Matthew Elliott, co-founder of Nivo, speaks to The Intermediary about where artificial intelligence (AI) is already making a difference for brokers, why document chasing remains one of the biggest operational headaches in the industry, and why case packaging is the “low-hanging fruit” for automation.
Nivo recently rolled out Nivo AI to the wider market. What prompted the move now?
Over the past year we’ve been working closely with early adopters to prove where AI can genuinely add value in a broker’s day-to-day workflow.
What became clear very quickly is that the real operational drag in broking isn’t necessarily finding the deal, it’s everything that happens around packaging it.
Brokers spend a huge amount of time gathering documents, checking information, and chasing clients for things that are missing. In specialist lending especially, that friction compounds very quickly. In fact, our analysis of thousands of cases shows typical journeys involve 15 to 20 back and forth message rounds and up to 25 documents per case, often stretching timelines out to one to two months or more.
If you can remove a large portion of that admin, brokers can focus on the parts of the job that actually generate value; advising clients, structuring deals and progressing them with lenders.
Nivo AI is designed to support that process. It helps guide the packaging journey so that submissions are properly structured before they reach a lender. Ultimately the aim is simple: stronger cases and more deals that are right first time.
So, how can AI actually help brokers deal with that admin burden?
The biggest opportunity sits in what we call the “gather, check and chase” part of the process.
A lot of broker time disappears into small issues; a missing payslip, incomplete bank statements, a document that doesn’t quite meet the lender’s criteria. None of these things are complicated, but collectively they slow everything down.
Very often someone has to stop what they’re doing, send an email, make a call or follow up to clarify something. Multiply that across dozens of cases and it becomes a significant operational burden.
Industry-wide, “right first time” rates for information and documents are often at or below 50%, which creates constant rework loops. It’s no surprise that chasing documents and checking accuracy consistently rank among the top operational pain points for brokers and lenders alike.
AI is particularly well suited to this type of work because it is repetitive, rules-based and high volume. It can keep the process moving, identify what is missing and follow up automatically until the case is ready for the next stage.
For us, that’s the low-hanging fruit where automation can deliver immediate value.
What role does Nivo play in that process for brokers?
In simple terms, Nivo acts like a digital case admin layer inside the broker workflow.
It helps gather the right information, validate what has been received, and keep the case moving until it is properly packaged. That means less manual chasing, fewer avoidable delays and less time spent by brokers or admin teams on repetitive follow-up.
Importantly, we are not asking brokers to reinvent how they work. Nivo fits around the existing process and channels they already use, whether that’s email, mobile app journeys, SMS or WhatsApp.
The goal is to reduce friction without forcing firms to rip out their current systems.
In practical terms that means brokers can spend more time speaking to clients and progressing deals, rather than managing missing paperwork, which today can account for five or more hours of admin effort per case.
How does the onboarding process work for firms that want to start using it?
We’ve deliberately kept the onboarding process very simple.
If a firm wants to get started, we send over a setup form that usually takes around half an hour to complete. In that form we ask them to outline the documents they typically request and the process they want the AI to follow.
That usually reflects the same journey brokers already run at the start of a case. Gathering documents, checking them and chasing anything that’s missing.
You’re essentially describing the job that a packaging or admin role would normally carry out.
Once we have that information, we configure the workflow and can typically have firms live within a couple of weeks.
Another advantage is that brokers don’t need to integrate it into their CRM straight away. Because Nivo works over email from day one, firms can start using it immediately and then look at deeper integrations later if they want to.
Do firms need detailed process documentation to get started?
Not necessarily. It varies a lot from firm to firm.
Some brokers come to us with very detailed documentation, 20 or 30-page guides explaining exactly how their admin teams run the process. Others simply outline the steps at a high level.
Both approaches work.
The key thing is understanding the outcome the firm wants and the steps that normally happen in the packaging process.
Because of that, firms can start seeing value relatively quickly without needing a long implementation project or a major transformation programme.
In many cases we start with a single use case, usually document gathering or packaging. We prove the value there, and then expand from that foundation.
Nivo originally launched as a secure messaging platform. How does AI fit into the company’s evolution?
Secure communication was always the starting point for us.
Specialist lending involves sensitive financial information, so any workflow automation has to sit on top of infrastructure that is secure and compliant.
Today the platform is used by more than 100 financial services firms and has supported over a million customer interactions.
What AI allows us to do now is move beyond simply facilitating conversations between brokers and lenders.
The platform can now actively support parts of the workflow itself, gathering information, validating documents and structuring the case before it reaches underwriting.
In many ways, it’s a natural evolution.
We already had the infrastructure and the sector-specific workflows. AI simply allows us to automate parts of that process in a way that helps brokers move faster without changing how they operate.
