Disruption or delusion? Jennifer McGuinness on the future of mortgage and housing finance

In this exclusive executive interview from Colorado Springs, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez sits down with Jennifer McGuinness-Lubbert, CEO of Pivot, to explore what’s really happening at the intersection of AI, regulatory pressure, and innovation in the mortgage industry. With decades of experience across the entire mortgage lifecycle — from origination to capital markets — Jennifer offers sharp, grounded insight into how industry buzzwords often obscure deeper challenges.

The conversation pulls no punches, from the hype of AI tools misinforming borrowers to the reality that “automated underwriting” is still far from automated. Jennifer also breaks down the regulatory headwinds facing lenders, including CFPB policy swings and rising data privacy lawsuits, while offering a blueprint for lenders seeking resilience through realistic tech strategies and cross-silo collaboration.

“Pivot should be thought about as a life cycle platform,” McGuinness said. “We have an aggregation platform where we buy non-agency loans, a due diligence company that handles breach defense and litigation, and default oversight. So all the things that can go wrong — and all the things that can go right — we cover them all.”

With mortgage rates still higher than homebuyers and LOs would like and policy uncertainty swirling around GSE reform, McGuinness is urging lenders to focus on what matters. “Everybody’s focusing on the volatility instead of the opportunity,” she said. “Educate your loan officers. Get them into diversified products. We’re still too stuck in an agency world.”

For lenders succeeding in this environment, McGuinness says the difference comes down to smart product strategy. “They’re doing record months by knowing what products their borrowers are eligible for before anyone even picks up the phone,” she said. “When your LOs understand the full product suite, the moment they hear a borrower buzzword, they know exactly where to go.”

She also shares her thoughts on AI. “Anyone who says they haven’t dipped their toe into AI is lying — if you’ve used Google, you’ve used AI,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean you should have AI underwriting your loans or talking to your borrowers yet. You need to test, and you need to understand where it fits your business and your clients.”

“If you look at MBA research, the most efficient lenders spend under $9,000 per loan. For smaller IMBs, it’s more like $11,000,” she said. “Now consider that lenders are only making $440 per loan. Can you get excited about that? Not really. So you need to do a life cycle analysis on every new piece of tech. If your LO is screaming for a new tool, but it adds five days to your close time, they’ll be the first to scream to get rid of it.”

On the question of conservatorship, McGuinness said, “They can come out — as long as it’s not done badly. That means not rushing, bringing in real market experts, and being clear on whether there’s an implicit or explicit guarantee.” 

“I want to see independent mortgage bankers get their own liquidity,” she said. “If we can help them securitize, that starts to level the playing field — no matter what happens with the GSEs.”

To best deal with a shaky market filled with so many “what ifs” making headlines every day, McGuinness encourages people to focus on the details. “Everyone gets distracted by the headline, but what if it only affects 20% of the market? That means you’ve still got 80% of the opportunity left,” she said.