iscover 
Speaking on the latest Broker Daily Business Accelerator podcast, director of broker coaching company Broker Essentials, Jason Back, and Broker Daily director Alex Whitlock highlighted that the era of “bolt-on” tools is ending. In its place, a new standard is emerging where technology is woven into the “DNA” of leading brokerages and major aggregators.
Back, founder of Broker Essentials, noted that while 2025 was a year of exploration, 2026 requires a definitive commitment to systemisation.
“Mortgage brokers are going to have to go from maybe window shopping with their technology in 2025 to actually going in and making a purchase in 2026,” Back said.
“Those that truly integrate technology now... really put good automation in place, using automated workflows... they’re the ones who actually, I think, really should be leaning into technology.”
Back flagged that aggregators and brokerage brands have been investing heavily in their customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to accelerate efficiencies, and brokers have adopted some tech platforms, like servicing tools Quickli, in their masses and have been able to win back hours of time by avoiding manual calculations.
“When you’re thinking about where you’re bleeding time, servicing calculations is a really good example. Document collection is another good example. So, in 2026, if I’m still getting my clients to email in and text and do all the ones that we shouldn’t be doing – and I’m not using my client centre or client portal within my aggregator software... I’m falling behind,” he said.
“In reality, you’ll find that once you rip the bandaid off, the question you’re probably asking yourself is, why didn’t I do this years ago?”
Back emphasised that, for solo practitioners, the stakes are even higher. He said that technology is the only viable way to “buy back four or five or 10 hours a week” to focus on branding and marketing and generating new business.
Whitlock, director of Momentum Media, cautioned that the sheer volume of available apps can lead to people feeling overwhelmed, which stokes “fear, anxiety and resistance” among staff. He proposed that every brokerage therefore needs a dedicated “custodian” to filter the noise and to ensure their businesses are pulling ahead in 2026.
“Somebody in the business needs to be able to not just articulate and wave their arms around about how amazing it’s going to be and start going into technobabble,” Whitlock said. “They’ve got to be able to sit down and show in a calm and clear way the application of the technology and what the outcomes are.”
Whitlock admitted that even at a leadership level, AI can be a double-edged sword: “The best thing about AI is for me, it’s shown me how much time I can waste faffing around with technology.”
The duo also explored the blurring lines between mortgage broking and property management. Whitlock noted that dynamic thinkers are entering property management and using tech-heavy platforms to aggressively win market share from “flat-footed incumbents.”
Back agreed and suggested that brokers are currently underutilising property managers as B2B partners, despite property managers sitting on a “treasure trove” of data involving both aspirational buyers (tenants) and existing mortgage holders (landlords).
“If I had to pick one or two to work with, I had to pick a real estate agent or I had to pick a property manager to work with, I’d probably pick a property manager,” Back said. “I think there’s more opportunity in that field to work with a broker than potentially that is working straight with real estate agents.”
The death of patience
A central theme of the 2026 outlook is the hardening of consumer expectations. Back warned that the industry is moving toward a “one-strike policy” regarding service failures.
“We’re getting continually less and less patient in the world,” Back observed. “I feel like we’re almost going to like a one strike policy if we get anything relatively major wrong now, it’s too easy for our customers just to go say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to put up with that, I’m going somewhere else.’”
Rather than building expensive, bespoke software, Back urged brokers to look at existing, proven tools that already exist in market – whether workflow tools like Trello or Asana, broker-built tools to improve the speed of the broking process, or the advanced integrations being rolled out by major aggregators.
“I’m not a massive believer in individual brokers in there going, creating their own technology,” Back concluded.
“But you’ve got to do the work upfront. You’ve got to get the templates and the process right. You’ve got to start learning and understanding how these pieces of technology work, or at least master the basics, so that you then know that when you go and use it, that you’re using it effectively and efficiently. Because AI and large language models are fantastic, but the reality is you can spend hours, days in these sort of things and get no outcomes.
“You probably only need to wait three to six months, and it’ll be off the shelf for 20 bucks a month. So go and do some research... find a solution that’s already in the marketplace.”
You can hear more from Back and Whitlock in the latest Broker Daily Business Accelerator podcast here:
Find out more about how brokers can accelerate their processes and take advantage of technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), at the Better Business Summit 2026, run in partnership with National Australia Bank (NAB).
Taking place in every state across March and April 2026, the Better Business Summit will unpack how brokers can take their business to the next level by harnessing technology, formalising processes, and leading with a growth mindset.
Tickets for the Better Business Summit 2026 are available now, but hurry! The event will sell out!
[Related: What are brokers predicting for 2026?]