By Bryan Johnson, IT Director, 星空传媒

Whenever you start a new initiative, few things feel worse than having to guess your return on investment (ROI). Planning, designing and launching a program can be costly, which makes it essential to have key performance indicators (KPIs) in place before you go live. That advice goes double when it comes to AI pilot programs. As an emerging technology, it can be difficult with AI to know what you should even be tracking. We鈥檒l cover both topics in this blog. That way, when you鈥檙e ready to launch your program, you can feel confident that it has been well worth the effort.

Before you define your metrics, define your program

Before you define your metrics, ensure your AI pilot program itself is on solid ground. Begin by running it through the SMART goal test. Is it Strategic, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound? If not, assessing ROI will be tough if not impossible. A strong AI pilot must:  

• Improve a specific workflow
• Address the needs of a specific business unit
• Align with your larger business objectives
• Improve upon a defined baseline
• Have a definite start and end date
• Stand up to measurement and scrutiny

If you can鈥檛 honestly check these boxes, head back to the drawing board. If you can, then you鈥檙e ready to measure what matters and decide if your AI pilot has paid off.  

Quality over quantity

Once you are confident in your program鈥檚 fundamentals, the most important thing is to resist overmeasuring. If you try to track a million metrics, you can quickly lose the plot. A far superior approach is to adopt the old adage of quality over quantity鈥攖hat is, track only what is essential to determine whether your program improved a workflow without adding new risks.

Score your program with a three-prong approach

The best way to do this is to put together a simple scorecard that looks at three things:

1. What were the outcomes?
   These are the top results related to your program鈥檚 goal, which could be if the program:
   1. Improved turnaround times
   1. Increased closed files per person per week
   1. Reduced file reworks or changes

• What were the risks?
  It is just as important to score for drawbacks, as any good title agent knows errors. Examine any of the following if they are relevant to your overarching goal:
  • Did the program increase error rates?
  • How often did issues escalate?
  • How many fixes were needed? 聽
    
    
• What was the adoption rate? 聽
  Finally, look at how widely folks inside your organization adopted the program and its associated AI tools. You don鈥檛 want to skip this step. Even the best AI program in the world will fail long-term if people resist using it. Review:
  • Weekly active users
  • Task completions
  • Edit rates, that is, how often did the AI tool trigger human intervention

Once again, you don鈥檛 need to tackle every one of the sub-bullets I have included here. The point is simply to put your AI program through these three main criteria. Once you do, you鈥檒l have a strong view of whether it is a net positive or net negative for your organization.

Onward to AI success!

In a recent article, ALTA鈥檚 CEO wrote that 鈥渕ore than 90% of title and escrow professionals have adopted generative AI in at least one form.鈥�[i] This is a stunning statistic that suggests where the industry is headed. But adoption alone does not tell us anything particularly useful about the ROI of an AI pilot. Getting a clearer picture of AI鈥檚 value within your agency requires a more holistic view. Pair your AI tool with clear goals and a definite baseline, and deploy a simple scorecard to track outcomes, risks, and adoption rates. That鈥檚 the ticket for separating real business wins from white noise. And once you do that, AI becomes more than a shiny new tool. It turns into a driver of sustained success.

[i]

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Document Processing: AI-powered tools can extract relevant information from documents, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy. You can upload a lengthy document into certain AI platforms and ask specific questions to extract the necessary information. Of course, you need to make sure you use AI tools in compliance with your company’s policies around safeguarding sensitive or non-public information.

Improved Communication: AI-powered platforms help convey messages quickly and professionally, making communications clearer and more efficient. You can enter information, or a message intended to be sent to a customer, and then ask an AI platform like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, for example, to restate the communication in a professional tone, or make it sound friendlier, or personalize it, or even to shorten it while retaining all of the important points.

Marketing: AI platforms can help design graphics, write blogs, strategize, and identify target audiences.

So, Where Should You Begin Your AI Journey? Do You Need To Be A 鈥淭echie鈥� To Use AI?

The best place to begin is at the beginning 鈥� and there is a free four-module beginner鈥檚 webinar that you can take at your own pace, requiring only one-two hours per week. Think of this as AI 101 for the non-tech-savvy. Andrew Ng breaks down AI concepts in a way that even your grandma could understand (no offense to tech-savvy grandmas out there). You鈥檒l learn the basics of AI, ethical considerations, and how it鈥檚 transforming industries鈥攊ncluding real estate.

Once you鈥檝e gotten a handle on the basics, it鈥檚 time to learn a bit more about the specifics 鈥� about what AI tools are out there that might be of benefit to you, and how to use those particular tools. And, there are TONS of AI tools! You can explore what鈥檚 available by reading blogs such as (which includes a link to the author鈥檚 ). It鈥檚 easy to find AI blogs just by googling, but here are a couple to get you started:

• , Axis Technical Group (June 6, 2023)
• Extracting Value from Intelligent Automation in the Title Insurance Industry, Axis Technical Group (June 2, 2022)

As you do your initial research, you will quickly discover a few core points to be aware of when using AI. Importantly, you will find that asking AI questions is a skill in and of itself. Better prompts lead to better output, so you will need to educate yourself on how to craft prompts that yield the results you want.

