Inspira Financial Innovation, Technology & Agility

How do you make sure all teams are on the same page when creating a product roadmap? 

In the case of one of our product development teams focused on retirement services, planning intervals — also known as program increment planning — have fostered collaboration across teams to raise or further socialize dependencies. PI planning is a process in which business and technology teams come together to establish and nurture alignment to ensure the planning and delivery of the most valuable work. Bringing teams together encourages communication, knowledge-sharing and cross-functional alignment. 

Our roadmap includes a feature to modernize and transition one of our products offered on a legacy platform to our modernized platform. This product lessens the administrative burden on certain clients, which is always a positive thing. We have a great relationship with the development team involved and collaborate outside of PI planning. However, this approach allowed us to formalize dependencies across teams and provide visibility to others that aren’t immediately involved in our day-to-day work. This awareness comes in handy for stakeholders and other interested parties in the case of delays or if priorities need to shift.

How do you maintain this alignment throughout the development cycle?

Our team involves the right stakeholders from the beginning of the project to ensure they’re engaged and know we’re ready for their input. Our sales team has been instrumental in connecting us with clients to conduct feedback sessions, some of which included clickable prototypes so we could learn how to make navigation within the platform more intuitive. We also sent a client survey to understand their expectations of what our new product should offer and predict their likelihood of adopting our product given a select feature set. This data was influential in raising considerations to our leadership team because we were able to use data and direct client feedback. 

The product team also hosts a regular stakeholder meeting where metrics and product roadmap updates are discussed. This has allowed us to surface issues where there may not have been a consistent understanding so they can be addressed. When presenting, I try to use pictures to illustrate concepts when practical, as I believe it’s easier to talk through ideas when we can point to a process flow or to data. It gives meeting participants something to react to, which helps move the conversation along. 

Do project needs change during the development process? When this happens, how do you reprioritize the product roadmap and keep teams aligned?

With two major corporate initiatives this year, there were instances when work needed to shift due to competing priorities or to address previously unknown items. Our product owner was creative in finding ways to shift work to enable product development within certain tech stacks, while other tech stacks were focused on corporate transformation efforts. Our stakeholder meeting was also key in communicating what would be available in our upcoming releases. In another example, our team was aware of a rebranding dependency with another platform team, and we worked closely with them to coordinate our releases to ensure key shared components were in sync.

What is your role on the IT team? What are your responsibilities?
I’m a senior IT operations administrator and a certified Salesforce administrator. Most of my work centers around our Salesforce platform. I manage and support the system to meet the needs of the business. That includes everything from user and data management to system configuration, reporting, security and troubleshooting. I also handle deployments and work with vendors on integrations and upgrades. A big part of my role is partnering with other teams to create solutions that move the business forward and helping teammates get up to speed on internal processes.

How does your employer support IT professionals? What opportunities for learning and growth are offered? How does your team effectively work together?
Inspira makes it easy to keep learning. There are tools, training and development programs to help us grow in our roles and take on new challenges. Whether you’re just starting out or more experienced, there are always opportunities to build new skills.

As a team, we work well together. We meet regularly to stay aligned, support each other when issues come up and keep communication open. There’s a shared respect and a real focus on solving problems together. That’s what makes the work rewarding.

Why might someone want to join your company’s IT team? What routines, traditions and perks does your team offer?
This is a team where people want to do great work and help each other succeed. The culture is supportive and there’s always room to grow. We solve hard problems, share wins and push each other to keep improving.

Some of the perks include a flexible hybrid schedule, Salesforce training and certification resources and time set aside for learning. If you’re looking for a team that values your voice and gives you space to grow, this is a great place to be.

What types of products or services does your engineering team create? What problem are you solving for customers?

First Dollar, acquired by Inspira Financial in 2024, sits right at the intersection of fintech and healthcare. We’re building a modern platform that helps third-party administrators and banks manage and customize health spending benefits. That includes powerful public APIs that make integration easy, plus two applications, one built for administrators and another that helps consumers access and use their benefits with confidence. 

I get to work with an incredible group of engineers, product strategists and designers focused on employer servicing. Together, we take complex systems that touch payroll, financial accounts and data privacy and make them simpler for partners to use. Our goal is to give companies the flexibility to create benefits that work for their employees without all the friction that usually comes with legacy systems.

Tell us about a recent project where your team used AI as a tool. What was it meant to accomplish? How did you use AI to assist?

We recently started using an AI coding assistant and decided to test its potential with a three-day hackathon. My team built a Model Context Protocol server for our public APIs, which gives AI the context it needs to interact intelligently with our systems. We also developed “chunky tools,” or predefined workflows that help AI perform tasks more efficiently. 

Time was tight, so we let the AI coding assistant handle a lot of the planning and implementation while we focused on direction, testing and quality. The results were incredible. In just a few days, we had a fully functional MCP server and an interactive app that lets users prompt an AI agent to explore our API ecosystem. It was one of those moments where you can see how fast technology is changing the way we build.

What would that project have looked like if you didn’t have AI as a tool to use? 

Without AI, this project probably would have been a slimmed-down proof of concept. Instead, we built fifteen MCP tools and a working chatbot in just a few days. The pace was unreal. Someone would throw out an idea and within hours, we’d have a working version ready to test. 

AI has completely changed the way I approach engineering. With AI tools that integrate directly into our codebase, I can use them to draft code, run tests and suggest reviews while I focus on higher-level problem solving. Every change is still reviewed and validated by an engineer before it moves forward, which keeps our development and security standards strong. AI doesn’t replace good engineering fundamentals; it builds on them. It helps strong engineers move faster, learn faster and create more value for the people we serve.