Discovering AgTech - Technology Showcase
With an increased focus on innovation and sustainability, the agriculture and food sectors are becoming a hot spot for disruption and technology adoption. Highly technical roles in machine learning, software development and artificial intelligence are redefining and shaping the global food landscape.
Learn from two entrepreneurs from Ground Truth Ag and Vivid Machines on what led them to their journey into highly technical careers in agrifood tech and why you should be thinking about the role you can play in the technological revolution that is just taking off in agrifood.
Kyle Folk - Ground Truth Ag
Ground Truth Ag combines conventional lab techniques and advanced machine vision tools to provide farmers with real time, lab quality grain analysis. This solution enables producers to view and maintain records of their grain quality in real-time, directly on the combine, and use that information to manage risk and increase income. This technology eliminates discrepancies and saves time and money for both farmers and the companies that buy their grain.
Kyle Folk is a repeat founder with a demonstrated aptitude for entrepreneurship having founded his second agtech start-up, Ground Truth Ag in 2021 where he currently serves as the CEO.
Prior to founding Ground Truth, Kyle successfully built and sold another agtech company designed to eliminate the risk of stored grain spoilage. It was a spoiled grain incident that happened on his family farm in Saskatchewan that caused him to invest his energy toward developing new technologies that would prevent other producers from the same loss. Kyle continues to be driven by a resolve to solve real problems for producers and to create a positive impact in agriculture.
Kyle's experience extends beyond the realm of agriculture, having owned and operated an electrical contracting company and managed investment firms with commercial and residential properties.
Jonathan Binas - Vivid Machines
Vivid Machines develops computer vision and machine learning technology to improve yield and product quality in fruit production.
They predict and manage yield by providing a clear view of tree-level data in real time. They also help diagnose pests, disease, and nutrient deficiencies through a vision system which is able to see early indications that would be invisible to the human eye.
Jonathan Binas, a seasoned researcher and entrepreneur in the field of artificial intelligence, is currently serving as CTO of Vivid Machines, a role he undertook in January 2021, focusing on taking cutting-edge AI technology into agricultural settings.
Before co-founding Vivid Machines, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute for over three years, working under the mentorship of Yoshua Bengio. He also has international research experience, having been a Visiting Researcher at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, as well as the University College London.
Jonathan holds a PhD, as well as MSc and BSc degrees in Physics from ETH Zurich, and his doctoral research focused on brain-inspired models and systems for distributed computation.
Event Partners
This event is a collaboration between Careers In Technology and Innovation and Tall Grass Ventures.
