Agriculture today faces several key challenges: feeding a growing population on course to increase to almost 10 billion by 2050, adapting to changing dietary habits, climate change and the volatility of commodity prices. In the past few decades, advances in farm machinery and improvements in seed, irrigation, and fertilizers have led to more efficient cultivation of the land. Now we are one the cusp of another seismic shift as industry 4.0 enabling and other emerging technologies offer the opportunity to make gargantuan leaps in sustainable productivity, flexibility and quality.
Key technological pillars of this new industrial revolution include Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Advanced Analytics, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Advanced Robotics, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (wearables) and Additive Manufacturing. Although relatively new to the agricultural sector, these technologies are already delivering and increasing efficiencies across the farm to fork supply chain. From our work across the agribusiness sector, we know this digital connectivity transformation ranks high in the minds of executives, yet there is still work to be done on defining a strategy, conducting pilot studies, and convincing stakeholders on the need for change. As businesses globally gear up to the challenge of adopting this new modus operandi, it is imperative that businesses upskill their workforce to enable them to deliver higher quality work augmented by these emerging technologies.
The Agritech sector in the UK has been at the fore of developing these novel technologies. Now we have an incredible opportunity to become a leader in the adoption of these game changing technologies as businesses globally scramble to make sense of these technological advancements to future proof their businesses. So far, the uptake of these technologies has been isolated and ad hoc with most executives inhibited by the capital required to transition and the rapid pace of technological advancement. We know that the sector is facing numerous challenges including dealing with spiralling inflation, cost of inputs, energy costs, labour shortages and defining a new relationship with the EU and the rest of the world. However it is clear from our work in the sector that businesses need to make sense of the industry 4.0 enabling tools at their disposal today to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The disruptive power of these advancements is so great that those that fail to embrace the paradigm shift will no longer remain viable.
At Eden Search, we know that any successful transformation will be underpinned by leadership talent capable of adapting proactively to a rapidly changing landscape and confident of making key decisions at pace even where ambiguity abounds. With the challenges presented by today’s global economy, our clients recognise the need for partners with a real depth of sector expertise.
To discuss how our team can help your business with C-suite succession, senior mission critical hires as well as industry insights, salary benchmarking, competitor analysis and talent pipelining please contact me directly on zaid.gulraiz@edensearch.co.uk to arrange a confidential conversation.