Chris Simms has joined Friday Harbor, an AI-powered platform that helps loan officers assemble complete and compliant loan files in real time, as head of strategic partnerships.
In addition, Gregory Buehler has joined the company as founding product manager.
Simms has 20 years of experience in mortgage sales, origination and capital markets. He has held roles at Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, First Integrity Mortgage Services, Pulaski Bank and other institutions. During his time at these lenders, Simms partnered directly with mortgage technology firms to help align software solutions with real-world industry workflows. He currently serves as president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of St. Louis.
In his new role with Friday Harbor, Simms will oversee the firm’s customer relationships as well as its strategic alliances with technology integration partners and industry associations. His initial focus will be on customer engagement and success as he works to ensure lenders see lower costs, shorter cycle times and a better experience for borrowers on every loan. He sees a clear opportunity to help lenders modernize in a space long overdue for change.
“Lenders are hindered by legacy systems and manual processes that haven’t kept up with the innovation in other industries,” Simms says in a release. “Friday Harbor is the first solution I’ve seen that truly understands and improves the process with real AI. This role felt like a natural opportunity to combine my passion for innovation with my industry experience to help transform how loans are manufactured.”
Buehler has more than ten years of experience leading product development at early-stage B2B startups including Pebble Health, learning management software provider Skilljar (acquired by Gainsight) and social analytics firm Simply Measured (acquired by Sprout Social).
In his new role, Buehler will define and execute product strategy in close partnership with the founding team, a role that Friday Harbor CEO Theo Ellis describes as “the glue between business and engineering.” To that end, Buehler will collaborate with engineering, operations and customer success to scale Friday Harbor’s platform to serve a wider range of lenders, loan types and use cases while maintaining alignment with real-world origination pain points, workflows and tech stacks.
“I’ve helped build product from scratch at multiple B2B startups, and what drew me to Friday Harbor was how well the founding team understands both the problem and the customer,” Buehler says. “With AI2’s backing and a clear opportunity to modernize mortgage lending, joining the team was an easy decision.”
“Chris and Gregory bring the kind of leadership we need at this stage: deep domain knowledge paired with a builder’s mentality,” adds Ellis. “We’re not just growing headcount. We’re building the kind of team that can deliver real change to a long-stagnant part of financial services. With their help, we’re making loan manufacturing faster, smarter and finally worthy of the digital age.”