Will this AI product challenge the role of brokers?

Cloudcase, an Australian-founded digital origination and onboarding platform for financial services, has demonstrated an AI assistant that can execute a full home loan process end-to-end on behalf of a customer.

The system is built around the concept of a “machine customer”, where AI agents act for consumers to research, apply for, and purchase financial products.

Research company Gartner has forecast that by 2030, at least 25 per cent of purchasing decisions will be substantially delegated to machines.

This new technology suggests that home loans could form part of that.

“This is no longer theoretical,” Rian Fergusson, chief technology officer at Cloudcase, said.

“We’ve demonstrated a complete, real-world lending process executed end-to-end by an AI assistant. Financial institutions need to be ready for customers who don’t fill out forms, they delegate.”

How does it work?

At its core, the Cloudcase’s system replaces the traditional multi-step application process with a single conversation.

Cloudcase integrates with AI assistants via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), allowing tools such as ChatGPT or Claude to act directly on behalf of the customer. In its demonstration, Cloudcase used Claude.

A borrower describes their situation in a chat. From there, the AI identifies a suitable loan, initiates the application, and outlines required documentation, effectively compressing what would normally take multiple meetings into a single interaction.

Once documents are uploaded, the system extracts financial, identity, and employment data automatically, pre-filling the application and prompting the user only where needed.

The borrower then reviews and confirms information, while the AI fills in gaps through follow-up questions.

The assistant then interacts with the back end in real time, handling everything from multi-applicant scenarios to resolving inconsistencies such as mismatched addresses.

It also performs eligibility checks on the fly, explaining outcomes and suggesting adjustments, such as increasing a deposit, before rerunning the application instantly.

The process concludes with submission, including document attachment, identity verification, and e-signatures.

The result, according to Cloudcase, is a fully completed home loan application in under 10 minutes.

The future of broking?

While brokers have increasingly adopted technology to improve efficiency, few developments have directly challenged the value of the broker in the process itself.

Systems, such as Cloudcase, raise the prospect of removing the human intermediary altogether.

“The question is no longer whether this will happen, but how quickly,” Fergusson said.

“Institutions that can serve machine customers will capture a new generation of buyers. Those that can’t risk becoming invisible.”

However, not all industry participants are convinced the shift will go that far.

AI and marketing coach Adam Franklin said that while brokers need to embrace AI, the human role itself is unlikely to disappear.

“The human touch of broking won’t be going, and it shouldn’t,” he said.

“If AI handled the admin and the number crunching, you’re still responsible as the broker for compliance and regulation. It’s your neck on the line.

“AI won’t replace advice. It won’t replace judgement. It won’t replace trust. That’s where the broker comes into their own.”

Similarly, Finni brokers Eva Loisance and Costa Arvanitopoulos pointed to regulatory constraints as a limiting factor.

“Automation can’t govern automation. If you end up with complete robo-broking there’ll be no oversight,” Arvanitopoulos said.

“And then, who’s going to own all the automation? You imagine it would go back to the banks or to big faceless organisations. There is an accountability with brokers that cannot be automated.”

Broker Daily director Alex Whitlock added that the emotional weight of borrowing may keep human brokers relevant.

“I think there’s just something about borrowing a lot of money that is so fundamentally human,” Whitlock said.

What do you think about AI’s role in broking? Let us know in the comments below.

[Related: New platform targets broker client retention and workflow automation]

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