Credit unions get a smart New sidekick: CCUA partners with Saris AI to automate the boring stuff. If you've ever worked in a credit union's back office, you know the drill. Mountains of paperwork. Endless compliance checks. Tasks that make you wonder if there's a better use of your time (spoiler: there definitely is). Well, the Cooperative Credit Union Association just dropped some news that might make those repetitive workflows a whole lot less painful. The CCUA has partnered with Saris AI, a workflow automation platform that's basically like having a really efficient digital assistant who never needs coffee breaks. The partnership brings AI-powered automation to nearly 200 credit unions across Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island - and no, this isn't about replacing people with robots. What is this thing? Saris AI tackles the stuff nobody enjoys doing: complex, multi-step workflows in lending, compliance, and back-office operations. Think of it as the difference between manually copying data between systems for hours versus having that happen automatically while you focus on actually helping members. The platform plugs into the systems credit unions already use - core platforms, loan origination systems, document repositories, you name it. It automates the tedious parts while keeping humans in the driver's seat for important decisions. Because let's be real, nobody wants a robot making critical calls without oversight. Why credit unions are paying attention. "Credit unions are continually looking for innovative ways to improve operational efficiency while maintaining the high level of service their members expect," says Melissa Pomeroy, Executive Vice President and COO of the CCUA. "Saris AI offers a practical approach to workflow automation that complements existing operations, helping eliminate repetitive manual processes so employees can dedicate more time to strategic initiatives and member relationships." Translation: less time wrestling with spreadsheets, more time building actual relationships with members. That's the dream, right? The results are pretty impressive. Credit unions already using Saris AI are seeing real improvements: * Up to 70% of manual lending tasks now run on autopilot * Operational costs down by as much as 35% * Tasks that used to take hours now wrap up in minutes Those aren't just nice-to-have improvements. That's the kind of efficiency gain that lets smaller institutions compete with the big players without burning out their teams. AI that won't break the bank. Here's where things get interesting. While AI costs are skyrocketing across the industry and many solutions require expensive engineering teams to manage, Saris AI takes a different approach. "At a time when AI costs are rising and the technology landscape is becoming increasingly complex, credit unions shouldn't have to choose between innovation and affordability," explains Danial Jameel, Founder and CEO of Saris Inc. "Saris AI delivers enterprise grade AI capabilities and governance, allowing credit unions to focus on business outcomes instead of managing expensive engineering teams or AI token costs." In other words, credit unions get the same caliber of AI technology that major banks and tech companies are using, without needing to hire a small army of data scientists to keep it running. What happens next. As part of the partnership, Saris AI will show up at CCUA conferences and events, sponsor Association initiatives, and work directly with member credit unions throughout the region. The goal? Help organizations figure out how automation can make their operations smoother while keeping security, compliance, and member service exactly where they should be - at the top of the priority list. The bottom line: if your credit union has been drowning in manual processes and wondering when technology would actually make life easier instead of more complicated, this partnership might be worth a closer look. Because the future of work isn't about replacing people - it's about freeing them up to do the work that actually matters.

Saris raises $28.8 million to scale agentic workflow automation for financial institutions. * Fundraising News * 29.05.2026 01:01 pm Saris, the agentic workflow platform for banks and credit unions, today announced it has raised $28.8 million in Series A financing. The round was led by 8VC, with participation from Audacious Ventures, Homebrew, Btech Consortium, and Service Ventures. It will be used to scale Saris's platform across more financial institutions, deepen integrations with partners like Fiserv, Encompass, and MeridianLink, and grow the team that trains and deploys Saris agents. Alex Kolicich, founding partner of 8VC, said, "Financial institutions of every size are under pressure to modernize their operations, and most have been underserved by technology that wasn't built for the complexity of today's banking. Saris is changing that. Their platform delivers real, measurable results without disrupting the systems and teams institutions depend on." Technology acceleration, rising customer expectations, and the pressure to do more with existing resources are looming over financial institutions today. For most of them, the back office hasn't kept pace. Teams across lending, compliance, and operations are still spending hours on manual document review, data validation, and repetitive tasks that don't require human judgment. Saris steps in to handle that work so institutions can focus on their mission: taking care of customers. Saris's platform is the first of its kind in the financial industry. Its agentic workflows reduce tasks that once took hours to minutes: up to 70% of consumer, mortgage, and commercial lending tasks are automated, and costs are reduced by up to 35%. As a result, banks and credit unions are more than doubling output without adding headcount. Matt Mayo, CRO at Community Bank, explained, "We needed an AI strategy with a clear ROI, something that can help us compete and grow using existing resources. Saris provided a single, end-to-end solution that streamlines workflows and integrates with our existing technology for easy adoption. The results have been incredible and appreciated by our teams. It's clear that Saris built this solution with bankers in mind." Diana Hennel, CTO and SVP at Catalyst Corporate Credit Union, said, "With Saris, we reduced manually intensive processes while improving accuracy and maintaining human oversight. Their strategy to focus on high-impact business cases and close collaboration with our team helped us deliver meaningful changes to our customers." "Our vision is a future where humans and AI work side by side in financial services," said Danial Jameel, co-founder and CEO of Saris. "The best institutions won't replace people; they'll give people the leverage to do more with less strain and better serve customers and members as a result. Our platform already delivers measurable results, and this funding lets us bring that to more institutions, faster."