The vibrant energy of Nashville, Tennessee – known as Music City because of its rich musical heritage – set the stage for a landmark event in July as CU Build celebrated its fifth anniversary.
From humble beginnings, CU Build has grown into a premier fintech innovation hub for Jack Henry™ credit unions, where vendors and credit union professionals come together to transform ideas into real-world solutions. This year’s theme, Harmony Through Technology, paid tribute to Music City’s creative spirit, fostering an atmosphere of collaboration, innovation, and community.
A genuinely touching moment marked the opening ceremony as the CU Build Committee honored the contributions of President Emeritus Brad Hickey. As the founder of CU Build, Brad was instrumental in turning his dream into a reality – an experience shared by the aspiring artists who pass through Music City with dreams and determination. Brad’s foundational vision paved the way for five years of collaboration and idea generation, which have become the hallmarks of CU Build today.
Having attended every CU Build to date, I was struck this year by just how much the event has matured.
The level of sophistication in year five reflects CU Build’s continued growth and the deepening investment from both returning participants and new attendees. Seasoned veterans return year after year, along with vendor sponsors who’ve become staples of the tech stack. This year’s teams arrived notably more prepared, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the platform’s capabilities and presenting well-structured plans for their coding design and development cycles.
Even the presentations seemed more polished – concepts were impressively clear, from ideation to execution. As Brynn Ammon, President of Credit Union Solutions at Jack Henry, noted, “For me, it’s really about seeing the innovation and the teams come together from a collaborative standpoint.”
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in this year’s build process further underscores the event’s evolution. Teams used AI to accelerate development, freeing up time and energy to focus on crafting robust, thoughtful solutions.
Ammon observed this firsthand: “I’ve heard [AI] is a theme as I’ve talked to the build teams. They’re leveraging AI in creative ways, even through the build-a-thon itself, helping them to speed up their development.” This forward-thinking approach is exactly what CU Build is designed to promote – pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the credit union space.
CU Build 2025 welcomed a diverse and engaged crowd, with 40 participants representing 24 different credit unions. Notably, six dedicated builders have participated in all five CU Build events – a testament to its continued value and appeal.
Twelve vendors contributed their solutions to the CU Build tech stack, expanding the possibilities for integration. These vendors experienced a unique dynamic: collaborating with companies that might otherwise be competitors, discovering opportunities for synergy instead. Some even used the long hours (and energy drinks!) to enhance their existing solutions in real time, fueled by direct input from the very clients who use their products.
Brian Sloan, President of the CU Build Committee, shared his excitement about the growing participation and diversity of roles. “We actually got a lot of interest from non-coders this year,” Brian said. “In the past, we've had a lot of people who think the event is just for coders. But now we’ve got marketing, we’ve got operations, we’ve got all these other ancillary people in the credit union that see the value in it. And they’re coming out to help support and come up with ideas for the teams.”
This broader inclusion of diverse skill sets has become a cornerstone of CU Build’s success. If you’ve ever felt like the least technical person in the room, don’t worry – everyone can make a meaningful contribution. Just be sure to look busy, or you might just get pulled into a hallway interview during the event to talk about your experience. (Ask me how I know.)
This year’s event produced eight impressive solutions, each creatively tied to the theme. Team Magnificent 7.0 created SafetyNet, a payday loan alternative, while team Code Crescendo introduced Spend Break, a tool that turns daily discretionary spending into savings.
Other solutions ranged from an AI-powered fraud detection consortium to a data-driven tool for strengthening membership relationships. There were also innovations in financial literacy, goal tracking with crowdsourcing and AI, and much more.
Ultimately, the top award went to team Dixie Scripts for BadgeQuest – a gamified financial wellness platform that empowers members to choose their own engagement paths, offering incentives like credit union swag and cash deposits to encourage personal financial growth.
In the words of Nashville legend Loretta Lynn, “Write about the truth. If you write about the truth, somebody's living that. Not just somebody, there’s a lot of people.”
What’s most striking about CU Build solutions is how many begin with a personal story – someone the team knows, or a situation they’ve experienced. These connections make the ideas more compelling and harder to judge. The credit union community has long been inspired by everyday stories of everyday people rising to meet new challenges. Much like the artists who pass through Nashville’s honky-tonks, each line of code written – like each lyric in a song – is created with personal purpose. If you want to create something great, you have to believe in it first.
Beyond the coding and overnight pizzas, CU Build’s beloved traditions continue to thrive. “Snack Mountain” once again provided essential fuel for the tireless builders – snack breaks on top of snack breaks, with coffee breaks sandwiched in between. Vendors remained a consistent presence, reinforcing the strong community ties between the builders and the technology underpinnings.
And yes, builders worked through the night, as evidenced by a mini-tradition I’ve started: the 3 a.m. CU Build wakeup. To the detriment of my sleep schedule, I set my alarm so I could head down to the CU Build event space to see who was burning the candle at both ends. Just like last year, Jack Henry’s James Burke-Frazier joined me for a 3 a.m. selfie, with builders hard at work in the background.
As CU Build looks to the future, I’m excited to see what the next five years will bring. Over the years, no two solutions have been the same; each presentation is engaging and inspirational, and each year brings a new level of sophistication.
As Garth Brooks once said, “Nashville is the only place in the world where you can come with a guitar and a dream and leave with a hit song.” In the case of CU Build, you can bring a laptop and an idea, and leave with a hit solution that could make a mark on the credit union community.
See what sets this event apart and why industry leaders are tuning in by checking out our recap of CU Build 2025 below.
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