Athan Zhang is the CEO and Founder of Copperlane, where he leads product and engineering at the intersection of artificial intelligence and financial services. He focuses on building systems that apply advances in AI to complex, real-world workflows, with particular emphasis on AI safety, performance, and thoughtful integration into existing operational environments.
Prior to Copperlane, he was a quantitative developer at Five Rings, a proprietary trading firm, where he worked on high-performance systems in fast-moving financial markets. He was also an early founding engineer at two startups, including one that was acquired and another that raised millions in venture funding. Athan studied computer science at Princeton.
With family roots in the mortgage industry, he developed an early appreciation for the challenges and complexity of the loan process. Athan is also a licensed mortgage loan officer. His work at Copperlane focuses on applying modern AI techniques to legacy financial systems, with the goal of improving efficiency while maintaining the rigor required in highly regulated environments.
Brianna Lin is the COO and Founder of Copperlane, where she leads operations, go-to-market strategy, and partnerships at the intersection of AI and financial services. She focuses on bringing new technologies into complex, highly regulated environments, working closely with customers to translate technical capabilities into practical workflows.
Prior to this, Brianna was a trader and developer on the equities floor at Jefferies, one of the largest investment banks. There, she gained experience in fast-moving markets, risk management, and client-facing problem-solving. She studied in the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, pursuing a dual degree in Real Estate from the Wharton School and Computer Science from Penn Engineering.
Brianna comes from a family deeply involved in the mortgage industry, which has shaped her understanding of how operational complexity and borrower experience intersect across the loan process. She is also a licensed mortgage loan officer. Today, her work at Copperlane centers on applying cutting-edge AI technology to real-world systems in mortgage lending.
Shivam Goyal is a product and venture leader focused on the intersection of fintech, AI, and real-estate-backed lending. As Co-Founder of PropIQ, he leads the company’s mission to help banks and brokers convert visual and transaction signals into prioritized outreach and predictable loan-pipeline growth. In addition to his operating role, Shivam is a Venture Partner at Endeavor Capital Management, where he sources and helps scale early-stage investments in AI, fintech, and SaaS
Before PropIQ, Shivam served as Head of Product at Tellus, an a16z-backed consumer fintech, and has founded three startups, bringing hands-on underwriting, asset management, and product leadership to each. He’s been invited to speak on fintech and AI at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Georgetown. His entrepreneurial achievements include Forbes Under 30 Scholar honors and selection as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum. Shivam earned a BE in Engineering (Computer Science) from Dartmouth College and a BA in Physics & Mathematics from Skidmore College
Sabhya Katia is co-founder and CEO of PropIQ, where he turns intent and property signals into prioritized outreach and loan opportunities (refinance, HELOC, and renovation) for banks and brokers. His vision and leadership have helped lenders convert borrower transaction and behavior signals into prioritized outreach and measurable loan-pipeline growth.
A seasoned real-estate investor with a 30+ unit portfolio, Sabhya combines hands-on underwriting and asset-management experience with technical product leadership. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.
Leslie Chang is an Enterprise AI Program Manager and trailblazer in automation, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s leading the charge on applying AI and RPA to reimagine how mortgage operations work, turning challenges into smart, scalable solutions that boost efficiency and ROI.
Terri has spent her career in the mortgage industry applying technology across different business models and use cases to enable lenders to grow profitably.
Prior to Cotality, Terri was a mortgage industry advisory for emerging FinTech and PropTech companies to help them shape and execute their GTM strategies inside the complex mortgage ecosystem. From 2017 to 2021, she served as a vice president at ICE Mortgage Technology (PKA Ellie Mae, Inc), where she led diverse teams to achieve revenue goals and to nurture customer relationships. Her roles included the general manager for AllRegs, an investor guideline and compliance utility, vice president of the account management function encompassing all customer segments and Ellie Mae products, and vice president of enterprise sales.
Terri has also held leadership roles at Fannie Mae, where she served in diverse roles such as director of research and development for Desktop Underwriter, managing director of eBusiness Sales and Consulting, head of broker sales for Desktop Originator, vice president of Single Family business, and vice president of Multi-Cultural Lending where she built a patented mortgage fulfillment process for broker-originated loans that relieved Fannie Mae lenders of reps and warrants. Prior to Fannie Mae, Terri launched the first commercially available AI-based credit underwriting tools in mortgage lending, pmiAURA™ and pmiTERRA™, while at PMI Mortgage Insurance.
Like many mortgage professionals, Terri got her start in mortgage by happenstance, early in her career. The contractor she was working for decided to become a mortgage broker and threw Terri in the deep end to figure it out. She’s never looked back.
Terri resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Kevin, and enjoys wine tasting, live music venues, and exploring all the diversity that the Bay Area offers. She also serves on the Board for the Women of ALICE, a 501c3 organization that champions women in the mortgage finance industry and has been a champion of several industry advocacy efforts.
Erin has been tied to the Real Estate & Mortgage industry for over 20 years as a Title Representative in Southern California, as a Business Development Coach, and most recently selling and managing a fintech software startup. She is passionate about driving clients to mortgage & real estate professionals through personalized client engagement.
Chance Jacob brings more than 15 years of experience in the software industry, spanning roles in support, business analytics, engineering, management, and product strategy. Over the course of his career, he has built a reputation for bridging technical expertise with business outcomes, leading cross-functional teams to deliver innovative, scalable solutions.
For the past two years, Chance has served as Product Development Manager at Mortgage365, where he provides engineering and product management leadership. In this role, he has guided the development of next-generation mortgage technology designed to help lenders modernize operations, improve efficiency, and compete in a rapidly evolving market. His blend of hands-on technical background and strategic product vision makes him a key driver of innovation within the company and a trusted partner to both internal teams and industry stakeholders.
Joey joined Mortgage365 in 2019 and has held various roles that shaped his deep expertise in the mortgage industry. As a licensed Loan Originator, he experienced firsthand the transformative power of technology in helping originators highlight the advantages and long-term value of homeownership.
Now serving as Product & Client Success Manager, Joey bridges product strategy and client success. He collaborates closely with product leadership to shape Mortgage365’s vision and translate customer feedback into impactful enhancements. At the same time, he partners with clients to craft tailored strategies that maximize adoption, retention, and borrower engagement. His work spans onboarding, implementation, and ongoing success measurement, ensuring clients achieve measurable outcomes while driving innovation in the Mortgage365 platform. Joey’s passion lies in helping both clients and product teams unlock new possibilities through technology, creating solutions that elevate the borrower experience and the industry as a whole.
Mario Palarca, Senior Director of Product Management at Iron Mountain, has over 20 years of experience in product strategy across banking, financial services, and lending. He develops transformative products to help organizations digitize and leverage their data, leading teams to launch solutions on Iron Mountain’s InSight Digital Experience Platform (DXP). This platform uses AI for content classification and enrichment and agentic automation, providing actionable insights from unstructured data and offering a “single pane” of glass for physical and digital assets.
Before Iron Mountain, Mario held leadership roles at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, where he modernized operations using technologies like Business Process Management Systems, AI/ML, Natural Language Generation, and Optical Character Recognition.
He holds a BBA from James Madison University, an MBA from George Mason University, and completed an executive leadership program at MIT Sloan. He is SAFE PO/PM, Prosci PMP and RMP, and Six Sigma Green Belt certified. Mario lives in Fairfax, VA, with his wife Beth and two children, Molly and Allie.