The equipment finance industry sits at an inflection point. Artificial intelligence is reshaping underwriting workflows. CRM platforms are evolving from contact databases into decision-making engines. A generation of professionals under 40 is coming into its own — inheriting an industry they intend to transform, while holding fast to the relationship driven principles that made it worth transforming in the first place.

Monitor’s 2026 NextGen survey, completed by this year’s NextGen leaders, offers a detailed portrait of how these leaders see the landscape right now: where the industry is falling short, what they wish they’d known at the start, and what kind of investment they believe the next generation will require. Their answers are candid, specific and, at times, surprising in their consensus.

The Innovation Gap: Keeping Pace, but Just Barely

When NextGen leaders were asked to rate the equipment finance industry’s overall readiness for disruptive technologies on a scale of one to five, the average score landed at 3.14. In plain terms: the industry is keeping pace, but it is not pulling ahead.

One respondent, speaking to that exact tension, described the gap as organizational rather than technological. “The curiosity is genuine,” the respondent wrote. “I see it in how clients are asking different questions than they were two years ago. People want to understand AI, and they’re investing in it. But there’s a real gap between interest and implementation, and most of it isn’t technical. It’s organizational. Compliance, legal and IT teams are still catching up to what the business side wants to do. Until companies figure out how to close that internal gap — not just buy the tools but actually change how decisions get made — the number stays at a 3.”

That observation frames something important: NextGen leaders are frustrated with the pace at which their organizations are learning how to use technology. Cory Damm of Elevex Capital, who rebuilt his organization’s origination workflow around intelligent automation, puts it in terms of trust: “When a customer gets a real-time status update at every stage, when the system proactively surfaces what’s needed instead of making them chase us, you’re no longer a lender — you’re a partner. Automation didn’t remove the human element from our customer relationships. It removed the friction that was preventing real human connection from happening in the first place.”

That distinction — between technology as a replacement for human connection and technology as an enabler of it — runs through nearly every response in this year’s survey. For this cohort, it is a lived operating principle.

AI Takes Center Stage — with Nuance

Across responses, artificial intelligence emerged as the technology most frequently cited as transformative. But the ways NextGen leaders described its impact were notably specific — and humble.

Victoria Clifford of MAZO Capital describes AI’s primary value as giving her more time for the actual relationship: “What used to take a significant amount of time — researching a prospect, summarizing a conversation, drafting follow-up communications — I can now do faster and with more precision. That means more of my time is spent on the actual relationship, which is where I believe the real work happens.”

Quade Koffler of Y.E.S. Leasing describes integrating an AI layer into his firm’s underwriting workflow, cutting credit decision turnaround times significantly. “In a relationship driven business, speed and consistency create real value and strengthen long-term partnerships.”

Ryan Ragland of Valiant Finance frames the shift in terms of the quality of customer conversation: “Where I used to spend significant time manually researching a partner’s business model, competitive landscape and financing gaps, I can now surface that intelligence quickly and walk into conversations with sharper context. Customers notice when you come prepared to solve, not just to sell.”

Not everyone approaches AI with pure enthusiasm. Patric Berkery of Wingspire Equipment Finance offers a reminder that adoption requires discipline: “It is an evolving tool that requires you to review the information and confirm that it is accurate.” And Cory Svihla of Dedicated Financial GBC describes a counterintuitive response — as AI has made interactions feel more automated, he has become more intentional about showing up personally, “communicating with genuine care, and treating every client relationship as exactly that — human, not artificial.”

This tension between automation and authenticity may be the defining professional question for this generation of leaders. They have been handed tools of extraordinary capability. How they wield them will define their legacy.

The Talent Problem: What the Industry Gets Wrong

When survey respondents were asked to identify the single biggest barrier to attracting younger, diverse talent to equipment finance, nearly half (49%) pointed to lack of industry awareness. The industry’s relative invisibility to young professionals continues to be its most significant recruitment liability.

The NextGen leaders’ responses add dimension to that finding. Several note that the pipeline problem is not just about awareness; it is about what happens once young professionals arrive.

Nakeysha Snead of First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance, who sits on a Rotational Development Program committee, offers an expansive view of what diverse talent actually brings: “Success in this industry isn’t just about understanding finance. The skills that you obtain from majors such as communications, marketing, tax, insurance or real-life skills such as problem solving, collaboration and prioritization all can be leveraged to make a real impact in this industry.”

Aileen BeVard of DLL points to a structural challenge embedded in how the industry thinks about leadership selection: “Future leaders need to be flexible thinkers who can navigate change, not just maintain what has worked in the past.” The implication is that organizations selecting leaders based on familiarity and tenure may be systematically screening out exactly the people they need.

Damm was blunter still about what must change: “The industry has to stop treating leadership development like a reward for tenure and start treating it like a system you design on purpose.”

Jordan Lovick of Bell Bank Equipment Finance raises a point that reframes the talent conversation entirely: “I don’t think it is as much about leaving behind as it is losing altogether to competitors or even adjacent industries.” As digitization expands the universe of careers available to talented young professionals, equipment finance competes not just against other lenders but against every sector aggressively recruiting the technically fluent, analytically minded and relationship-oriented. The industry’s argument for itself — that it is a place where judgment, relationships and real- world problem-solving determine success — is a compelling one. But it has to be made loudly, and it has to be backed up by what actually happens once people arrive.