Maintaining the safety and integrity of systems and sensitive information is another important concern. Free AI may share information that you give it, or there could be settings within the AI platform that you need to change to ensure that confidential information is not made public or available to anyone else. As mentioned earlier, understanding the safeguards around AI tools and using them in accordance with your company’s policies is essential, especially when handling non鈥憄ublic or sensitive consumer information.

While these technologies are new, some platforms are already being viewed as more reputable than others, especially those backed by major corporate entities. Some AI platforms are not well known and might pose a danger to your network, so it鈥檚 best to coordinate closely with your IT department when selecting AI tools for your organization.

Learning how to effectively and safely use AI is a step beyond the initial research. As you continue on your quest for knowledge, I would recommend looking for more free webinars or informative video shorts. A free webinar from The Title Report that may be of interest is, . It covers (as advertised on its webpage) topics such as:

• Definitions of common AI terms.
• Practical applications of AI in title insurance, including in marketing, sales, communications, graphic design, and more.
• Realistic expectations for what AI can and cannot do.
• Important legal guidelines and quality control measures to consider.

As for video shorts, has a bunch of insightful YouTube videos available just for the taking. In one such video, 鈥�,鈥� she introduces us to three more useful AI platforms and demonstrates how they can all be used together to generate the optimal output:

• 鈥� helps users analyze academic papers, extract data, and synthesize findings efficiently.
• 鈥� consolidates important points from uploaded documents; a Google AI tool designed to enhance note-taking.
• 鈥� transforms uploaded information into actionable products; an AI assistant developed by Anthropic.

After you鈥檝e gotten the benefit of all of these great free resources, you may want to consider paying for some specific courses tailored to your objectives for AI 鈥� for what you want AI to do for you. There are no shortage of paid-for resources, either, but finding the right one can be tricky. offers several classes as well as a free trial month. offers quite a few AI-related short courses at reasonable prices, including one for writing AI-prompts. When all else fails, just google the type of class you are looking for based upon your objectives. Of course, there鈥檚 no substitute for actually using the tools themselves and gaining firsthand experience.

Final Thoughts AI isn鈥檛 here to replace us鈥攊t鈥檚 here to make us superheroes in our field. Whether you鈥檙e automating tedious tasks, wowing clients with personalized service, or just freeing up time for that second cup of coffee, these resources are your gateway to mastering AI. So, what are you waiting for? Dive in and start transforming y

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It feels almost impossible to stay connected right now. Though we鈥檙e starting to see stay-at-home orders lift across the country, social distancing protocols remain. As we continue to be separated from each other, title agents are finding innovative ways to make sure their clients and employees are safe and feel valued. Cindy Koebele, owner of Minnesota-based TitleSmart Inc., recently joined us on a webinar about doing just that.

When her home state started to close in response to COVID-19, Cindy鈥檚 first focus was to see who could work from home and make sure those team members had the tools to do so. Cindy and company also started scheduling smaller appointments to ensure client safety.

Cindy鈥檚 team also faced the same roadblocks everyone has experienced over the past several months 鈥� a shortage of everything. The offices needed to be stocked with essentials like disinfectant wipes and masks for staff and clientele, but there was a long period where nothing could be found. Thankfully the team at TitleSmart is just that 鈥� a team. A joint effort to equip company offices was quickly underway. Staff members would even text Cindy late at night if they managed to score a hard-to-find item.  

Nearly everything about day-to-day work had to change. The team was issued clipboards so they could hand papers to consumers who sat in their cars for 鈥渘o contact鈥� signings. Meanwhile, the 鈥渓ittle things鈥� Cindy鈥檚 team does to help clients feel welcome had to change a great deal. In the past, they鈥檇 bake fresh cookies and have an assortment of other goodies for clients taking the next big step in their lives. It was an important way the TitleSmart team connected with customers.

Thankfully, having to change the way you connect doesn鈥檛 mean giving it up entirely. Though the homemade touch of fresh baked cookies has to be put on pause, Cindy and team are still making yummy goodie bags for their closers. The focus of ensuring everyone feels welcome is more important than ever, and it鈥檚 something everyone at TitleSmart is taking very seriously.

Cindy notes that she refuses to lock her doors. She has no intention of making anyone do something they don鈥檛 want to do during these difficult times. Accommodations are being made both for those who want as little human interaction throughout the process as possible, and for those who still want that in-person experience.

The most critical takeaway from the discussion with Cindy is that connection isn鈥檛 impossible right now. It simply requires a little bit of innovation. Our situation may be a complicated one, but it鈥檚 one that we鈥檙e all in together. Making your team feel valued and showing your clients that you鈥檙e still willing to go the extra mile no matter what it may look like is the smartest business move that you can make right now. 

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