Optimal Blue earns 2026 AI Pioneer Award for advancing mortgage market forecasting

Award recognizes Virtual Economist for bringing real-time forecasting and scenario analysis into mortgage decision-making

PLANO, Texas, Oct. 7, 2026 – Optimal Blue today announced it has been named a 2026 AI Pioneer Award winner by PROGRESS in Lending for Virtual Economist™, the first on-demand forecasting tool for mortgage capital markets leaders powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). 

Optimal Blue was recognized for using AI to transform mortgage forecasting from a largely static exercise into a real-time decision-making tool. Virtual Economist delivers real-time rate and market volume forecasts, along with instant scenario analysis to support strategic planning and market analysis, allowing lenders to test assumptions as conditions change instead of waiting for the next analyst report or manually rebuilding models. Analysis that once required weeks of analyst time can now be completed in minutes. 

Lenders can leverage those insights to make more informed decisions around staffing, production planning, and capacity management. 

“Mortgage forecasting has traditionally required teams to wait for the next report or build scenarios manually,” said Kevin Foley, CFA, director of AI Labs at Optimal Blue. “Virtual Economist lets users test assumptions as market conditions change and immediately see how those shifts could affect rates, spreads and volume. That gives lenders more comprehensive insights so they can better plan for how to grow their business in a variety of macroeconomic environments.” 

Virtual Economist combines proprietary machine learning models with public economic data and Optimal Blue's exclusive lock volume data, which reflects 35% of all mortgages locked nationwide. Users can ask complex business questions of an AI avatar economist of their choosing, and using voice or text, receive immediate visual forecasts with explanations of the factors driving them. A pricing lead might ask how a move in a macroeconomic variable such as inflation would change the rate outlook, then follow up with a what-if scenario on mortgage-backed securities spreads or the primary-secondary spread. Because each forecast explains its underlying drivers, users can explore the analysis without specialized data science expertise. 

Virtual Economist’s impact also extends beyond Optimal Blue’s clients. Beginning with the July edition of Market Advantage, Optimal Blue began making Virtual Economist insights freely available to the broader mortgage industry through its monthly mortgage data report. The report now includes 12-month forecasts for the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI) 30-year conforming fixed rate and the primary-secondary spread, giving mortgage professionals a forward-looking view alongside Optimal Blue’s market data and analysis. 

This marks Optimal Blue’s second PROGRESS in Lending recognition in 2026. In June, Optimal Blue and integration partner, Uplist, received a Connections Award for Capture for Originators. 

For the complete list of 2026 AI Pioneer Award winners, visit PROGRESS in Lending. 

About Optimal Blue 
Optimal Blue powers strategic performance across the mortgage capital markets ecosystem. As the industry’s only end-to-end capital markets platform, our technology, data and integrations bridge the primary and secondary markets to help lenders of all sizes optimize performance – from pricing accuracy to margin protection and every step in between. Backed by over 20 years of proven expertise, our modern, cloud-native technology delivers the real-time automation, actionable data and seamless connectivity lenders need to navigate market volatility and scale for growth. To learn more about how Optimal Blue helps deliver measurable ROI, visit OptimalBlue.com. 

Media Contacts: 
Alexandra Kreuter, Optimal Blue 
732.861.5012 
Alexandra.Kreuter@OptimalBlue.com  

Leslie Colley, Depth for Optimal Blue 
678.622.6229 
leslie@depthpr.com