Credit Underwriting in the Crosshairs

On the question of which part of the equipment finance lifecycle most needs automation, NextGen leaders were decisive. Credit underwriting and decisioning was the top choice by a wide margin, selected by 44% of respondents — nearly three times the rate of any other category.

The preference reflects where NextGen leaders see the most friction and the most opportunity. Underwriting is where speed matters, where data is abundant and where AI’s analytical capabilities are most readily applicable. It is also, not coincidentally, where the gap between what technology can do and what organizations are currently doing remains widest.

One respondent offered a useful corrective to pure automation enthusiasm: “I believe we need to focus on personalization rather than automation.” It is a reminder that the goal is not to eliminate human judgment from underwriting, but to free experienced professionals from the manual burden that prevents them from exercising that judgment at its highest level.

Leadership Development: A 3.44 and What it Tells Us

Survey respondents gave the industry an average score of 3.44 out of five when asked how well-equipped it is to provide formal leadership training for mid-career professionals. The score is modestly better than the industry’s innovation readiness rating — but the responses make clear that NextGen leaders do not think it reflects an adequate investment.

The responses about desired development programs reveal a consistent pattern. Respondents did not ask for classroom instruction or certification programs. They asked for proximity and real decisions, accountability and mentorship from leaders who are actively navigating the business.

Ian Lockwood of Dakota Financial identifies what he called the fundamental gap: “Most leadership development in equipment finance is still built around credit, relationships and deal experience. Obviously, those things matter, but they do not prepare someone to evaluate a data infrastructure investment or lead a team building automation tools.”

Monica Ieng of Dext Capital describes what gets lost as the workplace becomes more digital: “The informal learning: listening in on conversations, asking quick questions or seeing how others think through decisions in real time. Going forward, I think the industry needs to be more intentional about creating those moments, even in a digital environment.”

Teyl Stark of Wells Fargo captures the aspiration with precision: “Leadership development needs to move beyond theory and focus more on real work, real decisions and real accountability. As digital tools automate tasks, future leaders must be developed through stretch opportunities that require judgment, influence and clarity.”

There was notable consistency around cross-functional exposure as a development priority. Multiple respondents described programs built around rotations — giving early-career professionals structured access to sales, credit, documentation, funding and portfolio management, rather than siloing them in a single function from the start. The idea: you cannot lead a business you have only seen from one angle. Kim Lorang of FS Foodservice Solutions makes the point simply: “The more you learn from different perspectives — whether it’s the customer, the equipment dealer or the credit side — the better decisions you’ll make.”

Jessica Spahn of QuickFi adds a sharp reminder: even those new to the industry carry value: “You also have knowledge and ideas that the other party can learn from you. Don’t discount that value.”

Green Finance: On the Radar, Not Yet the Priority

On the question of ESG-focused lending, NextGen leaders returned a fragmented picture. Twenty-nine percent of respondents said green financing is not a current priority; 26% called it a minor priority worth monitoring; 21% said they have active products or initiatives in this space; and 15% said the concept is not applicable to their business model. Just 9% called it a top-tier strategic priority.

The distribution suggests that ESG-focused lending occupies a real but unsettled place in the industry’s strategic planning — acknowledged as important by some but not yet driving decisions for the majority.

The Threats Ahead: Recession Tops the List

When asked to identify the single biggest external threat to industry growth over the next three years, NextGen leaders placed economic recession or slowdown at the top at 41% — a significant plurality. Interest rate volatility came in second at 24%, followed by regulatory burden at 18%.

This ranking reflects a pragmatic orientation. Despite the enthusiasm for technology and the ongoing conversation about disruption, this group is not primarily worried about being out-innovated. They are worried about the macroeconomic environment. In some ways, this is a more traditional concern, perhaps a sign of just how deeply this generation has internalized the fundamentals of the business they are working to modernize.

The Unspoken Rule

Every NextGen respondent was asked to share the single most important unspoken rule they would give to a recent graduate entering equipment finance today. The responses covered a wide range — absorb everything, ask questions constantly, master the fundamentals before you try to reinvent them, build relationships before you need them.

But the most memorable responses converged on something less tactical and more philosophical:

Aaron Case of TFS Financial: “Relationships matter. Technical ability is important, but the ability to communicate clearly, build trust and follow through consistently is what differentiates people over time.” 

Hannah O’Donnell of GreatAmerica Financial Services: “Your reputation travels faster than your resume. This is a small world and people remember how you show up.” 

Brooks Anderson of Stearns Bank: “Long-term success in equipment finance is built less on individual transactions and more on reliability and problem-solving.”

Together, these responses sketch the outline of a generation fully aware of the industry’s technological potential — and more convinced than ever that the fundamentals are not negotiable. They are clear-eyed about what survives disruption.

Equipment finance is changing faster than ever. This cohort demonstrates the confidence of people who have studied the machine, learned how it runs and decided now is exactly the right time to rebuild it from the inside. •

Rita E. Garwood is editor in chief of Monitor.