Exploring Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture

A deep dive into how different methods of building and deploying Artificial Intelligence can benefit growers, producers, and manufacturers in Australia and overseas. What is the limit to which AI can impact the Ag industry, and is it all positive?

About Ben:

Ben Pankhurst, the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at Agtech By Design started his business career in 2020 after studying mechatronics and electrical engineering at UniSA. He founded his own company focused on building autonomous agricultural vehicles in broadacre farming and built a self-contained fully autonomous tractor at the end of 2021 in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. This concept vehicle was put on the backburner in 2023 after he merged with Zane Sheffield of Agtech By Design, who had excellent industry relations and business management expertise, but required a technical person to develop the technology further.
Ben is an accomplished engineer, achieving proficiency in multiple computer languages, high-level Artificial Intelligence development and a graduate of NVIDIA’s AI Specialist program.

Ben specialises in software/AI engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, supply chain management and product development, all showcased by the rapid construction and development of the WeedSelector system. Ben was accepted into the University of Adelaide’s ThincLab business incubator for developing innovative Agtech solutions where he met Zane in April of 2023. Since then, they have built the WeedSelector AI-powered spraying system which has gained worldwide interest from growers and industry experts.