Preston Fay with the global management consulting firm Kearney gave the keynote presentation this week at the 2025 AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference, offering what he called a Practical AI Playbook for Ag.
Fay says right now is agriculture’s iPhone moment. “So we have this really interesting situation where we’re using AI in a lot of ways in the ag industry to do smart spraying, for example, and drones and Internet of Things,” Fay said in an interview after his remarks. “And yet on the commercial side of agriculture, we’re really not taking advantage of the tool set that’s available to us to drive demand and really create a win-win scenario for both manufacturers, retail and distribution partners, and ultimately end users in terms of managing disease states and yield and really taking advantage of the technology in ways that improve things for everybody across the value chain.”
Fay says the technology has now evolved to a point where it’s really practical to use and apply. “So we really have to think through the use cases and the proper management of implementation to ensure that we’re getting the biggest bang for the buck…With proper planning and proper implementation, we’re really in a unique position to drive incremental sales opportunities.”
Listen to Fay’s presentation and interview:
Keynote presentation – Preston Fay, Kearney
Remarks from Preston Fay, Kearney (36:00)
Interview with Preston Fay, Kearney
Interview with Preston Fay, Kearney (5:14)