Tamarack/Rinaldi strategic partnership featured in Equipment Finance News

(This story by Johnnie Martinez II was originally published in Equipment Finance News on September 12, 2023)

Partnership provides AI, BI solutions for equipment lessors

Equipment finance software company Tamarack Technology and equipment finance consulting firm Rinaldi Advisory Services are combining resources and expertise to deliver better data systems and insights to equipment leasing companies.

Tamarack Technology provides business intelligence (BI) and AI-based automation products and software integration services, according to the company’s release. Rinaldi Advisory Services (RAS) provides equipment finance consulting services at the executive level.

Tamarack will use its BI products and services in tandem with RAS’ business metrics and insights to help lenders improve productivity and enhance leasing strategies, RAS President Bob Rinaldi told Equipment Finance News. The two organizations shared customers prior to combining services, with the companies’ Aug 29 release starting the combination process that will continue for the next few months.

“Something I’ve been preaching for any independent who I’m counseling, consulting with and advising that wants to scale and grow is, you need a data mart and you need a data warehouse,” Rinaldi said. “Without it, it’s going to be difficult to get things done that need to be done and to analyze your company in the right way.”

Equipment leasing companies need data systems that work for leasing’s unique setup compared with sales, which Tamarack provides, Rinaldi said. As data warehouses and data systems increase in importance, leasing companies need technology and the ability to interpret data to remain competitive.

AI’s prominence in equipment finance continues to grow, with vendors and lenders using it to overcome labor shortages and mitigate fraud concerns. Tamarack’s data aggregation tools combined with RAS’ business analytics capabilities create an offering, that allows equipment leasing companies to tap into data to better understand industry metrics, such as pricing, to improve operations and risk management.

With the growing use of AI in the equipment finance industry, implementation and use cases remain critical to improving productivity, Tamarack President and Chief Digital Officer Scott Nelson told EFN.

AI is often implemented in stages, he said.

“The first thing you do with AI automation is the safe stuff. … You don’t turn the $50 million deal over to the machine; you turn over the $25,000 deal that you’ve seen 100 times,” he said. “That’s what we are doing to not only increase the productivity of the enterprise but increase the productivity of the individual underwriters because they can focus on the important deals that really matter.”