Ankur Patel interviews Chris Ortega, who leads technology transformation at Lake Michigan Credit Union, a $17B asset institution and the 13th largest credit union in the US. What's distinct about Chris's approach is that he restructures how the organization operates before deploying the tools — agile teams, a Center of Excellence, and a single Emerging Technology Governance Board that owns AI, RPA, and stablecoin. The episode covers how that structure was built, where RPA vs. agentic AI is the right call, and the cost discipline that keeps emerging tech from running away from the institution.

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Guest: Chris Ortega, CIO, Lake Michigan Credit Union
Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal

0:00 Introduction: Meet Chris Ortega
0:32 Stabilizing the IT landscape at LMCU
1:40 Inside a top credit union
3:23 Building conviction for transformation
5:20 The Center of Excellence and the three C's
7:43 What surprised him about emerging tech
9:31 Where traditional project management falls short
11:25 Why agile fits today's pace
14:06 One committee for AI, stablecoin, and whatever comes next
15:53 From planning to execution to ROI
18:33 Closing the gap between business and engineering
22:09 Building trust through real back-and-forth
24:35 Why remote teams are an asset, done right
26:44 What smaller credit unions can take away
29:20 Pick your tech, then match your partners to it
33:25 Where agentic AI is showing up
35:45 The HUMDA win: 150 steps cut to 15
36:56 Mortgage, the call center, fraud, and audit
38:51 The token-bill trap
40:46 RPA vs. agentic AI
44:13 AI bootcamps, lunch and learns, and Co-Pilot
48:42 Star Trek, not Terminator