: ICE is on a mission to support the full housing finance lifecycle. What is ICE doing now, and what’s on the roadmap for this long-term vision and approach to innovation?
TT: Yes, our long-term vision is to deliver a fully integrated housing finance ecosystem that connects origination, servicing, and the capital markets. We’ve already made significant progress by bringing these capabilities together under the ICE umbrella, creating a seamless foundation for the industry.
On the front end, we’re transforming the borrower experience through automation and digitization, helping lenders deliver faster, more engaging interactions with better accuracy. By tapping into our data, our customers can proactively identify opportunities to retain and re-engage borrowers. For example, they can spot opportunities to offer a HELOC or refinance before a borrower initiates contact. Our customers can then guide them through a complete digital journey from application to closing and into servicing.
The technology for a fully digital mortgage is here, but widespread adoption requires a concerted effort. Our roadmap focuses on fostering collaboration among lenders, providers, and government entities to create a seamless digital experience across the entire housing finance lifecycle. By working together, we are revolutionizing the homebuying process, making it more efficient, convenient, and people-centric.
HW: How is ICE shaping its digital and product strategies to help lenders and servicers adapt to the evolving mortgage industry and seize new market opportunities?
TT: As new market opportunities emerge, mortgage companies are being asked to do more with the same resources. Rather than simply adding headcount, we encourage our customers to focus on leveraging automation built directly into our applications. This, combined with a data-driven approach, allows us to identify industry trends early and incorporate them into our product development cycles. We also provide customers with access to robust data sets so they can make informed decisions in real time. Our technology is designed to be flexible, enabling customers to scale and reconfigure quickly based on market needs while still maintaining their competitive edge.
To help meet the evolving needs of our customers, we maintain a constant dialogue with them and the entire industry through various channels, including regional user groups, our annual ICE Experience conference, and targeted feedback sessions on new product development. This direct input helps us prioritize innovation and align our solutions with customer needs, while also giving them the agility to succeed in a shifting market.
HW: AI is becoming one of the most transformative technologies of our time. And automating processes has never been more top of mind for consumers. How is ICE integrating AI into its solutions to meet customer demand?
TT: It’s an exciting time to be a technologist. AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, and we view it as an essential companion to accelerate the adoption of features, many of which are already in the marketplace. At a high level, our goal is to make homeownership more accessible by helping clients optimize operational efficiency, close loans faster, and scale so they can deliver a personalized consumer experience every time.
That goes far beyond simply embedding a chatbot. We’re investing in AI across end-to-end workflows, particularly through our data and document automation platform. Mortgage lending still relies on clunky documents, and while digitization continues to grow, source information often needs to be referenced. With machine learning, we can identify, index, and collate documents from consumers or third-party providers, while also extracting intelligence from them to support underwriters and accelerate decision-making.
We’re also applying AI to compliance through our AllRegs platform, which houses millions of pages of regulatory information. With natural language search, users can now access the exact compliance guidance they need in real time, dramatically improving efficiency.
On the servicing side, it’s about improving customer interactions. We’re using AI for conversation summaries so agents have instant context on consumer situations, even if they weren’t the original contact. We’re also implementing call prediction and smart routing so that borrowers are quickly connected to the right resource.Finally, we’re using AI internally. Every development team now has access to AI tools in their workflows, and we’re already seeing significant productivity gains, allowing us to bring innovation to market faster.
