About this episode

Ankur Patel interviews Michael Heller about the challenges and considerations in AI deals for credit unions.

Ankur Patel interviews Michael Heller, Associate Attorney at Messick Lauer & Smith. 📩 Subscribe to the Main Street AI Newsletter: https://multimodal.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=podcast Michael Heller is an Associate Attorney at Messick Lauer & Smith, where he focuses on vendor management, technology contracts, due diligence, and fintech partnerships for credit unions and CUSOs. Guest: Michael Heller, Associate Attorney, Messick Lauer & Smith Host: Ankur Patel, CEO & Founder, Multimodal 0:00 Introduction 0:42 How Michael started in vendor management for CUs 2:56 Credit unions, CUSOs, and where fintechs fit in 4:14 The nature of the deals: vendor, M&A, and CUSO formation 5:32 Where credit union and tech vendor deals actually go wrong 7:39 Regulated stability vs. move-fast disruption 9:26 Honeymooning and the seeds of discontent 12:16 Why agentic AI deals are harder than traditional software 14:53 Clear exit pathways and a robust change management process 16:32 Indemnification, liability caps, audit rights 17:58 Building a risk framework 20:00 Tricks of the trade 24:13 Setting up a long-term partnership and allocating…

Topics covered

• credit unions
• fintech partnerships
• vendor management
• AI in legal profession
• risk management
• technology contracts

More episodes of Main Street AI

• How Community Banks Should Adopt AI · July 14, 2026 · 43 min
• Building AI That Credit Unions Actually Trust · July 7, 2026 · 52 min
• Why the 2nd Biggest Credit Union Is Conservative on AI · June 30, 2026 · 36 min
• How CUSOs Let Credit Unions Compete on AI · June 23, 2026 · 40 min

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