Rethinking Collections with Agentic AI

Mark Hayward, Head of AI at Lowell discusses the implementation of AI within debt purchase and collections. The discussion examines organisational readiness, risk appetite, regulation, governance, business cases, employee adoption and the limitations created by legacy technology.Rather than focusing on speculative AI capabilities, the conversation concentrates on deployment experience: automated call summarisation, quality assessment, voice AI, process automation and the need to choose between AI and simpler automation technologies. It also examines how rapid technological change affects investment decisions and why organisations may need to accept shorter technology lifecycles.A central theme is the emerging balance between people and machines. Routine activities and straightforward customer transactions can increasingly be automated, while human agents remain important for complex conversations, vulnerability and circumstances where customers need meaningful human interaction. The discussion concludes that AI is likely to reshape processes, support functions and employee skill requirements, rather than simply replace existing contact-centre operations.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

In this discussion Sarah Naylor discusses how the enforcement sector has evolved over the past decade, with a particular focus on local government debt. Sarah describes the shift towards earlier engagement, digital communications and customer-focused resolution, alongside the growing importance of vulnerability and independent oversight.The discussion also explores the limits of digital engagement, the continuing value of face-to-face interaction, the effects of social-media misinformation, changing attitudes towards public debt and growing pressures on enforcement employees. It examines the emergence of first-time debtors and the need to move from a narrow enforcement model towards one based on understanding individual circumstances and identifying workable solutions.A final theme is data: enforcement providers frequently begin with limited information, while fragmented data across local authorities can make collections less efficient and require customers to disclose sensitive vulnerability information repeatedly. The discussion identifies improved data sharing, combined with human judgement, as an important opportunity for improving both outcomes and customer experience.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

This discussion examines how financial-services organisations can use more granular and timely data to improve affordability assessment, credit risk management, vulnerability identification and collections. Paul Moran, Head of Analytics at DutifulData, discusses the limitations of traditional credit-bureau, ONS and open-banking information and explains how application-level data can provide greater insight into individual circumstances and emerging financial stress. The conversation also explores Consumer Duty evidencing, repayment intent, sustainable arrangements, forward-looking affordability and the growing role of AI in creating more personalised customer outcomes.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

In this discussion with Ade Fatukasi and Selom Mortty from Sarah we explore how agentic AI could reshape credit and collections, moving the industry beyond task automation towards configurable digital employees. The conversation examines conversational outreach, decision-making, compliance monitoring, vulnerability identification, customer transparency and human oversight.It also considers implementation strategy, workforce concerns, AI-to-AI communication, API-enabled services and the competitive threat posed by AI-native businesses. More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

Dan Pearce from Telsolutions discusses how local authorities are modernising resident communications, collections and customer engagement. Local Authorities are seeing rising cost and declining effectiveness of post, changing customer expectations, fragmented legacy systems and the operational barriers to digital transformation.We discuss practical approaches including departmental pilots, verified RCS messaging, WhatsApp, robotic process automation and generative AI virtual assistants. Also explored are the forthcoming changes to council tax collection, the need for earlier and more proactive engagement, and how technology could help local authorities manage increasing service demand without corresponding increases in resources.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

Matt Copper from Textra Video discusses the changing role of video in business communication, how technology, AI and automation is changing video production.The conversation covers the importance of script quality, production values, editing, brand protection and audience engagement. It also explores how Textra Video combined artist-created assets with software automation to make video more accessible for organisations, particularly for learning, training, explainers, marketing and customer communication.The discussion ends by considering personalised video, messaging-based distribution and the continued role of human creativity.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

Shuweib Abdulrehman from Regulaitor discusses the evolution of AI in quality assurance, compliance monitoring and customer journey oversight in financial services. Firms are adopting AI at different speeds and where traditional manual sample checking continues it is constraining oversight. The discussion explores how AI can move QA beyond transcription and basic sentiment analysis towards policy-aware, product-aware and regulation-aware assessment.AI can help firms review more calls, identify vulnerability markers, assess affordability discussions, support Consumer Duty reporting and provide faster insight into adviser performance. More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

Rob Tyrrell, co-founder of Haboo Money, explains how changing income patterns, gig economy work, supplementary income and unpredictable earnings create challenges for traditional monthly repayment models. The discussion explores how personalised repayment tools, digital wallets, self-service journeys and data-led insights can help customers remain on track, reduce missed payments and support better outcomes. It also considers the role of open banking, real-time dashboards, AI, API costs, data security and integration with legacy lender systems.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

Luke Sculthorp, Commercial Director for the UK and Ireland at My DSO Manager, about the changing dynamics of B2B receivables, arrears management and commercial credit. He explores cash pressure, overdue debt complexity, dispute management, geopolitical risk, automation, customer segmentation, credit judgement, data integration and the future role of technology in empowering credit teams. The discussion positions receivables management as an increasingly strategic function requiring stronger data, better process design and careful use of automation.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com

Tracy Stone, Director of Welfare Together, is focused on public sector debt, welfare support and early intervention in local authority collections. This episode we explore why households are falling into arrears, how council tax and utility debts differ from consumer credit, and why middle-income customers are increasingly affected by cost-of-living pressures. The discussion highlights the need for earlier engagement, income maximisation, benefit checks, single-customer views, better financial education and a more preventative approach to collections. It also considers the role of AI in identifying customers who need support, while emphasising that human judgement and empathetic conversations remain central to effective customer outcomes.More insights and videos at https://www.ro-ar.com