How AI Expands Our Sphere of Control for a Resilient Future in Agriculture
Editor’s note: “Cultivating Tomorrow” is a special series from CropLife that shares insights from C-suite executives at leading AgTech companies, presented by AgTech PR. Its aim is to highlight the experiences of AgTech leaders driving agricultural transformation today. In this installment, Elizabeth Fastiggi, Chief Product Officer at Idealyst Innovation, provides insights into how AI is transforming uncertainty into opportunity — empowering ag leaders to build resilience, optimize risk, and shape tomorrow’s food system.
Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with agribusiness leaders from across the industry, exchanging perspectives on the future of agriculture. One pattern has become clear: while curiosity about AI-driven innovation is ever-present, hesitation hinders action. Many cite the cyclical nature of agriculture and advocate for sticking to the established playbook to ride out another downturn. But what if, even in a tough cycle, we shifted our gaze from mere survival to future resilience?
Here’s my industry hot take: Artificial intelligence (AI) expands what is within our sphere of control. It challenges our assumptions about what is unknowable and offers the tools to optimize risk as an advantage.
Uncertainty dominates our news cycles, our business meetings, and dinner conversations. In fact, the word “uncertainty” was cited in earning calls more often during the first half of this year than at any time in the last 10 years. Against this backdrop, the ag industry is experiencing a profound structural shift, driven by global trade conditions, shifting consumer preferences, and disruptive technologies. We have a choice: maintain the legacy approach or proactively leverage technology to transform our businesses. AI gives us unprecedented power to optimize risk, a factor always present, up or down market, bumper crop or dry year. By keeping our eyes wide open and innovating smartly, we can build businesses that serve farmers and are stronger and more adaptable than ever before.
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Risk Optimization Is a Leadership Imperative
One truth of agriculture is that risk — weather, market, regulation — never goes away. But the tools to anticipate and optimize those risks keep evolving. When new capabilities like AI emerge, it is tempting to relegate them to the “IT department” or consider them relevant only for a tech-focused startup. I’d argue the opposite: every business leader must ask, “How can AI help me understand the risks on the horizon and then optimize them to serve my customer, build better products, and develop resiliency within my teams?”
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