Voice AI is having a moment. The Information recently spotlighted a wave of startups building AI-powered voice agents across industries, from restaurants to fintech to mortgage lending. It’s exciting coverage for a technology that’s quietly matured over the past 12 to 18 months. But amid all the excitement, something more fundamental is happening: the real innovation isn’t just in the voice. It’s in the workflow.
The ability to speak naturally with AI is no longer the hard part. Advances from OpenAI, Deepgram, Google, and others have made real-time, human-like voice interaction finally possible and affordable. What separates a flashy demo from a real business solution isn’t better speech quality. It’s better process design.
At Marr Labs, we’ve seen this firsthand. We build voice agents for mortgage lenders that don’t just “talk.” They work. Our agents qualify borrowers, capture key data, and route the call while staying compliant and integrated with client CRMs and telephony systems. The value isn’t in the voice alone. It’s in the orchestration: who gets called, when, under what conditions, what’s said, what’s captured, and what happens next.
In other words, the agent is just the interface. The magic is in what it connects to and how it fits into the business process.
That’s where many new entrants get it wrong. It’s tempting to focus on the model, the voice, the latency numbers. And yes, those matter. But when voice AI gets deployed in the real world — in mortgage, healthcare, logistics, or hospitality — it meets a wall of operational complexity:
Solving for those is where the true differentiation lies.
We’ve learned, for example, that a one-second delay in warm-transferring a borrower can mean a lost lead. That the wrong phrasing during a qualification call can trigger regulatory issues. That transferring too early or too late undermines trust. Designing for these details and iterating them over time is what makes a voice agent effective.
The market is starting to see that. The Information noted that companies like Marr Labs are already running real-time qualification calls on behalf of lenders, not as a proof of concept, but as a core operational tool. And that’s just the beginning. The winners in this space won’t be the ones with the smoothest-sounding bots. They’ll be the ones that make voice AI invisible, woven into the flow of business, supporting people and processes without getting in the way.
Voice AI isn’t a product. It’s infrastructure. And the best infrastructure disappears.
Last week, Marr Labs CEO Dave Grannan joined Josh Reicher, Chief Digital Officer at Cenlar FSB , and moderator Ruth Lee for a deep dive into how AI voice technology is used today across the mortgage industry. This wasn’t another high-level discussion about chatbots or IVR. It was a practical look at how human-like voice agents solve real problems—from lead conversion to borrower support.
Here are some takeaways from the conversation: use cases, lessons learned, and where AI voice is headed.
Dave Grannan opened with a stat that caught everyone’s attention: over half of borrowers go with the first lender who contacts them. That means speed is everything if you're buying leads from sources like LendingTree or NerdWallet.
AI voice agents can engage a lead within one second of submission, qualifying them, gathering details, and transferring to a licensed loan officer. The big unlock? You don’t need more staff to do it.
“You can turn on 1,000 AI agents right now and turn them off in an hour. That kind of flexibility is impossible with human teams.”
— Dave Grannan, Marr Labs CEO
The webinar featured a demo of a Marr Labs AI Voice Agent qualifying a borrower for a home equity loan and then making small talk to keep the caller engaged until a live loan officer joined the call. Grannan noted that this warm handoff significantly reduces call abandonment.
AI voice agents are designed to sound natural, respond intelligently, and never get tired or frustrated, giving borrowers a more consistent experience than traditional call centers.
Josh Reicher shared how Cenlar is using AI to improve operational service efficiency.
One use case: answering common borrower questions (like requests for a 1098 form) without human involvement. The key is matching the right level of complexity to the right tool.
“Most digitally savvy homeowners prefer to self-serve. If they can get an answer in one call, 24/7, they’re happy.”
— Josh Reicher, Cenlar
Both Dave Grannan and Josh Reicher emphasized that AI voice should empower, not replace, human agents—especially in emotionally charged or complex situations. Today’s AI voice agents can recognize the right moment to get out of the way.
Here’s how that works:
“If someone gets annoyed or asks to speak to a human, we don’t fight it—we route the call. It’s about getting the task done, not pretending the AI can do everything.”
— Dave Grannan, Marr Labs CEO
This hybrid approach ensures borrowers feel supported, while human reps focus where they’re most needed.
Grannan shared results from a recent case study across 300,000 calls:
Reicher echoed the value of starting small and measuring impact. “If the tool helps your team spend more time with borrowers and less time on busywork, it pays off fast,” he said.
Looking ahead, both speakers pointed to agentic AI as the next evolution—tools that can handle entire workflows with minimal supervision.
“Voice AI is no longer about routing or menus. It’s about completing real tasks—accurately, efficiently, and with empathy. ”
— Dave Grannan, Marr Labs CEO
Watch the full webinar recording for live demos, practical advice, and an inside look at what leading mortgage teams are doing with AI voice.
chris at marrlabs.com
Over the past year, the team at Marr Labs has had conversations with dozens of mortgage lenders. We’ve heard a remarkably consistent message: lenders need a faster, more effective, and compliant way to engage with borrowers and prospects. Speed matters. So does persistence. And staying on message—every time—can make the difference between a closed loan and a missed opportunity. But let’s be honest: even the best human teams have limits.
That’s where the Marr Labs AI Call Center steps in. Our virtual voice agents specialize in bridging the gap, ensuring that borrowers are connected with the right human loan officers— faster and more effectively than ever before.
Think of it as a perfect partnership: the efficiency and consistency of AI, paired with the expertise and personal touch of human loan officers. When lenders experience the “better than human” precision and performance of our AI voice agents—and see how it drives faster borrower engagement and more closed loans—they get it. It’s not just a solid business case. It’s a game-changer.
That’s why we’re proud to have Better Mortgage as our launch partner and flagship customer. We’re grateful for their partnership and their spirit of innovation. Curious to see what’s possible? Try the Marr Labs AI Call Center for yourself at marrlabs.com/mortgage-loa or book an intro call with me anytime here.