Annual award recognizes leaders driving innovation and digital transformation across the housing industry
TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 3, 2025 - DocMagic, Inc. announced today that its Chief eServices Executive Brian D. Pannell has been named one of HousingWire’s 2025 Tech Trendsetters. This marks Pannell’s second time receiving the award, an uncommon distinction that highlights his enduring leadership and influence in advancing digital mortgage transformation.
The annual Tech Trendsetters program, now in its seventh year, recognizes the innovators driving technology adoption and digital progress across the housing industry. Pannell’s recognition celebrates his decades of impact in accelerating industry adoption of paperless mortgage closings.
During his 18-year tenure at Fannie Mae, Pannell played a crucial role in building the industry’s most widely adopted automated underwriting system and provided strategic oversight and technical expertise for emerging customer-facing loan origination and point-of-sale platforms. Since joining DocMagic in 2014, Pannell has led initiatives that continue to redefine what’s possible in digital mortgage closings.
Under his leadership, DocMagic enabled the industry’s first-ever eHELOC registration with MERS®, proving that home equity lines of credit can be originated, stored and transferred as fully electronic assets, and helped major financial institutions implement secure eVaulting technology that now underpins the majority of eNotes in circulation. Through these and other projects, he has advanced eMortgage adoption and delivered measurable client outcomes such as 15-minute closings and savings of more than $400 per loan compared to traditional processes.
“Our goal has always been to make digital closings practical, not theoretical,” said Pannell. “When lenders can close in minutes instead of hours and cut hundreds of dollars in costs per loan, that’s when technology truly delivers value.”
Pannell extends his advocacy for data standardization through active leadership in multiple industry associations, including MISMO, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA).
“The 2025 Tech Trendsetters ... are the builders and innovators whose products and platforms are shaping the future of housing,” said Sarah Wheeler, editor in chief at HousingWire. “These leaders aren’t just keeping up with technology, they’re setting the pace. Their work makes the housing industry smarter, faster and more connected.”
Pannell’s leadership has positioned DocMagic’s clients at the forefront of modern lending, delivering digital capabilities and operational improvements that have generated cumulative cost savings in the tens of millions.
For a complete list of 2025 HousingWire Tech Trendsetters, visit: https://www.housingwire.com.