Innovation, Cloud, and AI: Key Messages from Solifi Summit 2025

Photo courtesy of Solifi

I always find it invigorating to be in a room full of innovators — especially when that room is filled with the people shaping the future of secured finance. At this year’s Solifi Summit, I had the opportunity to join Tamarack colleagues Lori Rieckhoff, Theresa Eichert, and Tim Appleget for three days of insightful discussions, product deep-dives, and inspiring keynotes. We reconnected with longtime friends and forged relationships with new leaders, including members of Solifi’s evolving executive team including CEO Dan Corazzi, CPO Karan Oberoi, CFO Mike Cagle, and the VP of Marketing Billy Cripe. We also enjoyed catching up with old Solifi friends – too many to list – led by industry veterans COO Katie Emmel, CTO Eldon Richards, and CRO Derek Benz.

The new leaders with new ideas combined with the continuity of established leaders brought an energy and excitement that buoyed the Summit and is a great example of how leaders in the equipment finance industry like Solifi and their headline customers including Wells Fargo, M&T, BMO, PEAC, and Stonebriar are leading the way growing the reach of the industry. We had an exciting and spirited few days.

What stood out most wasn’t just the energy—it was the clarity of vision. Dan Corazzi and his team emphasized three foundational themes that echoed throughout the sessions: customer-first innovation, strategic partnerships for speed and strength, and embracing the AI wave through cloud-native technology. These aren’t just trends, they’re imperatives for growth in today’s rapidly shifting lending landscape. These themes were backed up nicely by the main sessions led by the Solifi C-suite members as well as the user group discussions and breakout sessions that demonstrated product features and highlighted case study successes.

The keynote session, Innovating Secured Finance: Technology’s Role in the Next Chapter delivered by Mike Toglia, publisher of ABL Advisor and Equipment Finance Advisor. Mike followed Dan Corazzi. Both Dan and Mike introduced themselves as Italian Americans from Philadelphia, but Mike took the time to point out that he was “the only one wearing a tie.” Apparently, Mike’s father, the first Toglia to come to America, told him if they wore a tie people would take him seriously. Well, we always take Mike seriously and he delivered a great keynote starting with industry and economic overviews as well as technological imperatives based on what he sees across the industry.

“Strategic technology investment is no longer optional” defined his message. He cited recent data he sees showing the rapid emergence of new competitors in the ABL space via deal tables that used to show 85% Bank vs. 15% Other Participants now show 51% Private Capital vs. 49% Bank and Other Participants. Digital technology and innovation are critical to competing with new entrants like Private Capital because they come with higher risk appetites, move faster, and operate at lower margins than has been the norm. Mike told the audience that the times of buying software as if it were a car are long gone. “It's software and will be obsolete tomorrow” so get to the cloud and use SaaS – Data is King!

Like me, Senior Consultant Lori Rieckhoff’s favorite part of the event was meeting and engaging with the Solifi leadership team as well as connecting with clients and prospects. She also noted two key takeaways: first, the importance of moving to the cloud, as running a hybrid On-Prem/cloud architecture with MicroServices requires that the data used by those MicroServices be stored in the cloud platform. Second, she highlighted a clear investment and commitment to artificial intelligence within products, including a demo that showcased AI-enhanced product documentation and online help resources.

The Tamarack team left the event reinvigorated and recharged. We’re always excited when we see partners and peers aligning around the same principles that guide our work. We’re energized by the vision of customer success to which Solifi is leading and proud to be part of such an ecosystem.

If you would like to talk about what we heard at the Solifi Summit or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of the Tamarack team members.