MeridianLink is setting the tone early for 2026 with the announcement of MeridianLink LIVE! 2026, returning as an in-person gathering that leans hard into the idea that AI and data are no longer buzzwords but real competitive weapons for banks and credit unions that know how to use them. Hosted at the waterfront Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, the event runs from May 11 through May 14 and brings together financial professionals, technologists, and decision-makers who are clearly tired of abstract promises and want to see how lending platforms actually perform under real operational pressure. You can almost picture the setting already: glass walls facing the marina, early-morning coffees overlooking the harbor, conversations drifting from dashboards and data models to regulation, growth, and the quiet anxiety of staying relevant in a fast-moving market.
At the center of it all is MeridianLink, positioning the conference as both a strategy forum and a working lab. The agenda revolves around AI and data as a practical edge, not a theoretical one, with curated tracks that let attendees shape their own experience depending on whether they’re chasing digital growth, operational efficiency, mortgage innovation, or simply want to get hands-on with product demos and deeper training. It’s designed less like a single linear conference and more like a modular experience, where conversations continue in workshops, spill into networking sessions, and resurface later over dinner with peers who are facing the same structural challenges inside very different institutions.
The keynote lineup reflects that mix of corporate direction, market reality, and human perspective. CEO Larry Katz will take the stage for his inaugural MeridianLink LIVE! keynote, outlining where the company is heading and how AI-driven lending platforms are being shaped to move faster without losing trust or compliance along the way. Chief Strategy Officer Troy Coggiola follows with a closer look at growth through building, buying, and partnering, pulling back the curtain on how ecosystems are formed when technology vendors and financial institutions actually align incentives instead of just talking about it.
The event then widens its lens beyond software. Amy Purdy brings a keynote rooted in resilience and reinvention, drawing from her journey as a three-time Paralympic medalist and global advocate for inclusion after losing both legs to meningococcal meningitis. Her presence adds a human counterweight to all the data talk, a reminder that adaptability isn’t just a system feature but a mindset. Leadership under pressure is further explored by Jake Wood, whose experience founding Team Rubicon and leading disaster-response efforts worldwide reframes crisis management and organizational culture in a way that resonates far beyond the nonprofit world. Rounding out the market intelligence side is Logan Mohtashami, offering a grounded, sometimes blunt view of the U.S. housing and mortgage landscape, the kind of analysis that conference hallways tend to buzz about long after the session ends.
Practical details matter too, and MeridianLink is clearly nudging early commitment. Early-bird registration opened on December 9, 2025, with a USD 500 discount off the standard USD 1,899 fee available until January 31, 2026, a small incentive that often tips internal approval processes from “maybe later” to “book it now.” More speakers and agenda elements are still to come, but even in its current form, MeridianLink LIVE! 2026 reads like a deliberate attempt to blend strategy, execution, and perspective in one place, under the San Diego sun, where conversations about AI, data, and lending don’t feel abstract, just urgent, real, and slightly overdue.