Rhishi P.’s Post

Infrastructure plays can be difficult in the short run but very impactful in the long run.

Software is Feeding the World: "Closer Look" edition (no not inspired by Seth Meyers!) Starting this month, subscribers will get a monthly edition (still free) where I take a closer look at a particular topic. The inaugural edition looks at the following: 1. IoT devices and applications within food and agriculture 2. Space for high temporal resolution data to drive decision making throughout the supply chain. 3. Why connectivity is the big unlock to drive positive ROI 4. Types of emerging connectivity technologies and different types of IoT sensors and their applications 5. How low cost technologies like LoRaWAN could potentially unlock new use cases, but it does require connectivity infrastructure investments 6. What can we learn from examples of low cost data in India and how it drove many new use cases very rapidly. Do give it a read and would love to get your constructive feedback on the addition of a new format to the SFTW portfolio! Link to the write up in the first comment #agtech #IoT #infrastructure #connectivity

161. Software is Feeding the World 1. AGCO Corporation recently held Precision Technology Days with PTx Trimble They have double downed on their retrofit and aftermarket segments to help any (most) brand of equipment to get additional functionality along with software a. Is the "game changing" option of unified connectivity really game changing? What are the some of the challenges? b. Will AGCO be able to push for subscription pricing on some of their software? More important than how much they charge will be how they charge. c. How can FarmerCore customer service offering with its origins in AgRevolution be important to their strategy? Also, in this edition 2. Rantizo gets FAA approval for drone swarms out of visual observer sight and for night flying What are some of the technical and regulatory challenges, which need to be overcome to grow the attractiveness of drone spraying? 3. ADM announces partnership for promoting regenerative agriculture in the peanut supply chain. ADM and other off-takers are in a good position to drive change along with CPG companies. Link in first comment #agtech #oem #regenerativeagriculture

We often talk about the importance of collaboration in the agrifood sector. Many of the challenges facing the industry are complex, and collaboration is a great way to look at issues from different angles. I had the privilege to guest host one more episode of Tim Hammerich's Future of Agriculture podcast and have a conversation with Jeff Schreiner, SVP of Global Collaboration at Cultura Technologies Jeff is an experienced operator with roles at Conagra Brands, Scoular, Roger That, (acquired by Ever.Ag), and many other organizations. We discussed the types of problems which lend to cross-industry collaboration, how to align incentives across different parties, and what has Jeff learnt from within and outside the industry. Do give it a listen on your favorite podcast app and provide any feedback #agtech #foodtech https://lnkd.in/ghtxjXr5

159. Software is Feeding the World I had the privilege to attend Bayer | Crop Science's Innovation update in Chicago on June 17th, 2024. Bayer presented an impressive R&D portfolio with highlights from Preceon short stature corn, next generation of herbicide tolerant traits, next generations of soy insect traits, and advancement of new herbicides and fungicides with new modes of action and the role of AI in the process. Just like the 2023 event, the Bayer team spent time in linking their initiatives to outcomes, systems thinking and regenerative agriculture. In this edition, I reflect on the type of metrics Bayer is using to track Climate FieldView performance, and how they have the opportunity to help define north star metrics (with some analogs from AirBnB). John Deere has defined engaged acres, highly engaged acres, and sustainably engaged acres. These metrics tie directly to the use of Deere products and services. Is Bayer missing a trick here? I would love to know your thoughts. Link in the first comment #regenerativeagriculture #metrics #agtech #systemsthinking

160. Software is Feeding the World In one of the most famous Sherlock Holmes short stories, "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" Holmes tells Dr. Watson about the experience and expertise of his older brother Mycroft. "All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience. We will suppose that a minister needs information as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada and the bimetallic question; he could get his separate advices from various departments upon each, but only Mycroft can focus them all, and say offhand how each factor would affect the other" We want our LLMs and ChatBots to be like Mycroft and not go to an individual model to get the answer to the “bimetallic question” (whatever that means!) For this to happen, we should design our systems so different LLMs can talk with each other. The natural language interface will make it easier to get your team of LLMs to work together and for a Mycroft type LLM to put everything together in context. It will require thinking through data security, authorization, authentication, and system / software architecture. This week’s edition was inspired by an "LLM mesh" about "open and sociable agents" post by Feroz Sheikh of Syngenta Also, in this week's edition Biome Makers Inc. joins a cross value chain alliance to make sugarcane (one of the most important crops) farming more sustainable. The alliance brings farmers, biological products firms (BIOFABRICA SIGLO XXI SA DE CV), standards organizations (Bonsucro), agribusiness giant Syngenta Group (PATRICIA TOLEDO), and others together. Will such a collaboration work? Bluewhite has joined in a partnership with CNH with an autonomy first or autonomy forward approach. This is in contrast with approaches take by Verdant Robotics and FarmWise, which are autonomy last (Verdant) or autonomy later (Farmwise). What drives the decision to focus on autonomy now vs. autonomy later? Link in the first comment #agtech #robotics #sustainability #artificialintelligence #llms LinkedIn post image by Arthur Twidle (1865 - 1936), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Anytime you get a chance to collaborate with Sarah Nolet and J. Matthew Pryor you take it This was a fun report to work on with the Tenacious Ventures team, and to reflect on constructive feedback and criticism from different industry folks!

You should seriously look at Mavish Mahomed-Silva, PMP ‘s profile and you will find an amazing future colleague. You can thank me later!

158. Software is Feeding the World When you want to be everything to everyone, you will be nothing to anyone We have see many organizations in Agrifood call themselves a "platform" of some sort What does it mean to be a "platform"? What has to be true for this to happen and why do many organizations end up calling themselves a "platform"? This week's edition looks at some issues like concentrated revenue, chasing deals, lack of focus, etc. in light of the challenges for Ag Insights and agriculture data platform Gro Intelligence highlighted by AgFunder Link in the first comment #software #platform #agriculture #agtech

Emergent Connext, Inc. is tackling an important infrastructure gap which can enable many different use cases and new innovations.