This session will provide an educational overview of artificial intelligence and its growing role in agriculture. We’ll cover how AI technologies such as machine learning, computer vision, and robotics are set to revolutionize farming practices. Attendees will learn how AI is transforming the way data is used to improve decision-making, optimize resource use, and enhance collaboration between farmers and retailers. By focusing on the impact AI has on the entire value chain, from field to store shelf, this session will highlight the opportunities and challenges AI presents for agriculture.

Speakers: Teddy Bekele (Land O' Lakes) and Tami Craig Schilling (Bayer CropScience, LP)

Biographies:

Teddy Bekele is the Chief Technology Officer at Land O'Lakes, a leading $20B Fortune 500 farm to fork farmer-owned cooperative. As a seasoned executive, he spearheads digital transformation, information technology, and cybersecurity initiatives through his adept leverage of technology and data. His academic credentials include an MBA from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

His insights and leadership in technology have garnered recognition from prestigious publications and media appearances, such as 60 Minutes, Gartner, BBC, Fortune Magazine, and MIT Sloan Management Review. His contributions have not gone unnoticed, earning him accolades like WCCO's "Minnesotan to Meet" in 2017, Twin Cities 2022 Outstanding Directors, the 2022 MinnesotaCIO ORBIE® CIO Leadership Award, and the esteemed 2023 Forbes CIO Next 50.

Teddy's impact isn't limited to the corporate sphere. He dedicates his expertise to the public sector as the Chair of the Minnesota Broadband Task Force and the FCC-USDA Task Force for Precision Agriculture Connectivity and Adoption, shaping the future of technology and agriculture. Teddy has lived across three continents, is fluent in Italian and Amharic, and now calls Minneapolis, MN, home. There, he enjoys life with his wife Michele, their son Teddy Jr., and their daughter, Luna.

Tami Craig Schilling is a fifth-generation farm girl from southern IL, graduate of the University of Illinois in ag communications and Bayer Crop Science Vice President, Agronomic Digital Innovation.

Tami is an experienced customer-centered leader with more than three decades in the food and ag industry leveraging her diverse and unique perspectives from multiple leadership roles in sales management, R&D, public affairs and sustainability.

A trustee for the University of Illinois, she serves on the boards of Illinois Ag Leadership Foundation, Illinois State Fair Advisors and the National FFA Sponsors Board. For her efforts, she has been recognized by Illinois 4-H as a Distinguished Alumni, Illinois Leadership Council for Ag Education for Excellence in Agribusiness and named a U of I ACES Alumni Award of Merit honoree.

In her spare time, she enjoys mentoring young people, hanging out with her grandchildren, going to livestock shows, and cheering on the Fighting Illini!  Tami is most proud of the three children that she and her husband Rodney raised on their grain and livestock farm in southern Illinois.